# 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:** 2
**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, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/21 "2013-03-22T16:47:11Z")
If I Only Had a Brain > [@](#): > > With the thoughts you’d be thinkin’ > You could be another Lincoln > If you only had a brain ---
**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, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/22 "2013-03-22T16:52:05Z")
Todd Rundgren: “Hiroshima” - “Harry, Harry, give 'em hell” Elvis Costello: “Eisenhower Blues” (orig. J.B. Lenoir) - Eisenhower Dream Academy: “Life in a Northern Town” - John F. Kennedy Country Joe & the Fish: “Superbird” - LBJ Curtis Mayfield: “(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go” - Nixon Frank Zappa’s “Titties and Beer” gets bonus VP points for “Why, there was Milhous Nixon, and Agnew too!” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/23 "2013-03-22T16:52:06Z")
Monotonous by Eartha Kitt namechecks two presidents (and a whole lotta other celebrities): Traffic has been known to stop for me Prices even rise and drop for me Harry S.Truman plays bop for me and Chiang Kai-Shek sends me pots of tea Gaylord Hauser sends me vitamin D And, furthermore, Ike likes me ---
**Author:** ![EMCEE\_98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@EMCEE\_98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EMCEE_98)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/24 "2013-03-22T16:54:56Z")
_Liar_ by Nazareth is all about G.W. Bush, mentioned in the song only as “Dubya:” You couldn’t get elected, Without messing with democracy. You should have been arrested, But you’ve got job security. And weapons in the desert, Dubya knew it wasn’t true. Illiterate. And full of shit, Daddy must be proud of you. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/25 "2013-03-22T17:08:04Z")
The 1965 version of Simon & Garfunkel’s \*A Simple Desultory Philippic \* Mentions LBJ Also, Paul Simon’s **Late Great Johnny Ace** makes mention of “The year after JFK” ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/26 "2013-03-22T17:10:20Z")
A generic reference to the “White House” in XTC’s [Here Comes President Kill Again](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/x/xtc/here+comes+president+kill+again_20147791.html) While not mentioned in the lyrics, Pearl Jam’s [Bu$hleaguer](http://www.elyrics.net/read/p/pearl-jam-lyrics/bushleaguer-lyrics.html) is clearly about GW (He’s not a leader, he’s a Texas leaguer). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/27 "2013-03-22T17:16:56Z")
[Jimmy Carter](http://youtu.be/OVFuyehlLlQ) - Blue Mountain ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/28 "2013-03-22T17:18:55Z")
Phil Ochs had [Here’s to the State of Richard Nixon.](http://vimeo.com/33707701) ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/29 "2013-03-22T17:25:08Z")
Richard Nixon (“Tricky Dick”) in [“Gimme Some Truth”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBpIfVt46Bk) by John Lennon. ---
**Author:** ![birdbrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@birdbrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/birdbrain)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/30 "2013-03-22T17:34:19Z")
The Men, The Church of Logic, Sin, and Lovehttp://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=-0MHnH8oQ9Y&desktop\_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-0MHnH8oQ9Y Mentions JFK ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/31 "2013-03-22T17:45:00Z")
_I Can’t Get Started_, 1936, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, music by Vernon Duke: I’ve been consulted by Franklin D. Greta Garbo has asked me to tea ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/32 "2013-03-22T18:27:15Z")
If reference by epithet counts, then [Bonzo Goes to Bitburg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonzo_Goes_to_Bitburg) by The Ramones. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/33 "2013-03-22T18:30:04Z")
Pato Banton, _Don’t Sniff Coke_: “Ronald Reagan smoke it just before him go up on television.” ---
**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, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/34 "2013-03-22T19:44:08Z")
Out of interest, I’d heard that before Paul Simon was asked to write some songs for “The Graduate” he was working on a little nostalgia number call “Mrs. Roosevelt.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/35 "2013-03-22T20:18:28Z")
If OLD oldies are allowed, there’s “Off the Record” from the musical \*\*\*I’d Rather Be Right \*\*\*by Rodgers and Hart. The song is sung by FDR, and he mentions George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. [http://www.lorenzhart.org/offhterec.htm](http://www.lorenzhart.org/offhterec.htm) George M. Cohan played Roosevelt in the original production, and you can see James Cagney do this number in the movie _ **Yankee Doodle Dandy** _. There are also multiple songs in the musical _ **1776** _ that are sung by (or that mention) John Adams or Thomas Jefferson (like “Sit Down, John,” “But Mr. Adams”). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/36 "2013-03-22T20:33:55Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Andrew Jackson (as “Colonel Jackson”): > The Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton Damn, I thought I’d get there first with this one! ---
**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, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/37 "2013-03-22T21:12:28Z")
[Ronnie’s Rap](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjWevEa-zWw), Ron and the DC Crew. ---
**Author:** ![Mattie\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@Mattie\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mattie_Blue)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/38 "2013-03-22T22:26:11Z")
Don Henley’s [The End of the Innocence](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLONgF8a_Ig) references “This tired old man that we elected king” as a jab to Ronald Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/39 "2013-03-22T22:31:11Z")
Tom Waits has “On The Nickel”: and if you chew tobacco, and wish upon a star, well you’ll find out where the scarecrows sit, just like punchlines between the cars, and i know a place where a royal flush, can never beat a pair, and even thomas jefferson, is on the nickel over there. The next verse mentions Roosevelt. ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647/40 "2013-03-22T23:22:40Z")
Kanye West’s “Power” contains the lines “They say I was the abomination of Obama’s nation / Well that’s a pretty bad way to start the conversation” > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > The “All in the Family” intro song mentioned Herbert Hoover, but I don’t know that it was a “popular song.” O’Connor and Stapleton hit the Adult Contemporary Top 40 chart, so I’d say it was reasonably popular. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-presidents-mentioned-in-popular-songs/653647.md?page=3)