Rock and Roll has rarely connected with the Leader of the Free World.
Ronald Reagan had vehement disgust for the long-haired free-will rockers of the ’80s, and an unprecedented number of musicians sent along cease and desist letters to Trump during his tumultuous four years.
With that being said, there are a plethora of great rock songs about The Man, even if those songs don’t paint P.O.T.U.S. in particularly shining light. In honor of Presidents Day, here are eight great rock songs about the various Commanders-in-Chiefs over the years.
The Ramones – Bonzo Goes to Bitburg
Towards the end of the Cold War, Reagan flew to West Germany in 1985 to praise and reflect on its allyship with the U.S. against the communist threat. When he arrived, Reagan laid a wreath and spoke at the Bitburg military cemetery, where he condoned Naziism and honored those who had fallen victim to the movement’s cruel ways.
The issue was that 49 of the 2,000 corpses laid buried were in fact Waffen-SS Nazis. Protestors coined the phrase “The Bonzo Goes to Bitburg,” an obscure reference to Bonzo the Chimpanzee from the 1950s, to which The Ramones crafted a somber but at times hilarious ode: “C’mon, sort your trash better,” the boys call out. “Pull yourself back together.”
NOFX – Reagan Sucks
Another ode to the strangely unifying time of the Reagan presidency, NOFX’s “Reagan Sucks” merely reflects back to how great the punk community was during Reagan’s time as president. “I miss the days of Reagan punk,” they scream out. “We all shared the same enemy.” In its brief, thrashing runtime, the band also pays homage to the Dead Kennedys and D.I. and simply states in conclusion, “I miss the songs about Reagan sucks.”
Misfits – Bullet
The grinding, gory ferocity of Misfits perfectly captured the boiled over frustrations caused by the assassination of JFK. On “Bullet” the grotesque horror-punk rockers spare no details as they reflect back on that gruesome day. “President’s bullet-ridden body in the street / Ride, Johnny ride, Kennedy’s shattered head hits concrete / Ride, Johnny ride.”
With that said, it wouldn’t be a Misfits song without sexually distasteful commentary, so the group takes aim at Jackie: “Texas is the reason the president’s dead / You gotta suck, suck, Jackie, suck…The dirt’s gonna be your dessert / My c*m be your life source / And the only way to get it is to suck and f**k.”
Sum 41 –45 (A Matter of Time)
The goofy skate punk rockers were never known to be an overtly political outfit, but on “45 (A Matter of Time),” the Canadian quintet put Trump in their sights and got a few angry far-right responses in the process. Deryck Whibley offers up some of his best songwriting as he eviscerates the 45th POTUS: “You’re something to few but nothing to me,” he calls out. “You’ve proven a real man is something you’re not.”
Pearl Jam – Brain of J
Dissecting a decade-old conspiracy theory, Grunge rockers Pearl Jam contemplated the mystery on their 1998 effort Yield. “Who’s got the brain of JFK?” Eddie Vedder caws into the mic. Rather than being fully examined at the Dallas Parkland Hospital, JFK’s body was transported for autopsy to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. The move came after Parkland doctors suggested the bullet wound was at the front of the head, which contradicted the idea that Lee Harvey Oswald shot him.
Bethesda would support this claim, and conspiracy theorists for years would feast on this underlying doubt that Oswald was not responsible for JFK’s death. The boys of Pearl Jam seem to agree this is no strange coincidence. “Oh it’s sound insurance,” cries out Vedder. “But I can tell you, this is no lie.”
Green Day – American Idiot
Another pop-punk group who had seemingly no interest in political theater, Green Day would emerge in 2004 as the voice of political protest for the George W. Bush era. “American Idiot” was a post-9/11 call-to-action that lit a fire under thousands to stay awake and stay informed.
While it was initially viewed as an indictment for the current administration, Billie Joe Armstrong later clarified that American Idiot as a whole was merely crafted to criticize the America-first mentality — a mentality that, they theorized, would become increasingly violent and problematic. “American Idiot” was merely telling Americans to wake up and not become numb to what was happening around them.
BRUJERIA – Viva Presidente Trump! (OFFICIAL TRACK)
The faceless extreme metal group satirically embraces a turbulent Trump presidency on their aggressive single “Viva Presidente Trump!” “I actually want him to be president, because he wants war and so do we,” they call out in Spanish. The track suggested that Trump’s hostile tactics, especially in the south, will no doubt spark a full-on war, which to be fair, on January 6th it almost did.
The Offspring – Kill The President
“Kill the President, listen to the voice of reason,” Dexter Holland calls out on The Offspring’s deep cut “Kill the President.” Due to the track’s thematic material, the band left the track off of their debut album and have since not released it to streaming services. They don’t want any smoke from the same government (George H.W. Bush) they’re criticizing. “In a world without leaders, who’d start all the wars?” Holland asks. “The world that you’re saving, will always be yours!”
