As the election approaches, some of rock & roll's biggest
artists are embarking on a tour with an unprecedented message: Vote
for change. While musicians have played benefits for candidates in
the past, nothing on this scale has ever been attempted: a nine-day
tour of Ohio, Florida and seven other swing states, culminating on
October 11th in a historic concert in Washington, D.C. Spearheaded
by Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews Band, Dixie Chicks and R.E.M.,
the tour is expected to raise $10 million to mobilize voters. On
the eve of this ambitious undertaking, ROLLING STONE asked
twenty-six artists to discuss why they're voting - and why this
election is so important.
Dave Matthews
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
I'm an immigrant and America has been great to me. This country
represents a dream of what people of widely varying backgrounds can
create together. This election is not only about what this country
is now. It's also about what it can be. I'm an American, and it's
my responsibility to say what I think. With what I see in the world
today, I cannot justify not standing up and saying, "I feel with
every bone in my body that this country is going in the wrong
direction."
We've got to get somebody new in the White House. Being from
South Africa, I know how much the rest of the world fears the
United States right now. It's like if the world is a room, and
everybody is in there, and suddenly somebody walks in who is
seething and has headphones on, and the music is playing really
loud, and he's armed. That's the way the world sees us. Everyone is
on tiptoes, afraid of what this country might do. It's bound to
scare everybody.
Natalie Maines
DIXIE CHICKS
Do I fault Bush for skipping out during Vietnam and using his
wealth to get him out of the war? Not at all. I would do the same
thing to protect my child. Is it cowardice? Probably, but I'm a big
coward myself. What sickens me is how Bush is trying to base his
entire election on September 11th, as if he owns that day. I hope
people don't fall for that. Bush took us into war for his own
personal vendetta and for the personal gain of his cronies in the
oil business. Yes, there was an evil man in power in Iraq, but now
we're killing innocent people. If the media showed us the deaths of
women and children being hit by our bombs, people would be
outraged. I want the killing to stop. I want our soldiers to come
home.
Fat Mike
NOFX
Once you know the facts, there's no question whether you should
vote for Bush or Kerry. One of them represents the most elite
people in America; the other is funded by labor unions and
environmental groups. One wants prayer in school; the other
doesn't. One thinks guns don't need safety devices; the other does.
The stakes are too high - I'll take my chances with the guy that's
backed by the Sierra Club rather than Halliburton.
People tell me, "You are a drunk and you play in a punk band.
Why the fuck should we listen to you?" Musicians travel the world,
and we see the hatred against America. We put out
Rock Against
Bush
to get information out, because the media aren't doing
their job. The response has been incredible. We've found that kids
mostly care about the economy. I talked to this one kid in North
Carolina who works at Kentucky Fried Chicken. He heard Michael
Moore mentioned in one of our songs, so he went out and saw
Fahrenheit 9/11 and got the entire work crew at KFC to register to
vote. That is the grass roots - you touch a few people, and then
they touch a few people. It keeps me going.
It pisses me off when people call us unpatriotic. True
patriotism is loving your country enough to try to make it better.
We are fucking traveling the country to spread the word. That is
what patriotism is.
Ryan Key
YELLOWCARD
I voted for Bush in 2000. I was fresh out of high school. That's
the way my parents were voting, so I just voted that way. If I
could take it back, I would. Our president has pulled a blanket of
fear over the country. He told us he had reasons to go to war, but
where are the good-old weapons of mass destruction?
I've met so many people whose loved ones have died in Iraq. A
woman named Cindy, whose husband was shot down in his F-18, came
backstage at one of our concerts and collapsed in tears - she was
hysterical with grief. She gave me her husband's picture. We talked
about the election and how upset we were that her husband had to be
where he was in the first place. That finalized it for me. If
people who look to the commander in chief for support and wisdom
don't trust him, it's time for a new one. That's all there is to
it.
Chuck D
PUBLIC ENEMY
Today is the first day of school for my kids. I got one in eleventh
grade and another in fifth grade. The older one looks upon this
election almost like it's pop culture. One day she asked me about
Fahrenheit 9/11, and she was talking about it like it was the
latest Usher concert. You know, it's gonna be her world. And when a
bunch of fifty- and sixty-year-olds fuck it up for them, that's not
a cool thing. Sending these twenty- and thirty-year-olds overseas
to fight and die, what the hell is that all about? The real axis of
evil is Bush and Cheney. They have detached America from the rest
of the planet by invading Iraq. Whenever people start saying God
anointed them to do something, it's a turnoff, because I don't
think anyone has God's beeper number.
Boyd Tinsley
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
I've gone to Walter Reed Hospital and spent some time with kids who
have lost their arms and legs fighting in Iraq. They're eighteen,
nineteen, twenty years old, and they're the kind of kids who go to
Dave Matthews Band concerts. They're brave and strong and willing
to fight. But maybe they're fighting a war they didn't have to
fight. We respect our Republican fans. But as a band, we all feel
that the country is not going in the right direction.
Adam Levine
MAROON 5
I don't trust George Bush. I think he's a pawn. The people who are
running this country are extremely intelligent; I think George Bush
is just as much in the dark as I am, and it scares the shit out of
me. He's about as far from a regular guy as possible. When your
father is head of the CIA, then president of this country, and you
breezed your way through college and dodged the draft, that doesn't
make you a regular guy. Bush comes from privilege, and he has led
an extraordinarily easy life.
I don't know when Republicans decided that being stubborn was a
sign of integrity. Part of being a good president is being able to
change directions when necessary, but Bush is inflexible. I'm
worried about how dire things are in this country, but I have faith
that Americans will get together and realize that we can live
together securely if John Kerry is elected. I have been apathetic
as a voter. But now I realize that the most important thing
eighteen-year-olds can do is vote.
Adam Horovitz
BEASTIE BOYS
I don't understand the George Bush argument. If you wanna argue
Republican or Democrat, that's one thing, but Bush - I haven't seen
the argument as to why this guy should get four more years. I don't
see why he should be running a baseball team, let alone be
president. At one of the Democratic debates, Al Sharpton said, "I
can guarantee that any one of us on the stage right now in his
sleep would make a better president than George Bush."
What's at stake in this election? War. People's freedoms around
the world and here at home. Women's right to choose, prayer in
school, my grandmother getting medicine - the list could keep on
going. This election really does seem crucial. If Bush gets
re-elected, he will feel like the possibilities are limitless, that
he can really do whatever he wants.
Jeff Tweedy
WILCO
When people ask why this election is so close, I can't explain it.
It's like trying to figure out how Billy Ray Cyrus sold 10 million
records. The Republicans have done an extremely good job of
appropriating populist themes. They somehow make it seem as though
they're a party of the people, even though their policies hurt some
of their most ardent supporters.
Bush's hypocrisy is simply staggering. He argues that stem-cell
research is not justified because of the sanctity of unborn life -
yet he insists that dropping bombs on innocent people will lead to
a better world. I'm also worried that if he is re-elected, he may
have the chance to appoint more conservative judges to the Supreme
Court. He could undo three generations of progress in this country
toward civil equality and women's rights.
I will vote for John Kerry, and I'll do it with a good
conscience. I believe that he's our only shot at steering this ship
back to some calmer waters. I agree that Kerry has flip-flopped on
some ideas, but I take that as a sign of intelligence. I trust
someone more if he re-examines his positions and has the ability to
be introspective. There's no end to the horrific things you can do
when you believe you're always right.
Alicia Keys
It's important for all of us to be aware of what's going on. I know
it hurts to pay attention. Sometimes you're like, "I don't want to
think about this crap." For young people, especially, it seems like
politicians aren't speaking about our lives. But Kerry is
passionate, and he's trying to get young people to pay attention,
so that's pretty cool. He understands that we need to do more to
improve education. So many dollars have been taken out of the
schools under Bush, and they just get worse and worse.
To me, Bush comes off like a person reading a script. I thought
his response to September 11th was very insincere. The entire time,
he seemed disconnected, like he didn't experience the same thing
the rest of us experienced. He rushed into the war in Iraq
abruptly, like a boy playing with a truck: "This is my truck! You
stepped on it, so I'm throwing your truck out the window!" It
wasn't handled the way a real adult would handle a situation.
John Mellencamp
The polarization caused by this election is not good for anyone. I
played "Pink Houses" at an Indianapolis Colts game recently, and
people booed. This is in Indiana! I've never been booed there in my
life. Kerry-Edwards offers us a fresh start. It is a ticket of
hope.
During the Vietnam War, you couldn't turn on the TV without
seeing an image that made you sick. Guys with legs blown off, guys
just lying there dead. It made our nation say, "Fuck this! Even if
we win, we lose." If the media showed that stuff now, people would
have a whole different take on Iraq.
I'm afraid they're going to reinstitute the draft. I have
daughters who are nineteen, twenty-two and thirty. If Bush gets
re-elected, those Mellencamps are all going to be in the Army. So
might you.
Melissa Etheridge
For women, our road will always be more difficult - yet all the
Bush administration does is put huge potholes in our way. John
Kerry has consistently been on the side of equal opportunity, and
he supports a woman's right to choose. He is a smart man. He knows
that the subject of same-sex marriage will be resolved within the
next decade in the courts, and all he has to do is stay out of the
way. He was one of only nineteen senators who voted against the
Defense of Marriage Act - he knew it wasn't right, and he knew what
the future holds. I just want a president who will not stand in the
way of change, and John Kerry will not.
Tom DeLonge
BLINK-182
My brother is a member of the Special Forces stationed in the
Middle East, so I have a direct connection to the war in Iraq. When
Blink-182 played there six months into the conflict, the troops
were not happy about their friends getting shot at and dying. They
want to believe that what they're doing is worth their lives. But
every reason Bush gave for invading has been found to be wrong.
Before he was elected president, he bankrupted three companies,
was an alcoholic for a while and had six years of government
experience. His decision-making process and communication skills
are so bad that there's nothing he can do without pissing off the
world. Kerry would restore respect for America. He understands that
there are great cultures and great thinkers across the globe. He
won the military's second-highest honor in Vietnam, and he spent
twenty years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The guy has
so much experience it's unreal. He deserves a shot.
Bush is like someone's old dad who just doesn't get it, a person
who's not able to grow or change. Among musicians, no one is
backing Bush. Except for Ted Nugent, the guy who wears
loincloths.
Serj Tankian
SYSTEM OF A DOWN
Bush and Cheney and their whole team have been a disaster for the
U.S. and the rest of the world. The U.N. has been neutralized as a
peaceful solution to conflict. The war in Iraq has become a brutal
occupation; our soldiers die not knowing why they were sent there
in the first place. We went from a surplus economy to a high
deficit. Unemployment is up, the dollar is down, and the
environment is weeping. We need someone with a high degree of both
intelligence and compassion in the White House, someone deserving
of the good will of the American people. Bush and Co. do not
deserve us as their public.
Steve Earle
We are engaged in a war with fundamentalist Islam that we can't
win. But we have a president who has become a fundamentalist
himself, and he thinks he can win it. The administration is fond of
saying that the terrorists hate us because we're free. That's not
true - they hate us because we support the House of Saud and
Israel. Until we're willing to talk about those two things, we're
going to be in big trouble.
You can't cut taxes and conquer the world at the same time.
Nobody's ever tried to do that, and the reason is because it's
stupid. What part of world history did Bush miss? The way you build
an empire is you tax the fuck out of your citizens and draft the
fuck outta them, 'cause you have to have an army and you have to
feed them. The thing that scares me more than anything else is that
if Bush is re-elected, he's gonna have to institute a draft next
year. They're gonna need some fresh bodies out there, and they
can't do that without a draft. I've got a son who's twenty-two and
a son who's seventeen, so I've got a dog in this fight. That's why
I support John Kerry.
Mike D
BEASTIE BOYS
I have no sense of Bush as a man. It's impossible to distinguish
his personal interests from the interests of those closest to him.
What is his own agenda, vs. the agenda of guys like Dick Cheney and
Paul Wolfowitz? I don't think I've ever heard him speak on an issue
where it seemed to be coming directly from himself.
John Kerry offers the promise of returning to the democratic
system I was brought up believing in. He wants to provide the
opportunity and education and health care we deserve. He wants to
safeguard the welfare of all citizens, especially the poor - not
just those who have the most. He wants to get us back to being a
responsible and respected world citizen, as opposed to a careless,
misdirected, hated bully. It's really one of history's great lost
opportunities that we squandered all the good will we enjoyed from
the rest of the world after September 11th.
Mickey Hart
THE DEAD
The front page is filled with Iraq, terrorism, the deficit, all
these giant threats. It's like we've got a bad CEO. Nothing
personal, Mr. Bush, but I don't think you're running this country
well. I think you're running it into the ground, and it's my
personal opinion that we need a regime change. You're fired. That's
all. Nothing personal, man. Maybe we'll go out and have a glass of
wine sometime and talk about it after the election. He might be a
charming guy. But, boy, is he a fucked CEO.
Will.i.am
BLACK EYED PEAS
This election is not about the war in Iraq - it's about the war
we're neglecting in our own country. We should be more concerned
about people who are on drugs, who can't get a meal, who aren't
being educated. Our education system is fucked up. Teachers are
getting paid nickels, and I'm getting lots of money to rhyme cat
with bat. This election should be about how we are doing as a
whole. From that standpoint, I think Bush has been a horrible
president. There are people all over the world who depend on us,
but they think we don't care about them - we'd rather watch
American Idol
. Bush doesn't understand that there is so
much we can learn from the rest of the world. We're not in the
world by ourselves, but we act like we are.
Moby
It's important to get swing voters to support Kerry. But it's also
important to communicate with conservative Republicans and say,
"Listen, by traditional conservative criteria, George Bush is a bad
president. His foreign policy is in shambles, his economic policy
is in shambles." You can be conservative and still not like George
Bush. People like him because they think he seems like a strong guy
who would be good to have a BBQ with. But shouldn't you hold the
president to higher standards than who would you like to have a BBQ
with?
Jadakiss
It's about goddamn time people started waking up. I got two kids,
and I don't want no war going on while I'm raising them. Everything
that is happening right now is gonna be their social-studies
lesson. We need to get things on the right track for them. We got
to get some more jobs for people, because that's gonna be the main
problem for years to come. A lot of felons can't get jobs, and that
creates more crime.
There's definitely a lot of hatred for Bush right now. He lost
my trust a long time ago, when I woke up in my bed and found out
the election had been rigged. I think Kerry's aiight. Everyone
always ignores the hood, but I think he's a little bit more for the
people than Bush. I'm for whatever is gonna make a little bit of a
change. It gotta start from a pebble to get to a boulder.
Art Alexakis
EVERCLEAR
I was an elected delegate from Oregon to the Democratic National
Convention. The more I've gotten to know Kerry, the more I think
he's the man for the job. I'm inspired by his humanity and his
strength to be able to say unpopular things. He came back from
Vietnam and said, "We're making a mistake there." This was a
decorated guy, and these horrible Swift-boat people are trying to
make him into a bad guy by picking four words out of a sentence and
repeating them over and over. It's sad. The Republicans refuse to
talk about issues - they just try and make people who are
Christians believe that Bush is the only choice. As a Christian, I
am offended and ashamed by that - but then again, I am offended and
ashamed by most people who call themselves Christian.
Ben Gibbard
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
I voted for Nader in the last two elections, but I'm going to vote
for Kerry this time. If Bush had won an election based on 100
percent of the eligible people voting, I'd be pissed, but I
couldn't complain because I'd at least know I'm in the minority.
But only forty-five percent of the eligible population voted last
time, and less than half of them voted for Bush.
He is like the distant friend who somehow ends up going to the
party with you, and you worry he's going to get drunk and say the
wrong thing and just start talking craziness. He opens his mouth
and I can't trust what's gonna come out of it. By making a fool out
of himself, he makes a fool out of all of us.
Bob Weir
THE DEAD
Ralph Nader is the most arrogant and narcissistic guy I've ever
met. I had a meeting with him in the early Nineties. I was jazzed
going into the meeting, and I was disgusted leaving. I don't think
I've ever met a bigger asshole. If he hadn't run in the last
election, we wouldn't be in Iraq and thousands of people wouldn't
have died needlessly. And still he's well pleased to go in and be
the spoiler again!
Harry Truman said that the one crime more heinous than treason
is war profiteering, and yet we have the company that our vice
president is still on retainer to - which is illegal - making a
huge fortune. Every time the terrorists blow up another pipeline
over there, Halliburton makes millions of dollars pasting it back
together. They don't even have to be pumping oil to be making
money. This is who owns our government now.
Though I've never really endorsed a political candidate before,
I'm going to have to this time. I liked the look in Kerry's eye
when I met him. He looks like an aware human being and a guy with a
sense of humor. So we're just going to have to hope and pray that
the debates go well.
Jackson Browne
The people who are in charge now are old hands who were involved in
the governments of Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush Sr. They're
radicals and zealots whose attitude is "Bring it on." Some of them
want a presence in the Middle East for oil, and some just want a
front-row seat for the apocalypse.
Here at home, it's hard to imagine the number of environmental
gains that have already been rolled back by the Bush
administration. It's like a football game: They have given the ball
to corporate interests and sent them down the field while they
block for them. It's not conservatism - it's just the opposite.
They are using up our natural resources and selling them to the
highest bidder. This administration has no respect for the rule of
law itself. Whenever anyone tries to protect the environment, they
just get their gnarliest and meanest lawyers to out-ugly
everyone.
Eddie Vedder
PEARL JAM
I supported ralph nader in 2000, but it's a time of crisis. We have
to get a new administration in. All of us who supported Ralph last
time should get down on our knees and say, "Can you bow out on
October 3rd? We'll get back to the ideals you're fighting for on
November 3rd."
A year ago it seemed impossible to criticize Bush, because of
September 11th. The Dixie Chicks and Michael Moore were attacked
for speaking out. Now you've got books full of facts that show how
Bush has failed. Those people dissenting a year ago were right.
We have to stop treating the rest of the world like our
subjects. What is the only institution more powerful than the
United States government - one that can move things in a different
direction? It's the American people. It's the voters. That's what I
feel most strongly about: encouraging people who don't normally
vote to understand their responsibility.
Mike Mills
R.E.M.
The vote for change tour is a wake-up call. We may alienate some
fans over this. I don't like that - I prefer to have music stand
apart from political feelings. But this is so important, it's worth
it. If I piss a few people off, good. Because, frankly, I'm scared.
Unlike a lot of political issues, this is literally life or death.
Kerry understands how the world works, in a way that Bush does not.
When Bush ran the first time, I realized something: I want my
president to be smarter than I am. I don't ask much, but I want him
to be smarter than me.