Music is the universal language meant to be a shared experience through the musician to the audience. It is supposed to bring us to common ground. It should be a uniter, not a divider.
When the Republican National Convention introduced Sarah “Barracuda” Palin as John McCain’s nominee for vice president, they naturally played the 1977 hit “Barracuda” by the rock group Heart.
The women who wrote and performed the song, Nancy and Ann Wilson got angry that no one had asked their permission. Their joint statement read: “The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission. We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored.”
Someone at the RNC didn’t get the message and used the song again when McCain and Palin were onstage together after his acceptance speech. This prompted the Wilson sisters to explode.
“Sarah Palin’s views and values in no way represent us as American women. We ask that our song ‘Barracuda’ no longer be used to promote her image.” Nancy Wilsonwent on to say in an interview with EW.com; “Ithink it’s completely unfair to be so misrepresented. I feel completely f***ed over.”Well, so much for diversity. It seems that the music of Heart is meant to represent only liberals.
The problem with this is the Wilson sisters don’t mind conservatives buying their music. They will let us pay for concert tickets but if our political opinions differ, sorry that tune is off limits.
They don’t want their art tainted by a strong woman who is a successful governor, a wife, the mother of five children, an avid hunter and an aggressive athlete, all hallmarks of an independent woman just like them. For the Wilsons they only see the big ugly red ‘R’ beside her name.” It’s their property and they should not give it out to people they don’t agree with,” said freshman English major Harrison Justice.
That being the case, why did Barack Obama chose to end his acceptance speech with “Only in America,” a song written and performed by Brooks & Dunn, two conservative country artists?Kix Brooks was quoted in J. Freedom du Lac’s column in the Washington Post Aug. 29.
“Seems ironic that the same song Bush used at the RNC last election would be used by Obama and the Democrats now,” Brooks said, “Very flattering to know our song crossed parties and potentially inspires all Americans.”
So please tell me again which is the party of inclusion that practices diversity and tolerance of all people. “As a musician, I feel ‘Barracuda’ is the intellectual property of the composer and should require permission for its use by anyone, including presidential candidates of the United States. It is easy to share this opinion regardless of your political preference,” said John Holloway.
He may be right, but in the end the music should be able to be appreciated by everyone and not used as a political wedge issue. Heart could have graciously given permission and donated the royalties to their favorite Democrat.

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