Sarah "Barracuda" Palin and the Heart of the Matter

Whit Honea — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:24:00 GMT

According to Sarah Palin's sister (CNN interview) the VP nominee's nickname of Barracuda was a result of tenacious d. on the hardwood (we're talking basketball, not Jack Black).

Ann and Nancy Wilson, the sisters/mothers/working women behind the rock band Heart have a different opinion of the name, and as such wrote a little song about it (Like to hear it? Here it go!).

The song "Barracuda," as anyone that has ever been in the same room as me and a radio can attest, is quite possibly my least favorite song ever- or at least second, sandwiched between Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," and the entire catalog of Jethro Tull.

Last night at the conclusion of the Republican National Convention the McCain-Palin ticket blared Heart's song "Barracuda" into the arena. Obviously they were playing on Palin's nickname and yada, yada, yada, we get it.

Heart also got it, and they didn't like it. The sent a cease and desist letter to the GOP and contacted Entertainment Weekly to voice their grievances.

A quick aside- when are politicians doing to start asking for permission? This has been happening more and more, usually to the Republicans as they are using music created by the stereotypical leftness that is the recording artist. It can't be good to have celebrities bust your chops every time you turn on the stereo. I'm sure John Rich would love to provide the entire soundtrack. Maybe some Jethro Tull?

Perhaps you may think, as the GOP must have, that the Wilson sisters, both working mothers (Nancy had twin boys in 2000 with husband Cameron Crowe) would be delighted to have their hit played behind Sarah Palin and, according to Wolf Blitzer, "an excellent balloon and confetti drop," but no, they weren't.

Here is their statement:

"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."

They then told EW, "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. The song 'Barracuda' was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The 'barracuda' represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there's irony in Republican strategists' choice to make use of it there."

What do you think? Is the artist entitled to say who can listen to their music and where, or is a large, organized and televised event subject to the same rules that govern other TV shows?

To be fair, Obama also used a song without permission, but the artists in that case, Brooks and Dunn, chose to be flattered despite not endorsing the politics of it.

Here's my humble opinion, I think that Brooks and Dunn rolled with it because the use of their song at the DNC probably opened them up to a new audience. I think Heart is upset because a) it's Sarah Palin, and b) the best way to stretch their thrust back into the spotlight is to grab said spotlight. There is no such thing as bad publicity and even though their anger may be geniune and justified, the cynic in me knows a good marketing ploy when I see it.

I just hope "Barracuda" doesn't go back into heavy rotation.

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Sarah "Barracuda" Palin and the Heart of the Matter