John McCain Will Stop Playing Mellencamp Songs at Rallies

Four days after John Mellencamp's reps asked John McCain to stop playing his songs "Our Country" and "Pink Houses" at his rallies, the Republican frontrunner's campaign spokesman announced today that Mellencamp's songs would no longer be played as McCain's rallying cry. Mellencamp, a noted liberal who was supporting John Edwards, took umbrage with McCain using his music as he traveled from primary state to primary state trying to prove to his party that he is a "true conservative." According to Mellencamp's publicist, "If you're such a true conservative, why are you playing songs that have a very populist pro-labor message written by a guy who would find no argument if you characterized him as left of center?" McCain's people agreed, and have ceased playing the songs.

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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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