The Tyranny of Tradition

On the eve of this years’ Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama is facing tough criticism from death metal legends Carcass.  Obama, who regularly uses the splatter-grind classic “Regurgitation of Giblets” as intro music before his speeches, was asked to “cease and desist” from using the song until his policies match “the spirit in which the song was intended.”

According to Carcass singer Jeff Walker, “Regurgitation” was meant “to address the deeper themes of dehumanization in the work place, consumer alienation and the effects of modernity on the human form.”  Guitarist Bill Steer reiterated Walker’s statement and added, “The song certainly wasn’t meant to help elect the President of the United States, a nation that is, after all, the largest dehumanizing, alienating force in the history of organized society.”

Obama, a die-hard Carcass fan, had been using the song to contrast the campaign’s message of stability and progress with the Republican themes of blind panic and race-baiting.  He has even managed to use lines from it in a campaign speech in Dubuque, Iowa last month.  “Romney’s America is one where the average American will be spewing up his or her collective sanguined guts into a wooden box.  I ask you, do you want to be trapped in that type of sarcophagus?  Is that the sarcophagus we want for our children?”

In deference to Carcass, the Obama campaign will no longer be using the song.  They have decided to switch to either Clinton era favorite “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac or “Epitaph of the Credulous” by Suffocation.  However, the campaign plans to keep distributing the 30,000 Carcass themed “Festerday In America” pro-Obama tee-shirts  that they have been handing to supporters at campaign rallies.

This is not the first time that an American political campaign has run into trouble over the use of a song.  Back in 1984, Bruce Springsteen strongly objected to Ronald Reagan’s use of “Born in the USA” as a campaign anthem.  In 1840, the band Cattle Decapitation went to court to stop William Henry Harrison from using the song “I Eat Your Skin” in several television commercials.

Occasionally, however, metal bands lend their support to help a campaign.  In 2000, metal godfathers Death re-recorded their first album under the new title of “Scream Albert Gore”, in order to support the Democratic Presidential candidate.  While Gore did not become President, the album was credited with helping him win the hotly contested State of Florida in his campaign against George W Bush.