Republicans Grab Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle" for Anti-Stimulus Plan Commercial

Even after the election, Republicans keep finding new ways to use classic rock to spread their messages. In the video above, the Republican Whip, Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, has borrowed Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle" to stress that they are just not that into Barack Obama's stimulus plan. But while the GOP made it a point to use liberal-minded artists' music in campaign ads during the John McCain's presidential run, this time around there won't be any controversy as Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry proclaimed he's on Team Republican during campaign season.

The use of "Back in the Saddle" also echoes Rep. Cantor's belief that "The House GOP is back," the Huffington Post says, because the House Republicans banded their tiny together and voted against a stimulus plan that still passed anyway, even though the plan will spend "millions on golf carts" as the video declares.

The video itself is nothing to fancy, just white words and a black screen. The Rock Daily video department could probably make the same commercial in about 90 seconds blindfolded using only Final Cut Pro. Plus, the sound quality of this "Back in the Saddle" is reminiscent of a bootleg of a bootleg.

Jackson Browne, the Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, John Mellencamp, Heart and Boston's Tom Scholz are among the long list of artists that fought back against the GOP after the party used their music without permission in commercials and on the campaign trail. For more on the Republicans' use of classic rock, check out Rolling Stone's investigation "Stop Using My Song, Republicans!": A Guide to Disgruntled Rockers.

Related Stories:

• Jackson Browne Sues John McCain Over Campaign Commercial
• GOP's Use of "Right Now" Leads to Sammy Hagar-Eddie Van Halen Phone Tag

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Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

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