Leonard Cohen, “Democracy”
One of several seven-minute epics anchoring Cohen’s 1992 record, The Future, “Democracy” has a line between snark and sincerity that can be hard to parse. On paper, “Democracy” is a hymn to, well, democracy: an ode to the reformers who imagine a better world “on a visionary flood of alcohol” as well as to democracy in the abstract, sweeping across the United States like some liberating spirit. Harboring a Canadian’s healthy suspicion toward all things American, Cohen describes the U.S.A., more than a little insincerely, first as “O mighty Ship of State,” then “O mighty Ship of Steel,” suggesting America’s transformation from City on the Hill to lumbering, rusty beast. While Cohen ducks any specific references to political parties, candidates, and elections, “Democracy” still seems to come out (however hesitantly) in favor of America’s capacity for political change and the spirit of capital-d Democracy. As he croons in the last verse, from the point of view of the U.S.A./Democracy, “I’m stubborn as those garbage bags that time cannot decay / I’m junk but I’m still holding up this little wild bouquet.”
R.E.M., “Ignoreland”
R.E.M. never shied away from political topics, particularly as a band whose first dozen years coincided with the 12-year Republican control of the White House. The band seethed under the Reagan administration, but its anger boiled over on “Ignoreland,” an aggressive anomaly on R.E.M.’s otherwise contemplative classic, 1992’s Automatic For The People. As if references to “the capital” and “trickle-down” weren’t enough, singer Michael Stipe snarls, “The information nation / Took their clues from all the sound-bite gluttons / 1980, ’84, ’88, ’92, too,” removing any doubt about the subject. But Stipe had obviously tapped into something, as less than a month after Automatic’s release, Bill Clinton became the first Democratic president since Jimmy Carter.
Radiohead, “Electioneering”
Buried in the middle of Radiohead’s 1997 album, between singles “Karma Police” and “No Surprises,” the rock-oriented “Electioneering” almost seems out of place in OK Computer’s experimental landscape. But its apparent simplicity masks a sneering skepticism typical of Radiohead, with the lyrics attacking on-the-take politicians, eagerly campaigning while simultaneously squashing democracy with “cattle prods” and “voodoo economics.”
Patti Smith, “People Have The Power”
The lead single from Smith’s 1988 album, Dream Of Life, is an uplifting anthem that had a second life when Smith performed it on the pro-John Kerry “Vote For Change” tour in 2004. “The people have the power / To redeem the work of fools / Upon the meek the graces shower / It’s decreed the people rule.” The song is surprisingly idealistic and presumes active participation by people in democracies—though the year of its release had the lowest voter turnout since 1924.
Nine Inch Nails, “Capital G”
The run-up to election night can be tedious, but what really grates is watching the subsequently elected officials sell out, waffle, and not get a whole lot accomplished. Trent Reznor speaks to that in “Capital G,” from 2007’s dystopian Year Zero, where he bemoans the sway greed (“with a capital G”) has on those in power. “I pushed a button and elected him to office / He pushed a button and it dropped a bomb,” he sings, later assuming the role of the political fat cat who dismisses the concerns of the populace: “Don’t try to tell me how some power can corrupt a person / You haven’t had enough to know what it’s like / You’re only angry ’cause you wish you were in my position / Now nod your head because you know that I’m right.”
Woody Guthrie, Billy Bragg & Wilco, “Christ For President”
Only Woody Guthrie could mix a utopian vision of Jesus as president with political irony. Lest anyone take his endorsement of Christ for president as straight religion, Guthrie suggests His election is “The only way we can ever beat / these crooked politician men.” Later, Guthrie underscores his populist political underpinnings, singing, “Every year we waste enough / to feed the ones who starve / We build our civilization up / and we shoot it down with wars.” Though Guthrie never put the song to record, Wilco and Billy Bragg gave the tune a properly twangy, folky twist when they recorded it for their first Mermaid Avenue collection in 1998.
The Replacements, “Election Day”
The Replacements were never much of a political band, and that’s clear from “Election Day.” The loose, bluesy song is slovenly and slapdash, even by The Replacements’ standards—and frontman Paul Westerberg can barely muster enough interest to express his lack of interest in voting. “I don’t care who gets elected / I don’t care who gets to find out,” he mutters around what sounds like the mouth of a whiskey bottle. Then he just kind of mumbles for a while.
Arcadia, “Election Day”
Duran Duran took a little break in the mid-’80s, prompting Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor to form the artier spin-off project Arcadia, whose biggest hit was democracy-themed “Election Day.” “All over you as they say rumors or rivals yell at the strike force / Hi guys, by the way, are you aware you’re being illegal,” Le Bon sings. What does it mean? Who knows? But it sounds meaningful, maybe even political. Grace Jones contributes a vocal, but it’s William S. Burroughs’ cameo in the video that provides the best clue to untangling the lyric. Duran Duran once planned to record songs for a film adaptation of Burroughs’ The Wild Boys (hence the group’s song of the same name). The movie didn’t work out, but Le Bon and company had apparently picked up a few tricks from Burroughs, who knew how to combine words into arrangements that sounded dangerous, even if they didn’t make that much sense.