# U.S. Presidents Mentioned in Popular Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647 "2013-03-22T15:32:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/1 "2013-03-22T15:32:36Z")
By “popular songs” I mean to exclude campaign songs and any song that is just a list of the presidents. Also, the song has to refer to the President _as a person_ – otherwise we could end up with hundreds of songs mentioning Washington, D.C. Here are some I can think of: George Washington – “Washington at Valley Forge” by Jim Kweskin Abraham Lincoln – “Abraham, Martin & John” by Dion Warren Harding – “Warren Harding” by Al Stewart John F. Kennedy – “Abraham, Martin & John” by Dion Richard Nixon – “Oh Mommy” by Brewer & Shipley Richard Nixon – “Ohio” by C, S, N & Y (I can’t stop you from just Googling a President’s name and “lyrics”, but if you can do it from memory, you’re obviously much cooler!) ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/2 "2013-03-22T15:33:32Z")
[“ **James K. Polk** ”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9SvJMZs5Rs) - They Might Be Giants (Also mentions **Martin Van Buren** and **James Buchanan** ). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/3 "2013-03-22T15:36:04Z")
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel mentions\*\* Harry Truman\*\*, **Richard Nixon** , **Eisenhower** , and **Reagan**. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/4 "2013-03-22T15:38:45Z")
Sympathy for The Devil - The Stones “I shouted out “who killed the Kennedys?,” when after all it was you and me.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/5 "2013-03-22T15:42:14Z")
The “All in the Family” intro song mentioned Herbert Hoover, but I don’t know that it was a “popular song.” Johnny Cash “Mr. Garfield.” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/6 "2013-03-22T16:02:30Z")
[Jonathan Coulton namedropped them all in one song.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grq5POukbjM) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/7 "2013-03-22T16:04:42Z")
Andrew Jackson (as “Colonel Jackson”): The Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton Franklin Roosevelt: [FDR in Trinidad](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/ry+cooder/fdr+in+trinidad_10245834.html), from Ry Cooder’s _Into the Purple Valley_ album ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/8 "2013-03-22T16:04:52Z")
There’s a lot of Bill Clinton in rap, because he such a playa. One that I remember is **Snoop Dogg’s "Lay Low"** “They call me Jed Clampett for all the bread I got But they call me Bill Clinton for all the head I got” ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/9 "2013-03-22T16:16:53Z")
So Missus R., with all her trimmin’s, Can broadcast a bed from Simmons 'Cause Franklin knows Anything goes! ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/10 "2013-03-22T16:17:08Z")
Harry Truman by Chicago. Nixon is mentioned in David Bowie’s Young Americans. From my school days, the group Up with people had a song called, Freedom isn’t free, with words “There was a man by the name of George, who led a small band of men at valley forge” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/11 "2013-03-22T16:17:35Z")
Bob Dylan’s manic version of [“Must Be Santa”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8qE6WQmNus) includes the chant: _Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton_ (Evidently Gerald Ford gets coal in his stocking.) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/12 "2013-03-22T16:22:18Z")
The Escape Club had a popular hit with Wild Wild West in the 1980’s :…Ronny’s got a new gun…" I’m sure this is a reference to Ronald Reagan and the SDI program. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/13 "2013-03-22T16:23:56Z")
Oh, the Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton mentions just Jackson, as he was not President then, but a soldier. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/14 "2013-03-22T16:24:09Z")
Living Colour’s Cult of Personality includes Kennedy. ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/15 "2013-03-22T16:28:19Z")
Warren Zevon’s “Veracruz” mentions Woodrow Wilson. They Might Be Giants has a song named James K. Polk, about the president of that name. The Misfits “Bullet” is about the JFK assassination and mentions him by name. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/16 "2013-03-22T16:29:56Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel mentions\*\* Harry Truman\*\*, **Richard Nixon** , **Eisenhower** , and **Reagan**. And JFK. Also, two numbers from musicals: “LBJ” from _Hair_ “We’d Like To Thank You, Herbert Hoover” from _Annie_ ETA: Reagan gets a mention in Sting’s “Russians”. And Simply Red’s “Money’s Too Tight To Mention” refers to “Reaganomics”, which probably counts. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/17 "2013-03-22T16:32:36Z")
[Abie Baby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuzInon8qUY), the cast of “Hair”: Emanci-muthafuckin’-pator of the slaves. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/18 "2013-03-22T16:34:09Z")
Kennedy is also mentioned (along with counterpart Khrushchev) in Queen’s Killer Queen. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/19 "2013-03-22T16:41:55Z")
> [@Art\_Rock](#): > > Kennedy is also mentioned (along with counterpart Khrushchev) in Queen’s Killer Queen. Speaking of him, he is mentioned in Car 54 where are you’s, theme song, “Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild”, is that Kennedy airport now? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/20 "2013-03-22T16:45:16Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > Speaking of him, he is mentioned in Car 54 where are you’s, theme song, “Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild”, is that Kennedy airport now? Yes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647.md?page=2)