It's Only Rock and Roll

Apple has always had a flair for marketing fantasy. Check out how they reinterpret a catalog of 40 years of popular music as somehow being all about Barack Obama. We've highlighted the thematic parts. Oh, and while Apple has a "flair," that doesn't imply "finesse." This stuff is sophomoric and heavy-handed, we think.

It's not a cult, but if it was, you'd see stuff like this...

The Basics

Welcome to the beginning of a new era in the U.S.—Barack Obama’s history-making win is really a victory for all those who keep faith and firmly believe that people have the power to make a change. John Lennon was one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most determined dreamers, and the better world he dared to “imagine” may finally be within our grasp. Obama’s goose bump-inducing victory speech on election night referenced Sam Cooke’s dare-to-dream statement “A Change is Gonna Come,” envisioning a future where spirit plus soul equals a brand new day – just the kind of day Bruch Springsteen started planning for in the wake of 9/11, when he forged his anthem “The Rising.”

Dig in as the work begins on a brighter future in Next Steps.

Next Steps

Faith is the first step towards a better tomorrow, but Barack Obama will be the first to tell you that the world won’t change itself – if you’re pushing for progress, you’ve got to plant your feet as firmly as out 44th President, face the obstacles head-on, and sing along with Tom Petty’s gutsy promise to persevere, “I Won’t Back Down.” One thing our forward-looking leader’s sure of is the madness of escalating an unwinnable war, and Cat Stevens arrives to remind us that reaching a brave new world requires a ride on the “Peace Train.” But you can smell the hope in the air, and feel the conviction we need to get there, when the Kinks chart the optimistic logistics of “Better Things.”

Get fully immersed in the feeling of history happening right in front of you, in Deep Cuts.

Deep Cuts

The unprecedented arrival of Barack Obama brings with it a feeling that it’s not just OK, but vital to dream big. That confidence in the currency of hope finds enthusiastic echo in Richie Havens’ acoustic reinvention of “Here Comes The Sun.” The heady cocktail of conviction and optimism the U.S. is enjoying as it moves ahead feels just right alongside the sunny glow of the Zombies’ British Invasion flashlight-on-the-future “This Will Be Our Year.” And the classic-rock-meets-R&B forward motion of Eric Clapton’s Babyface-produced blockbuster “Change the World” mirrors the way we’ll all come together in Obama’s America to bring about a bold new vision.

Complete Set

Call it the Obama effect – the feeling that we’re living in times we’ll tell our grandchildren about; despite the current crises, we’re looking at a golden moment we can call our very own. These are the tunes that move to the same beat of positive change that’s in the hearts of Americans on the eve of this new era. From the giddy groove-pop of
Sting’s “Brand New Day” to the soulful bump of McFadden & Whitehead’s driven-and-determined “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now,” this is the soundtrack for the new America we’re about to usher in, with the eyes-on-the-prize guidance of our new commander-in-chief. Tune in to the sound of a dream long deferred that’s finally coming into focus. In other words, “It’s been a long time coming, but a change is gonna come.”

It is a dream, because this is all advertising copy. America is not "Barack Obama's America." America belongs to Americans. A president is merely a temporary officer.

Seems somebody, somewhere, wants children singing the praises of Obama. And they want adults singing the praises of Obama. This is the secular beatification of Obama. And they're doing it because he's a complete loser, and the only way support can conjured for him is to recast him in the image of a secular saint, an untouchable messiah, a bearer of a new age. This is nothing more than diabolically dirty and patronizing politics. But the players don't realize that they're playing with fire, because some people will really fall for it.