[11/19/2002 9:04:19 AM | Michael Flaherty]
Campaign songs, which date back to William Henry Harrison using “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” for his 1840 presidential bid, are today, an integral – if not essential – component of elections worldwide. Past pairings of world leaders and musical artists include Bush and Billy Ray, Blair and D:Ream (not to mention Spice Girl Geri Halliwell), Chirac and Daft Punk.

The latest match-up: Saddam and Whitney.

Days before Iraqi citizens voted on whether to keep President Saddam Hussein in power, media reports revealed that the country’s absolute ruler chose Whitney Houston’s version of “I will always love you,” as his reelection campaign song.

The non-stop television broadcasts of pro-Hussein footage accompanied by a pirated, Arabic bootleg of the song prompted the first strike in America’s impending war with Iraq: on Oct. 14, New York-based Arista Records, Houston’s label, mailed a cease and desist order addressed to President Saddam Hussein – Iraq Mission to the UN, according to Laura Swanson, the company’s director of publicity.

An Arista executive, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the company will not seek further action beyond the cease and desist, a common legal tool in the music industry that legally bars Hussein from further use of the song. As of last week, Iraq had not sent any official response, nor had the country sent any royalty checks. Arista would not comment on whether they expected any kind of compensation in return, in the form of either cash, oil or weapons of mass-destruction.

“It’s the oddest thing, honestly. Wouldn’t you have liked to be in that meeting when [Hussein] chose her song?” said the executive.

Unfortunately for Arista, by the time the cease and desist order arrived in Baghdad, Hussein was claiming victory. On Oct. 16, Iraqi officials announced that their president had earned 100 percent of the vote in his uncontested reelection bid. With a ballot that said simply yes or no, 11.4 million voters reportedly checked yes, either in loyal support to Hussein, in fear of their lives should they vote otherwise, or perhaps in hopes of ending further exposure to broadcasts of Houston’s decade-old love song.

Arista’s cease and desist order, while late, ideally deters the dictator from playing the song in seven years when he is up for reelection. By that time, however, it is likely that Hussein will learn that “I will always love you” is politically inappropriate: it’s no longer popular and the song is about breaking up.

Hussein is not alone, however, in erroneously choosing a tune with a meaning counter to the leader’s intent. President Ronald Reagan in 1984 selected as his reelection song “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen. Reagan thought the song was about American patriotism. “Born in the U.S.A.” in fact was written about a Vietnam veteran returning to the states unwelcome and disappointed in his country. Either to save Reagan further embarrassment or to stand by his party (Springsteen is a Democrat), the Boss Man demanded that president drop the song.

The fact that Hussein chose “I will always love you” shows that he was trying to appeal to a western audience. Not a western audience abroad, but right there in downtown Baghdad. The Arista vs. Hussein squabble might act as a reminder to the U.S. that Iraq is not the Taliban. Rather, Iraq is a westernized country, hip to the current musical, film and clothing trends. Hussein himself brought to his people the traits of American society and culture.

“This guy was our guy. He’s not an Islamic fundamentalist. He’s western trained and western educated. When you strip away all of the political problems, Iraq is much more of a western country than we think,” said Arab-American journalist Ray Hanania, a Pulitzer finalist and a 30-year veteran of the trade. Hanania was not at all surprised that Iraq’s president of 23 years chose a former American Top 40 tune as his reelection jingle.

“I’m just surprised he has such poor taste,” he added.

Ahmad, a 30-something software engineer who works just south of San Francisco, has 20 aunts and uncles, plus a dozen or so cousins living in Baghdad. He keeps in touch with them over the phone and through email. His cousins and their friends are hip to the current music scene and their parents enjoy watching reruns of “Friends” and “ER.” The general response to Hussein’s campaign song was “ridicule and disgrace,” he said.

“The playing of that song just proves the disparity between the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people. The government is out of touch,” Ahmad said, adding that the song was the “whip cream on top of Hussein’s mockery of a campaign.”

Houston’s version of “I will always love you” topped the musical charts in 1991, although Country Music’s, Dolly Parton, wrote the song eleven years earlier.

Parton made “a literal fortune” from the royalties of the song, according to one of Houston’s former assistants. When asked what she felt about Hussein’s use of her original song, Parton appears to have missed the irony. Through her spokesperson, Kim Fowler, Parton replied “I was as surprised as anyone. But it’s too serious an issue to comment on.”

- Michael Flaherty

[11/19/2002 9:04:19 AM | Michael Flaherty]

Campaign songs, which date back to William Henry Harrison using “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” for his 1840 presidential bid, are today, an integral – if not essential – component of elections worldwide. Past pairings of world leaders and musical artists include Bush and Billy Ray, Blair and D:Ream (not to mention Spice Girl Geri Halliwell), Chirac and Daft Punk.

The latest match-up: Saddam and Whitney.

Days before Iraqi citizens voted on whether to keep President Saddam Hussein in power, media reports revealed that the country’s absolute ruler chose Whitney Houston’s version of “I will always love you,” as his reelection campaign song.

The non-stop television broadcasts of pro-Hussein footage accompanied by a pirated, Arabic bootleg of the song prompted the first strike in America’s impending war with Iraq: on Oct. 14, New York-based Arista Records, Houston’s label, mailed a cease and desist order addressed to President Saddam Hussein – Iraq Mission to the UN, according to Laura Swanson, the company’s director of publicity.

An Arista executive, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the company will not seek further action beyond the cease and desist, a common legal tool in the music industry that legally bars Hussein from further use of the song. As of last week, Iraq had not sent any official response, nor had the country sent any royalty checks. Arista would not comment on whether they expected any kind of compensation in return, in the form of either cash, oil or weapons of mass-destruction.

“It’s the oddest thing, honestly. Wouldn’t you have liked to be in that meeting when [Hussein] chose her song?” said the executive.

Unfortunately for Arista, by the time the cease and desist order arrived in Baghdad, Hussein was claiming victory. On Oct. 16, Iraqi officials announced that their president had earned 100 percent of the vote in his uncontested reelection bid. With a ballot that said simply yes or no, 11.4 million voters reportedly checked yes, either in loyal support to Hussein, in fear of their lives should they vote otherwise, or perhaps in hopes of ending further exposure to broadcasts of Houston’s decade-old love song.

Arista’s cease and desist order, while late, ideally deters the dictator from playing the song in seven years when he is up for reelection. By that time, however, it is likely that Hussein will learn that “I will always love you” is politically inappropriate: it’s no longer popular and the song is about breaking up.

Hussein is not alone, however, in erroneously choosing a tune with a meaning counter to the leader’s intent. President Ronald Reagan in 1984 selected as his reelection song “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen. Reagan thought the song was about American patriotism. “Born in the U.S.A.” in fact was written about a Vietnam veteran returning to the states unwelcome and disappointed in his country. Either to save Reagan further embarrassment or to stand by his party (Springsteen is a Democrat), the Boss Man demanded that president drop the song.

The fact that Hussein chose “I will always love you” shows that he was trying to appeal to a western audience. Not a western audience abroad, but right there in downtown Baghdad. The Arista vs. Hussein squabble might act as a reminder to the U.S. that Iraq is not the Taliban. Rather, Iraq is a westernized country, hip to the current musical, film and clothing trends. Hussein himself brought to his people the traits of American society and culture.

“This guy was our guy. He’s not an Islamic fundamentalist. He’s western trained and western educated. When you strip away all of the political problems, Iraq is much more of a western country than we think,” said Arab-American journalist Ray Hanania, a Pulitzer finalist and a 30-year veteran of the trade. Hanania was not at all surprised that Iraq’s president of 23 years chose a former American Top 40 tune as his reelection jingle.

“I’m just surprised he has such poor taste,” he added.

Ahmad, a 30-something software engineer who works just south of San Francisco, has 20 aunts and uncles, plus a dozen or so cousins living in Baghdad. He keeps in touch with them over the phone and through email. His cousins and their friends are hip to the current music scene and their parents enjoy watching reruns of “Friends” and “ER.” The general response to Hussein’s campaign song was “ridicule and disgrace,” he said.

“The playing of that song just proves the disparity between the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people. The government is out of touch,” Ahmad said, adding that the song was the “whip cream on top of Hussein’s mockery of a campaign.”

Houston’s version of “I will always love you” topped the musical charts in 1991, although Country Music’s, Dolly Parton, wrote the song eleven years earlier.

Parton made “a literal fortune” from the royalties of the song, according to one of Houston’s former assistants. When asked what she felt about Hussein’s use of her original song, Parton appears to have missed the irony. Through her spokesperson, Kim Fowler, Parton replied “I was as surprised as anyone. But it’s too serious an issue to comment on.”

- Michael Flaherty