Top 10 Songs About Presidents (in Honor of Presidents Day)

Remember Clinton and the sax?

Monarchs, political authority figures, and presidents have been inspiring pissed-off punk rock anthems or passionate, pleased glorification--whether subtle or direct--since human beings could pick up an instrument and pluck or pound out a feeling. And given our whole "Freedom of Speech"deal, Americans express their sentiments doubly so. In honor of President's Day, we've come with the Top Ten Songs About Presidents, although probably not of the top ten presidents:

10) The Legendary K.O., "George Bush Don't Like Black People"

In response to George Bush's painfully slow reaction to Hurricane Katrina and the apparent "coincidence" that those in most need were underprivileged minorities, Kanye West crafted one of his first ever controversial Kanye-isms, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." Hip-hop artist, The Legendary K.O., took this phrase, used West's "Gold Digger" as a sample, and wrote a tune with provocative lyrics like,"People lifes on the lines/you declining to help/since you taking so much time/we surviving ourselves/just me and my pets and my kids and my spouse/trapped in my own house/looking for a way out."

9) The Honey Drippers, "Impeach The President"

Soul-funk band The Honey Drippers, don't really say which president they would like to impeach, but given that their much-sampled song came out in 1973, it's pretty obvious that they are talking about the naughty Richard Nixon. This might be one of the ultimate '70s funk dance tracks, but lyrics like "Behind the walls of the White House/there's a lot of things we don't know about/Behind the walls of the White House/there's a lot of things we should know about" keep it fresh, no matter what the political climate is.

8) Nas, "Black President"

Starting off with a speech by President Obama, Nas' song "Black President" is a celebratory, "Yes We Can" jam featuring samples by 2pac and John Legend. In the song, Nas discusses his profound hopes and, inevitably, his doubts about a what having a black president means. Overall, his view is optimistic, summed up in the lyrics, "Yea but on a positive side, I think Obama provides hope/And challenges minds or all races and colors/To erase hate, and try to love one another, so many political snakes/We in need of a break, I'm thinking I can trust this brother." Did Obama live up to your expectations, Nas?

7) James Brown-"Funky President"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_ODghRTeyQ

Written for the snoozefest that was President Gerald Ford, James Brown was apparently encouraging Ford to funk it up a little, while also venting his societal and socioeconomic frustrations, saying "Hey country, didn't say what you meant/just changed the brand new funky president/stock market going up, jobs going down/there ain't no funky job to be found."

6) The Ramones, "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg"

One of President Reagan's quirky nicknames, "Bonzo" commemorated the 40th anniversary of World War II by canceling an excursion to a concentration camp in order to view a Nazi SS cemetery. This political faux-pas rocked the masses and was subsequently the subject of many rock songs including The Ramones' "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg" which prompted the lyric "You're a politician/don't become one of Hitler's children."