Ryan's Rage

When news came out that Republican VP nominee Paul Ryan listed Rage Against The Machine as one of his favourite musicians, I knew I had to write a post about it.  The only question was which Rage song to use in a headline pun:

• Ballot in the Head?
• Bull on Parade?
• (Don't) Know Your Enemy?
• Renegades of Spin?
• Or perhaps a lyrical clip, "Fox News, I won't do what you tell me?"

Now that I've got that out of my system, on with the post.  If you're interested, Rage guitarist Tom Morello gave his thoughts in a Rolling Stone article (he's not amused.) 

First of all, this recalls the mini-controversy that shows up in pretty much every American political campaign, in which a musician gets an injunction to stop a Republican politician from using their song on the campaign.  Just in the time I was working on this entry I saw it go by on the news that Dee Snider of Twisted Sister won't let Ryan use "We're Not Gonna Take It."  I keep wondering when Republicans are going to figure out that they're stuck with only Country music for their campaign stops.  Or Ted Nugent.

Well now it turns out that Paul Ryan is a fan of one of the most openly politically-liberal groups of their generation.  That brings up the question of just how much the meaning and intent of a song matters to the enjoyment of the song.  It's not a question I have to deal with often, being a left-leaning person who is not a fan of Country (or Ted Nugent.)

I'm trying to think of instances where I'm in Ryan's shoes:  There are artists who's attitude is not one I completely follow.  I don't look at life with quite the emptiness that, say, Joy Division's lyrics would indicate, but I share enough of their world-view that I do know where they're coming from.  There are a few one-off, one-issue songs I can say I don't agree with:  The Smith's "Meat is Murder" comes to mind, since I'm not a vegetarian.  But that's one song out of many, so it's easy to look the other way on a song of hard-line animal rights beliefs, when I am with them on so many other songs.

And of course there are plenty of artists who's music is lyrically ambiguous.  Maybe the New Pornographers are far-right activists, and we'd know if we could only understand their lyrics.  That of course begs the question of how important the lyrics are.  But I think there's a difference between ignoring cryptic lyrics and ignoring clear lyrics that promote ideas you've dedicated your life to fighting.

So I have no explanation.  Either Paul Ryan is so emotionally flexible that he can share in a band's feelings without sharing in the reason for those feelings, or he's just trying to win votes from his Gen-X brethren.  Or he uses music to live out fantasies of being a liberal, in the same way suburban white kids listen to hip-hop imagining themselves to be gangstas.