I’ve long believed that conservatives ignore culture at their peril. Hollywood and faith shape culture and culture shapes voters far more powerfully than can mere politicians.  With this understanding firmly in mind, I have cultivated contacts in the entertainment industry and used Al Gore’s invention to its fullest extent, winning awards for our campaign’s innovative use of Twitter and for our groundbreaking iPhone app (Beat Boxer? There’s an app for that!). 

A key part of this effort to harness non-traditional modes of political speech began 13 months ago when, while campaigning in the Bakersfield area, I saw a fading Obama bumper sticker on a Prius.  Instantly, the line, “Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac, a little voice inside my head said: don’t look back, you can never look back,” from the Don Henley song “The Boys of Summer” popped into my head. 

Knowing that Henley imputed political meaning to this line (he said it was a critique of how the idealism of the 60s degenerated into the materialism of the 80s) I decided right then and there to write a parody using the leftist Henley’s composition against the newly elected president he so ardently supported.  Late that night, after driving over 420 miles (ironically, in my 2004 Cadillac CTS festooned with Chuck DeVore for U.S. Senate stickers) I penned the lyrics to “After the Hope of November is Gone.” Sung to the tune of “The Boys of Summer,” the parody pokes fun at President Obama’s supporters while anticipating the fading hopes of his presidency.  On April 1, two days later, we released the music video of the parody, sung to a karaoke track, on YouTube. 

Don Henley was not amused.  Less than a week later, he filed a motion under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to pull down our YouTube video.  With millions of dollars to his name from being the lead singer to the most popular band of the 70s, Henley likely figured that he could use the court system to cripple the campaign of a U.S. Senate candidate running against the most liberal senator in the nation, Barbara Boxer, someone he’s supported with at least $9,000 of donations. 

I refused to be intimidated by Henley’s actions.  I had a campaign to run and I intended to win it using methods not routinely employed by conservatives. If I was unable to use cultural references in a campaign in California, I knew my effort to beat Boxer would be crippled.  So, I filed a DMCA counter-notification and, on April 14, released another YouTube parody aimed at Boxer’s cap-and-trade bill.  ”All She Wants to do is Tax” was based Henley’s “All She Wants to do is Dance.”  It went viral, hitting the top 10 on YouTube’s News and Politics category while getting 10,000 views a day – until Henley filed to remove it. 

With lyrics such as, “They’re pickin’ up the taxpayers and putting ‘em in a jam, And all she wants to do is tax, tax. Liberals been liberals since I don’t know when, And all she wants to do is tax…  Barbara Boxer talkin’ round, Control in her sight, And all she wants to do is tax, tax. Wild-eyed global warmers, Who ain’t afraid to lie… Well, the government rigged the market in the carbon trading scam, And all she wants to do is tax, tax. To keep the boys a sellin’, All the credits they could ma’am. And all she wants to do is tax. But that don’t keep the boys, From makin’ a buck or two, And all she wants to do is tax, tax. They still can sell the public, On the good that they can do…” you can see why Henley could not let the parody stand.  As a committed liberal in the entertainment industry who’s given some $750,000 to Democrats and leftwing causes in the past 10 years, Henley understands the power of culture.  A conservative harnessing some of that power had to be stopped. 

So, after my DCMA counterclaim notifications restored the parody videos to YouTube, Henley sued me in federal court, offering to drop the suit if I pulled the parodies and removed my lyrics from all Internet sites.  My response was simple: pound sand. 

So, where are we today?  My campaign for U.S. Senate has raised about $1.8 million.  The last five independent polls since January have placed me within the margin of error of Barbara Boxer. And the Henley lawsuit drags on, consuming time and money and shutting down a vital avenue of free speech that I intended to use in the course of my campaign.  We expect a summary judgment on the case in May, just before the June 8 primary.  If we win, our parodies will be back and I will likely write others.  If we lose and go to trial, then lose in court, the implications will be far-reaching.  For example, Paul Shanklin’s parodies on the Rush Limbaugh Show will be shut down as infringing on the copyrights of the owners, rather than transformative works of free speech protected by the First Amendment as they are now considered. 

Had I known a year ago where we would be today would I have still written the parodies and drawn Henley’s lawsuit?  Absolutely.  Free speech using a culturally-savvy delivery is far too powerful to leave as the sole province of the Left.

Don Henley makes no effort to hide his political leanings.  In addition to performing at scores of fundraisers, Henley has given about $750,000 to partisan, liberal causes, including $10,000 to Barack Obama and $9,000 to DeVore’s soon-to-be opponent, Barbara Boxer.  Henley also exploits his music to advance a liberal, political agenda. 

Henley’s “Boys of Summer” is no exception.  On the surface, “Boys of Summer” is a wistful look at an old romance, a fling between two kids, now grown, who have moved on with their lives.  But the song also has a clear political message.  Henley says that the second verse of the song-the one with the famous line about seeing “a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac”-was about the essential failure of Sixties’ politics: “I don’t think we changed a damn thing, frankly….  After all our marching and shouting and screaming didn’t work, we withdrew and became yuppies and got into the Me Decade.” 

DeVore and Hart’s parody turns “Boys of Summer” on its head.  It substitutes Barack Obama for the singer’s love interest and has Henley (and other outspoken celebrity liberals) dreaming wistfully of the time before President Obama’s election: “We will never forget those nights/ We wonder if it was a dream/ Remember how you made us crazy?/ Remember how we made you beam.”  The song asks whether the parties’ naïve love affair can survive the circumstances since, particularly President Obama’s broken promises and failure to deliver on the promised “hope.” 

DeVore and Hart’s parody is not for everybody.  Hart’s vocal performance may not be for anybody.  It may be bad art.  But it’s not copyright infringement.  As Henley’s own lawyer puts it, “[T]he purpose of copyright law is to encourage the production of new, original works….”  But  DeVore and Hart have done nothing to discourage the creation of new, original works.  They have not reduced the value of Henley’s song; they have not made Henley or anybody else less likely to create pop songs in the future.  Copyright law has no legitimate interest here.   

But the First Amendment does.  This country was, in Lincoln’s famous phrase, “conceived in liberty,” and our national constitution contains a very clear protection of every Americans’ right to speak freely.  This protection applies with special importance to political speech.  DeVore and Hart’s parody is core political speech, a creative effort to reach voters with a message.  Don Henley is free to dislike the parody.  Everybody is free to dislike the parody.  But nobody has the right to suppress DeVore’s speech. 

Chris Arledge is a partner of Turner Green LLP, an Orange-County based intellectual property firm.  He represents Chuck DeVore and Justin Hart in the Don Henley lawsuit.  He can be reached at carledge@turnergreen.com.

Understanding that the DailyKos crowd can never be quieted (save for my untimely demise in a speeding vehicle), I do think it important to set forth what we did with the two parody songs I wrote to be sung in style of Don Henley’s works. 

 
I penned “After the Hope of November is Gone” based on Mr. Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” with parodic eye.  One can clearly see my intended skewering of Henley and his ilk’s well known liberalism in the lines: 

We never will forget those nights
We wonder if it was a dream
Remember how you made us crazy?
Remember how we made you beam
Now we do understand what happened to our love. 

That Henley has contributed some $750,000 to Democrats and liberal causes over the years, including $10,000 to Barack Obama and $9,000 to Sen. Barbara Boxer, adds authenticity to the political nature of my ditties.  As the L.A. Daily News reported Friday night, “Henley, a longtime vocal supporter of Democratic causes, has drawn boos from fans in Orange County over the years for making political comments between songs during concerts.”  Indeed.  Henley’s lawsuit shows he’s good at dishing it out, but not so good at taking it.  

Henley’s lawsuit also makes mention of my parody version of “All she wants to do is dance.” This song came out in 1984.  It was written as an attack on President Reagan’s Central American policy, a policy I was soon after to help implement as a Reagan appointee in the Pentagon.  I particularly enjoyed taking Henley’s critique of cluelessness in the face of President Reagan’s policies and turning it into a critique of the left and their global warming policies, thus parodying Henley’s penchant for leftwing activism while at the same time fashioning an insightful ditty on Sen. Barbara Boxer, my 2010 opponent.  

Lastly, I note with interest that the D.C.-based bi-partisan musical group “Capitol Steps” has been building on others’ work by turning familiar songs into biting political commentary since 1981.  They have yet to pay royalties to any artist and, as their songs are political, unlike, for instance, “Weird Al” Yankovic, they rarely secure permission from the artists whose works they build upon. 

Bottom line, we are responding to the Henley/Campbell lawsuit and expect to prevail.  If an elected official running for the U.S. Senate is not allowed to fearlessly engage in parody, then the First Amendment means little.

All She Wants to Do is Tax! Music video parody of Barbara Boxer in time for the tea party rallies. 

Political parody has a long tradition in the West, with the First Amendment affording significant protections for political speech.  In spite of that, our political parody of President Obama, “After the Hope of November is Gone” using rocker Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” as the vehicle attracted the wrath of Henley, as he engaged lawyers to threaten an alternative paper and temporarily bounced the music video from YouTube. 

I’ve penned my second parody based on Henley’s song, “All She Wants to do is Dance.” This one goes after Sen. Barbara Boxer, my opponent in 2010, just in time for the national tea party rallies and my address at the tea party at Modesto on Tax Day.  

“All She Wants to do is Tax” can be seen on YouTube, and (for backup, incase Henley pulls it from YouTube, see: http://www.chuck76.com/tax).  

The Daily Pilot ran a story on their blog today where Sen. Boxer’s press spokesperson criticized my spending a lot of time writing song lyrics.  Interesting observation, coming from a staffer for a senator who’s written a steamy political novel while in office (A Time to Run: A Novel) and is releasing a sequel to that novel this July: Time Out.  Fun fact: my own novel, China Attacks, has better Amazon sales figures and has been translated into Chinese for sales in Taiwan but is banned in China.

While the legal issues play out, it’s time to up the ante on Mr. Henley’s liberal goon tactics.  By popular request, I have penned the words to our new parody song, an expose of Senator Barbara Boxer’s new cap-and-trade energy bill that will operate as a hidden tax that will also enrich a few people. 

So, here it is, sung to the tune of Henley’s “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” -

All She Wants to Do Is Tax

They’re pickin’ up the taxpayers and puttin
‘em in a jam
And all she wants to do is tax, tax
Liberals been liberals since I don’t know when
And all she wants to do is tax
Cap and trade program-from D.C. Inc.
And all she wants to do is tax, tax
They pull and push us right over the brink
And all she wants to do is tax
Barbara Boxer talkin’ round
Control in her sight
And all she wants to do is tax, tax
Wild-eyed global warmers
Who ain’t afraid to lie
And all she wants to do is-
And all she wants to do is tax
And break our backs
She can’t feel the heat comin’ off the street
She wants to party
She wants to get down
And all she wants to do is-
And all she wants to do is tax
Well, the government rigged the market
in the carbon trading scam
And all she wants to do is tax, tax
To keep the boys a sellin’
All the credits they could ma’am
And all she wants to do is tax
But that don’t keep the boys
From makin’ a buck or two
And all she wants to do is tax, tax
They still can sell the public
On the good that they can do
And all she wants to do is-
And all she wants to do is tax
And break our backs
Well, we barely made twenty ten
The vote was in doubt
As we finished up the campaign
She could hear the people shout
They said, don’t come back here Boxer!
But if she ever does-
We’ll bring more money
cause all she wants to do is tax
And break our backs
Never mind the heat comin’ off the street
She wants to party
She wants to get down
All she wants to do is-
All she wants to do is tax
All she wants to do is tax
And break our backs
All she wants to do is tax

We’re working on a new music video.  Others are welcome to take a crack at it too.

Round One: DeVore for California Campaign Announces ‘Hope of November’ Parody Song Contest

Round Two: Don Henley Strikes Back

I was inspired to write the lyrics for “Hope of November” using Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” as a starting point after I saw a fading Obama bumper sticker while campaigning in the Bakersfield area.  

Liberal warriors are notorious for their thin skins and Don Henley is no exception. 

Perhaps I should mine some of Henley’s other songs for satirical gold.  “The End of the Innocence” comes to mind.  That 1989 song slammed Ronald Reagan, a man I worked for in the Defense Department, in the form of the line, “they’re beating plowshares into swords, for the tired old man that we elected king.”  At this line in the song the music video shows several Reagan posters while at the line “armchair warriors lead us into war” a television displays scenes of LtCol Oliver North’s congressional testimony.  Or perhaps the overbearing lyrics of “Little Tin God” will do.  The line referring to Reagan, “The cowboy’s name was Jingo,” cries out for parodic reengineering. 

YouTube rather blandly announced that my First Amendment right to parody was being infringed “…as a result of a third-party notification by Don Henley…”  But I wonder if the behind the scenes muzzler was David Geffen.  Geffen, who’s so far to the left that Hillary Clinton was too conservative for him, owns the label for the “The Boys of Summer.”  Geffen has lawyers, lots of lawyers. 

Perhaps Geffen’s lawyers are familiar with Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. a 1994 U.S. Supreme Court case that dealt with “fair use” in parody.  In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that 2 Live Crew’s parody remake of the late Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” constituted fair use in spite of the fact that the rap group had taken much of Orbison’s material whole cloth and used it for commercial purposes.  My own parody using “The Boys of Summer” to lampoon President Obama uses original lyrics and clearly meets the Court’s four factor fair use test: “1) purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is commercially motivated or instead is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2) nature of the copyrighted work; 3) amount and substantiality of the portion used in the newly created work in relation to the copyrighted work; and 4) effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.” 

Bottom line, we’ll be filing a counter notice today with YouTube today to reinstate our “Hope of November” music video rough cut, then work to make a better cut of the parody song available.  If YouTube again bows to Geffen’s lawyers or Henley’s whine, we’ll take it to where we should have posted it at the start: PopModal, “The Conservative Alternative to YouTube.” (The now-banned “Hope of November” music video can still be seen at: http://www.chuck76.com/nov/.) 

And, it goes without saying that I’ll now be looking for every opportunity to turn any Don Henley work I can into a parody of any left tilting politician who deserves it, (I keep thinking “All She Wants To Do Is Dance” would make a great transition into a Barbara Boxer parody).

A few days ago I posted some Obama parody lyrics set to Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” and am now formally soliciting the deep base of Big Hollywood talent to do a professional version of this parody. The campaign will have a contest and choose the parody effort posted on YouTube by April 6th.  

In the spirit of April Fool’s Day, here’s our own attempt performed by the DeVore for California Director of New Media, Justin Hart, working entirely on his own time. 

Obama’s “Hope of November” sung to the tune of Boys of Summer” with apologies to Don Henley: 

Obama overload
Obama overreach
We feel it everywhere
Trillions in the breach

Empty bank, empty Street
Dollar goes down alone

Pelosi’s in the House
So we now all must atone

But we can see through-
Your broken promises oh One
You got your head cocked back and your teleprompter on, maybe
And can we tell you our love for you will still be strong
After the hope of November’s gone?

We never will forget those nights
We wonder if it was a dream
Remember how you made us crazy?
Remember how we made you beam
Now we do understand what happened to our love

Barack, we’re gonna cut no slack

We’re gonna show you what we’re made of

We can see through–
Your broken promises oh One
We see you talkin’ real slow and you’re smilin’ at everyone
Can we tell you our love for you will still be strong
After the hope of November’s gone?

Out on the road today, I saw a OBAMA sticker on a Cadillac
A little voice Inside my head said, “Don’t look back. You can never look back.”
We thought we knew what love was
What did we know?
Those days are gone forever
We should just let them go but-

We can see through-
Your broken promises oh One
You got that Rush pulled down and talk radio gone, maybe
And can we tell you our love for you will still be strong
After the hope of November’s gone?

We can see through-
Your broken promises oh One
You got your head cocked back and your teleprompter on, maybe
Can we tell you our love for you will still be strong
After the hope of November’s gone?