Dave Matthews, Jay-Z, Weiland Step Up Obama Support

With this being the second-to-last weekend before Election Day, the music world is gearing up its support for Barack Obama. First, Dave Matthews and his frequent collaborator Tim Reynolds will play a free show, dubbed the "Last Chance for Change", in Richmond, Virginia. Tickets are available at a first-come, first-serve basis Obama campaign offices in both Richmond and Charlottesville, which was the birthplace of the Dave Matthews Band. Jay-Z will continue his string of Obama benefit shows with a free rally and concert in Cleveland, Ohio on October 29th. Another "Last Chance for Change" show, Jigga will be joined by LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers at the event.

And just in case Obama needed the support of the swing Stone Temple Pilots bloc, Scott Weiland announced that he's supporting the Democratic candidate for president. "Barack Obama is the leader, the listener and the visionary with international respect to take us from the depths of where we are today and bring us to a new place where dreams are made; that place is called America," Weiland said on his website. Lastly, Obama will finally make his long-awaited appearance at Chicago's Grant Park, the site of the Lollapalooza festival, for a rally on the evening of Election Day, November 4th. With early predictions estimating a crowd of 100,000+, Obama is expected to draw more people to the park than Radiohead, Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails manage to draw this past summer.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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