The sounds of alliance

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This article was published 09/10/2015 (3644 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In October 2009, Prime Minister Stephen Harper sat down at a piano and, with the a little help from his friend, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, serenaded a packed room at the National Arts Centre Gala in Ottawa with a spot-on version of the Beatles’ tune With A Little Help From My Friends.

The combination of Harper and Ma hardly screams youthful exuberance, but that didn’t matter.

What mattered was this particular PM, known for his stern demeanour and tight grasp on his public image, was on stage singing, taking a chance at looking — and sounding — ridiculous.

What mattered, for maybe the first time, was many of the Harper haters in Canada had something, albeit something small, to relate to.

What mattered was that for a brief moment, a cooler, more casual image of Harper was successfully projected — all thanks to the Beatles.

Music as a form of personal branding is nothing new — politicians have been using music for generations to get their messages across in a less preachy, more approachable and, not to mention, catchy way. But politicians kicked it up a notch in the ’80s and ’90s, notably with American presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Current White House resident Barack Obama has taken full advantage of the impact music can have on the voting public.

So, it is hard to take Harper’s camp at face value, claiming there was no big thinking behind his musical interlude. However, experts say that one song was part of a much larger orchestrated performance.

“One starts seeing the musical amateurism at exactly the same time that you start seeing him in sweater vests with kitty-cats — it’s a kind of softening of image,” says John Higney, music instructor at Carleton University in Ottawa and author of the paper Mixing Pop and Politics: Stephen Harper’s Musical Amateurism as Personal Branding.

“So what one sees is the use of musical amateurism as a kind of construction of a softer-around-the-edges politician as an everyman with an interior life we can all get behind.”

For Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, who don’t necessarily need the same kind of softening Harper does, music offers a way to extend a hand to young voters, the 18-24 demographic they desperately need at the polls.

Here, song choice is key, because “when you have someone who is less in touch and tries to do it, it comes across much more forced and fabricated,” says Dr. Jonathan Millen, professor of communication and associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts, Education and Sciences at Rider University in New Jersey.

“The politicians who are more youthful in their disposition — which would include popular culture — absolutely have a leg up,” adds Millen, who co-wrote the paper Music as Rhetoric: Popular Music in Presidential Campaigns.

“I think that goes back, in the States, to (Bill) Clinton, who was very vocal about his love of rock ’n’ roll music and he would play his saxophone on the late-night shows and he got Fleetwood Mac to reunite and perform for him (at his 1993 Inaugural Ball). And the whole Rock the Vote movement with MTV was a youth-led movement, and Clinton rode that all the way to the White House. Ever since then, you can’t ignore it.”

Enter, the playlist — another evolution in how music reaches the masses, particularly the masses under the age of 30. Instead of one anthemic song with a distinct message that may or may not strike a chord with voters, campaigns can choose multiple songs, hoping everybody finds something to connect with.

Take the sitting president, for example. Want to hear the songs played at his inauguration? Or First Lady Michelle Obama’s workout playlist? It’s all there at the click of a button on streaming-service Spotify. Obama’s playlists are a small window into his personal life, making even the leader of the free world a relatable guy.

We reached out to the leaders of the four main Canadian parties — Conservative, NDP, Liberal and Green — to find out what songs are blasting out of speakers on the campaign trail:

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau

1. Funeral Sky, Reuben and the Dark

2. Like a Man, Adam Cohen

3. Wavin’ Flag, K’naan

4. La forêt des mal-aimés, Pierre Lapointe

5. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, soundtrack

In an effort to remain the coolest and hippest of the bunch, Trudeau’s camp was the first to reply with perhaps the most eclectic of the playlists submitted.

K’naan’s Wavin’ Flag is a given, a French-language track is practically mandatory and even the rather odd choice of a Reuben and the Dark instrumental song still falls within his “I know what the kids like” mandate.

But Walter Mitty? Granted, it’s a great soundtrack, but it’s not Canadian (the other four tracks are) and, comparing it to the other selections, which all have varying but distinct political undertones, it stands out as an odd choice.

One could argue that, on its surface, this list of songs seems non-political. But delving a bit deeper reveals the just-alternative-enough choices are actually well-thought-out decisions that further promote the 43-year-old Trudeau’s youthful and fun, yet intelligent, persona. Or, he could just really like Walter Mitty.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair

1. Meet me in the Basement, Broken Social Scene

2. Wake Up, Arcade Fire

3. L’Amour, Karim Ouellet

4. We’re All in This Together, Sam Roberts

5. The Gate, Sam Roberts

Mulcair provided a much more by-the-book collection, though the playlist gives the distinct impression he is trying to keep up with Trudeau in terms of relating to younger voters.

This is evident in the Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire tracks, two indie-darling bands that most people over the age of 50 have never heard of.

Mulcair, too, chose to include both a French-language song and an instrumental track, and then we have a pair of songs from beloved Canadian rocker Sam Roberts. We’re All in This Together is the NDP campaign theme song, and, says Higney, it promotes an idea of collectivity.

“The idea of people working together is in the DNA of the song, and it’s going to skew in terms of demographic, it’s going to be younger, it’s going to be more alternative.”

The NDP playlist is far more overtly political in its selections, but the desired effect is still to emit a casual coolness that will entice young voters to see Mulcair as less of a 60-year-old bearded grandpa and more of a fun uncle.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May

1. Green Dream, Raffi

2. I Remember Canada, Theresa Doyle

3. Take Back This Land, Bill Henderson & Chilliwack

4. Heart of Gold, Neil Young

5. Harperman, Tony Turner

Elizabeth May and her Green party are not pulling any punches with their playlist. The message is loud and clear: Canada needs a leader who is not Stephen Harper.

The titles alone conveys that message, and, just in case May’s stance on the current government wasn’t clear enough, the last song, Harperman, should be a dead giveaway. The protest song, written by Ottawa musician Tony Turner, features lyrics such as, “We want you gone, gone, gone… Harperman it’s time for you to go.”

Not a lot of room for interpretation on that one.

For May, 61, her musical selections seem less about corralling her own votes and more about persuading people not to vote for Harper.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper

1. Better Now, Collective Soul

2. With a Little Help From My Friends, the Beatles

3. Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond

4. The Seeker, The Who

5. Sweet Child O’ Mine, Guns n’ Roses

Harper’s camp did not respond to our request, so we compiled a playlist that includes his campaign song for the past three elections, Better Now by American alt-rock group Collective Soul, and songs he has been documented performing at different charitable and Conservative party events during the past six years.

The choice of campaign song is unsurprising, not only because of the repeated use, but because of the vibe it gives off.

“It’s a modern-rock genre and it’s a very classic rock, riff-driven tune that’s going to skewer towards the demographics who listen to that modern rock, which is suburban and rural and a lot of men,” notes Higney.

The part that is a bit of a shock is the lack of Canadian content. Take from that what you will — again, maybe he just really likes that song — but it’s interesting the 56-year-old prime minister of Canada is selling his platform to the sounds of an American band.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel

Erin Lebar
Manager of audience engagement for news

Erin Lebar spends her time thinking of, and implementing, ways to improve the interaction and connection between the Free Press newsroom and its readership.

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