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The songs played to introduce each U.S. state and territory during the roll call included the classic, the quirky and the fun, a Northeastern expert says.
Organizers of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago turned the traditional roll call into a celebration with a DJ playing a mix of traditional anthems and contemporary hits for each U.S. state and territory.
The playlist included some time-proven classics, some obvious choices, quirky surprises and a few young artists whose songs haven’t become political anthems yet, says Doug Bielmeier, a teaching professor of music production at Northeastern University.
“I think it’s a very interesting list,” he says.
In most cases, the songs had a connection to the state either through the artist’s origins, lyrics referencing the state, or the song being closely associated with the state.
Bielmeier, who is in his 40s, says some of the songs were older than him, and the list overall skewed somewhat towards older tracks.
Fleetwood Mac was represented twice. The DJ played the song “Don’t Stop” for Arkansas and “Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks for Arizona.
“September,” by Earth, Wind & Fire, represented Colorado.
And the state of Kansas chose “Carry On Wayward Son” from — no surprise — the band Kansas.
However, the playlist wasn’t all retro. Bielmeier was excited to hear some younger artists such as Jack Harlow (Kentucky, “First Class”), Chappell Roan (Missouri, “Good Luck, Babe!”) and Sabrina Carpenter (Guam, “Espresso”).
These choices indicate that some effort is being made to reach younger audiences, according to David Herlihy, teaching professor and coordinator of Northeastern’s music industry program.
“A lot of older folks will have no idea who Chappell Roan is,” he says. “[Young] people love her a lot.”
These newer artists don’t have an established history being played at political events, Bielmeier says, unlike Bruce Springsteen, whose political staple, “Born in the U.S.A.,” played for New Jersey.
The song, released in 1984, was first used by President Ronald Reagan during his reelection campaign.
“The thing that I always found really interesting about that song is that it is not really a pro-American song,” Bielmeier says. “It talks about somebody’s struggle, coming back from the Vietnam War and not being able to find a job.”
“It’s interesting to see the disconnect sometimes in the lyrics versus the obvious appeal to something big, like Journey’s ‘Don’t stop believing,’” Herlihy says, implying that the lyrics of the song describes the lonely world of struggling hustlers and dreamers anywhere.
Bielmeier humorously compared the roll call playlist to a “Chill List” on Spotify, the popular audio streaming service.
“There’s The Chill Playlist, you know, there is a Political Playlist,” Bielmeier says. “So I think part of this was some of the songs were selected from that classic list.”
Minnesota had to have a Prince song (“Kiss”), Bielmeier says, just like Eminem (“Lose Yourself”) has become the musical representative of Michigan.
Bielmeier found “bizarre” that Idaho was introduced by the B-52s’ “Private Idaho.”
“The song’s kind of about somebody being in ‘their own private Idaho,’ which is sort of saying ‘somebody’s in their own little world,’” he says. “So there were some quirky ones.”
Massachusetts announced its roll call vote to the Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” Bielmeier says it is a fantastic song that has been overused and might not represent the diversity of the Bay State.
“I wish Massachusetts had another song because every time you see Boston or Massachusetts depicted in a movie, it’s always the ‘I’m Shipping Up to Boston,’” he says. “Please write Boston a new anthem.”
Rhode Island shook it off with Taylor Swift, who has a house in the state. Notably absent from the playlist was the megastar Olivia Rodrigo, which surprised Bielmeier.
Some of the songs might not have been royalty-free, he says, which could be why the DNC organizers couldn’t play them publicly. Music rights have increasingly become a type of investment, Bielmeier says, that are often bought and sold.
At the same time, he says, this could lead to songs being played at political events without the artist’s approval.
The DNC roll call playlist overall would be a great lineup for a 50th high school reunion, Bielmeier says.
“It’s fantastic,” he says. “But I thought it was exciting that there was some fun younger music as well.”