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Maria Rodriguez
Dr. Zavlunov
Special Topics: Music & Politics
3 December 2014
Anti-government Protest Music and Government Response during the Bush Administration
Music has a history of being an outlet for the dissenting opinion and of enabling a
dialogue on all types of social and political issues. During the 1960s, for instance, the issues
protested in the United States were racial inequality equality and the Vietnam War. The first
decade of the twenty-first century, particularly during the Bush administration, saw its fair share
of global conflict and U.S. domestic upheaval. These included: the wars in Iraq and,
Afghanistan. It might not be surprising, then, that any shifts in the musical landscapes of our
culture— particularly those that affect the established authority—solicit the, government
response in the form of censorship. During the Bush years, some artists were targeted for their
oppositional lyrics in their music revolving around the war on terror and government response to
Hurricane Katrina. Unlike protest songs, which were suppressed and marginalized, artists who
praised the actions of the establishment where given air time and reached huge commercial
success.
In 2001, the United States suffered an attack on “Freedom itself” by a “faceless coward”,
an attack that “[shook] the foundations of our biggest buildings…but [could not] dent the steel of
American resolve” (Bush 2001). In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, music

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created a “narrative cohesion in the face of the entropic sting of violent acts” (Ritter and
Daughtry, page 2). An example was the spontaneous choral performance by members of
Congress on the steps of Capitol Hill less than eight hours after the collapse of the World Trade
Center. The assembled politicians sang “From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white
with foam—God Bless America, my home sweet home!” (Ritter and Daughtry 19). This
emotional moment showed unity as a response to violence. Moreover, music played a role in
“reassert[ing] through the performance” (Ritter and Daughtry 19) America’s strength. In other
decades, popular protest music was associated with “rebellion, defiance, protest, opposition and
resistance, but now it was used in service of mourning, healing, patriotism and nation building”
(Ritter and Daughtry 20).
Less than a month later, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan has lasted
thirteen years and continues on, even today. In this conflict, protest music plays a slightly
different role than in the previous American wars: it shows the divides in opinion. Some music
truly protests the war. In many instances, like in Jimmy Cliff’s Afghanistan, song lyrics reflected
a need for “People [got] to stop the war,” and consideration on prior wars, namely, “I remember
Vietnam, I remember Vietnam” (Cliff). Many songs like What are we fighting for? by Live,
questioned the motivation behind the U.S.’s presence in Afghanistan and questioned certain
actions or motivations of the government in the conflict with lyrics like “The world got smaller
but the bombs got bigger, Holocaust on a hairpin trigger, Aint no game so forget the score, What
are we fightin' for? What are we fightin' for? Battle flag in the bassinet, Oil and blood on the
bayonet, what are we fightin' for?”

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On the other side of the argument, there are artists like Toby Keith who supported the
war, singing patriotic songs to show support of government policy, with lyrics like
Statue of Liberty…Started shakin’ her fist. Man, it’s gonna be hell when you hear Mother
Freedom start ringin’ her bell, brought to you Courtesy of the Red White and Blue.
Justice will be served, and the battle will rage, and you’ll be sorry that you messed with
the U.S. of A. `Cause we`ll put a boot in your ass; It`s the American way (Keith verse 4
and 5).
A clear divide of opinion and a change in the “American musical mediascape” had occurred
(Reebee Garofalo, Ed. Ritter and Daughtry, 5). Popular Country music songs, most of which
during this time had content that showed overwhelming support of the Bush administration’s
policy, became “best sellers… [which suggests] that they hit a nerve among large segments of
the U.S populace”, or at least among those who listen to Country (Garofalo, 11). I wondered
after reading Garofalo’s theory if this statement was a true representation of public opinion at
that time. Upon further research, the claim was validated. According to a CBS poll, “Bush’s
highest job approval rating was in October 2001, when 90% approved of the job he was doing as
president” (Garofalo, 25). This is unsurprising due to the fragile state of our country after 9/11,
and it is important to note that the public perception of the government may have been shaped
solely by what the average person was hearing in the mass media. In review of another poll
(Garofalo, 25), we find that Bush’s approval began sinking in the years following, which links to
the rise of protest music in the course of the administration. These trends are important because
they influence the tone of the musical discussion during this time.
The public perception of the Afghanistan war was shaped by the attacks of September
11th. The purpose was to dismantle al-Qaeda’s base of operations in Afghanistan by removing
the Taliban from power. Patriotic sentiment made this war an easy sell, but by the time 2003

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arrives, the public sees that there is no clear “out” of the war in sight. Next, the government is
involving itself in Iraq, and the public is hearing about these “supposed” weapons of mass
destruction. Contradictorily, U.N inspections turn up no evidence supporting these claims. It is
easy for people to get disillusioned, and start questioning the government’s actions. Many
Americans wanted more evidence before any military action occurred; other critics believed that
the act of invading Iraq was illegal because it was committed without U.N approval and, thus,
violated International Law. Public opinion and perception of government action is the lifeblood
that feeds any protest movement.
In 2003, with the onset of the Iraq war, the musical response was one of anger and
discontent. The Iraq war “generated the strongest reaction by popular musicians to any American
military adventure since Vietnam” (Garofalo 9). An example of the strong reaction is rapper
Eminem’s protest song, Mosh, which criticizes the war and George W. Bush. This song is a call
to action that urges Americans to “set aside our differences, and assemble our own army to
disarm, this weapon of mass destruction that we call our President” and reassures that it does not
matter “what color [you are] all that matters… is the cause….Rebel with a rebel yell, raise hell,
we gon’ let ‘em know…until they bring our troops home…strap him[Bush] with an Ak-47 ‘n let
him go fight his own war” (Eminem verse 3 and 5). This is not all that different of a sentiment
than those expressed during Vietnam. By juxtaposing Eminem’s verses with lyrics of Bob
Dylan’s “Masters of War” from 1963, “Come you masters of War ... you fasten all the triggers
for the others to fire, then you set back and watch when the death count gets higher you hide in
your mansion’ as young people’s blood [is spilled]” (Dylan verse 4) shows that there is a
reoccurring theme in these calls to action.

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The Iraq war response, by the mainstream media, differed from that of the reaction to the
War in Afghanistan. During the years 2001 and 2002, “pro-war anthems emerged as best-
sellers…while protest and anti-war music remained [mostly] underground and was seldom heard
on mainstream radio,” but when it came to Iraq the “absence of protest was notable” (Garofalo,
13). This absence was notable because, unlike the war in Afghanistan, world opinion was clearly
against unilateral military action in Iraq. In the United States, there was an established antiwar
movement present even before the war began. It is not that protest music was not being played
because of lack of production, but instead, “plenty of protest music [was being] produced; it
simply wasn’t being played on the radio” (13). “Under the period of suppression and self-
censorship following the passage of the 2001 Patriot Act,”1 and due to a “new level of
consolidation in the radio industry in the wake of the 1996 Telecommunications Act2, there was
a new reason for “a more conservative political climate” on mainstream radio; and companies
with “explicit ties to the Bush administration” were able to gain power through monopolizing
mass-media” (Garofalo, 13). These events are explored further by Ben Bagdikian, in his book
Media Monopoly, who “expressed concern that fifty corporations controlled most of the major
mass-media outlets. By the 1990s, that number had shrunk to fewer than 20 and, as the new
millennium began, it reached single digits: four companies controlling 90% of media” (Garofalo,
1The Patriot Act is a U.S. law passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Its goals are to
strengthen domestic security and broaden the powers of law-enforcement agencies with regards to terrorism
prevention. Critics believe the act gives the government too much power, threatens civil liberties and undermines the
very democracy it seeks to protect.Some observers felt that the passage ofthe Patriot Act had created a climate of
intolerance for opposing viewpoints and caused many artists to censorthemselves.
2 In the 2003 edition of his book, A People'sHistory of the United States,pages 600-610, Howard Zinn wrote about
alternative media, community newspapers and the creation of street newspapers trying the break the corporate
control of information. On that topic, he talked about the Telecommunications Act of 1996: “The
Telecommunications Act of 1996...enabled the handful of corporations dominating the airwaves to expand their
power further. Mergers enabled tighter control of information...The Latin American writer Eduardo Galeano
commented..."Never have so many been held incommunicado by so few."

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14, citing Bagdikian). Four corporations now had the power to control what played—and more
importantly, what did not play— on public airways.
An example of this corporate “censorship” is Clear Channel, the largest radio chain in the
United States. In 1995, before the Telecom Act, “Clear Channel owned forty-three radio stations.
By the early 2000s it had acquired more than 1,200 stations in the U.S” (Garofalo, 15, citing
Bagdikian). This effect on media caused by political action signaled a “narrowing in range of
cultural expression that might speak to topical issues of concern” (15). This signal foreshadowed
the events that occurred immediately following 9/11 when the program director at Clear Channel
began to “circulate a list of more than 150 ‘questionable’ songs as potentially ‘inappropriate’ for
airplay” (Garofalo 15). The list was comprised of choices like Metallica’s “Seek and destroy”,
AC/DC’s “Shot down in flames,” and even more worryingly among the list where all songs by
Rage Against the Machine, which “signaled the threat of censure to an entire body of work”
from a group just due to the radio chain not agreeing with the sentiment they expressed (15).
This is frighteningly reminiscent of the actions taken by the Nazi and the Soviet governments in
censoring media opinion. This commercial censorship resulted in many artists who protested the
war to turn to the Internet; they often posted protest songs as MP3s available for free download.
Although this was an outlet, it often ended up effectively silencing protest music in the public
sphere. Brent Staples argued in The New York Times3, that a
Comparable [protest songs from prior wars, e.g. Vietnam] song of George W.
Bush’s rush to was in Iraq would have no chance at all today. There are plenty of
angry people, many with prime music–buying demographics. But independent
3 In this article Staples makes the argument that corporate control of media was a form of government control due to
the fear by the consolidated corporation to not go against the government or the government would pass some
legislation to limit their control. In fact, Clear Channel’s rallies were timed right before the company had upcoming
“business before the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) which would have allowed the company to
expand even further.

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radio stations that once would have played edgy political music have been
gobbled up by corporations that control hundreds of stations and have no wish to
rock the boat (Staples 2003).
Clear Channel showed that government had a huge amount of power within these corporations.
As the U.S went to war against Iraq there were many antiwar demonstrations around the country.
At the same time a few pro-administration events called the “Rally for America”. They were
describe publically to be grassroots local events, but later it was discovered that the rallies were
organized and sponsored by Clear Channel, and at least two of them had been promoted to the
company’s website (Garofalo, 16). It was also later revealed that the vice chairman of Clear
Channel, Tom Hicks, had ties to the Bush family before George Bush became president. Hicks
was the chairman of the “Investment Management Company, called Utimco, who under his
management invested primarily in companies with strong Republican Party or Bush family ties.”
Hicks helped make “Mr. Bush a multimillionaire” (Krugman 2003). The intimacy of such a
powerful media outlet to the White House brings into question the authenticity of freedom of
expression. In a media outlet with such strong ties to the government, there is a lot to lose if you
sour relations and burn bridges with the people keeping you in power and who control your
industry. This might have motivated Clear Channel to regulate their abundant radio stations to
play only music that would help bolster the Bush administration, and instruct them to disregard
the artists that spoke out against it; thus, their motivations can be traced back to the government.
The censorship of some artists and how that affected the musical landscape of this century is also
an important part of the relationship between the political circumstances of this time period and
the social (and musical) backlash.

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Another instance of censorship in this time period, which began in the same month as the
Iraq war, was the blacklisting of The Dixie Chicks.4 In March 2003, lead singer Natalie Maines
told her audience, while on tour in London, that “We don't want this war, this violence, and we're
ashamed that the President of the United States [Bush] is from Texas.” This caused “the Dixie
chicks [to be] banned on some seventy-four country radio stations in the U.S. The message was
clear: it was not an option to criticize the president during a sensitive period of military
engagement” (Garofalo 12). This is another instance of the media responding in defense of the
government and silencing dissenting opinion. I personally do not understand the real “Patriot’s
don’t dissent” (17) mentality. The mentality that if you speak out against the government then
you deserve to be silenced brings back to mind, with eerie similarity, the actions taken by
oppressive regimes. It is odd to think that the United States dabbles in the behaviors that
represent what we fight against.
After completing my research, I find myself saddened by the biggest irony of these
events. We fought in these wars to preserve freedom, among them the freedom of expression (the
liberty to speak out even if your opinion is not popular) and the freedom of the Press/Media
(where sources of information are not directly dictated by the governing influence at the time).
Domestically, we saw that the media’s ties to the government not only obstructed the freedom of
expression in their screening and censorship of oppositional artists, but in the politics
surrounding media at this time the sources of information that the public had access to were
controlled and influenced by the government. The public was only exposed to what was
4 Dixie Chicks is an American country music band which has also crossed over into othergenres, including
alternative country.The band is composed of founding members (and sisters)Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily
Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines.

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beneficial for the Bush administration. It is disheartening that the freedoms that we sought to
protect were the very same freedoms that domestically were among the first casualties of war.

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Works Cited
Bagdikian, Ben H. The New Media Monopoly. Boston: Beacon, 2004. Print.
Bush, George W. Text of President Bush's Address Tuesday Night, after Terrorist Attacks on New
York and Washington. 11 Sept. 2001. Speech.
Cliff, Jimmy. Afghanistan. Jimmy Cliff-Rebirth Album. 2012. CD.
Dylan, Bob. Masters of War. Album: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Columbia Records, 1963. Vinyl
recording.
Eminem. Mosh. Album: Encore. Rec. 26 Oct. 2004. N.d. MIDI. Protest song by Eminem released as a
digital single, just prior to the 2004 presidential election. The video for the song is available for
free on the Internet and encouraged voters to vote George W. Bush out of office. The song was
excerpted from Eminem's album, Encore, not yet released at the time the video was made
available to the public.
Garofalo, Reebee. "Pop Goes to War, 2001-2004: U.S Popular Music after 9/11." Ed. Jonathan Ritter
and J. Martin. Daughtry. Music in the Post-9/11 World. New York: Routledge, 2007. 3-26. Print.
Grabianowski, Ed. "How the Patriot Act Works" 06 July 2007. HowStuffWorks.com.
<http://people.howstuffworks.com/patriot-act.htm> 04 December 2014.
Keith, Toby. ""Courtesy Of The Red, White, And Blue (The Angry American)" Lyrics." A-Z Lyrics.
Album: Unleased, 2001. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tobykeith/courtesyoftheredwhiteandbluetheangryamerican.html.
Krugman, Paul. “Channels of Influence,” New York Times, 25 March 2003.
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Moody, Nekesa Mumbi, AP Music Writer. "Springsteen Expresses New Orleans' Pain." AP Online.
N.p., 1 May 2006. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
Pianna, Liberro Della. "People's World." The Best Protest Songs of the Decade » Peoplesworld.
People's World, 13 Jan. 2010. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

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Ritter, Jonathan, and J. Martin. Daughtry. Music in the Post-9/11 World. New York: Routledge, 2007.
Print
Staples, Brent. “The trouble with Corporate Radio: The day the protest music died,” New York Times, 20
February 2003
Springsteen, Bruce. How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live. Rec. 13 Apr. 2005. Blind
Alfred Reed (original Writer, Composer, and Performer), 1929. CD. Live Version
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996#cite_note-33>.
Zinn, Howard. A people's history of the United States: 1492-present. [New ed.] New York:
HarperCollins, 2003. Print.