Mellencamp tells McCain to stop using his music

From Rolling Stone:

At some recent John McCain campaign rallies, John Mellencamp’s “Our Country” and “Pink Houses” have been booming out over the speakers. Uplifting heartland rock must have seemed like a smart pick, but there’s just one problem: Mellencamp is an ardent Democrat. And, until recently, he supported John Edwards – who had been playing “Our Country” and “Small Town” at his rallies. Mellencamp hasn’t yet made a public response, but his reps are quietly reaching out to McCain and asking him to stop playing his tunes. (McCain’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

Not to mention that the far-right types whose votes McCain is seeking won’t love the mildly progressive lyrics to “Our Country,” which call on the government to “help the poor and common man” and suggest that “there’s room enough here for science to live/ And there’s room enough here for religion to forgive.” And does McCain really want to associate himself with those “Pink Houses” lines about the “simple man” paying for the “the thrills, the bills and the pills that kill”?

Some thoughts:

Of course when McCain, or the type of people who would work to get someone like him elected, wanted some music to play it never even occurred to them to grab a piece of music like Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA or Charlie Daniels' This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag.

No, when they wanted some music to get people in the mood to vote for John McCain they naturally ran to a left-winger who had been supporting the Breck Girl. Maybe they thought they could get Mellencamp's endorsement since McCain bases his opposition to tax cuts in the same kind of class-warfare paradigm that Edwards uses. He also seems hold business and profit in the same contempt as Edwards.

Maybe Mellencamp needs to reconsider.

Meanwhile here's a song that McCain might want to start using: