Years ago, I'd heard on Dr. Demento's syndicated radio program a song which incorporated words from speeches by Ronald Reagan, editing in lines he'd spoken in movies he'd acted in, for humorous effect. Emergency Broadcast Network's (EBN) "Behavior Modification/We Will Rock You," a song and music video which incorporated samples of George H.W. Bush so that he would say "We Will Rock You" got some exposure from U2 who used it in their "Zoo TV" tour and also through EBN's second stage appearances in the early Lollapalooza concerts. This video can be seen in their Commercial Entertainment Product video, which is listed on the IMDb; there was also a CD single which included remixes - both can be found on Amazon.
About the same time, another group "Fresh Bush and the Invisible Man" went whole hog and did a song called "Hard Times" in which George H.W. Bush did all the lyrics. The Evolution Control Committee (ECC) on their Gunderphonic album put out two "corrected" versions of a George H.W. Bush speech which made Bush sometimes say things the opposite of the way he actually said them.
After the Supreme Court put George W. Bush into office, and after the start of the second Iraq war, quite a lot of protest songs emerged. Among others, The National Cynical Network (NCN), and Osymyso created tracks editing State of the Union addresses of George W. Bush quite similar to what ECC had done with his father, again making him say things opposite to what he had said, and perhaps coming closer to candor in the result. One of the more curious entries in this field was done by Matt Rogalsky in "two minutes fifty seconds silence for the USA" in which he removed Bush's voice from Bush's March 17, 2003 ultimatum to Saddam Hussein, leaving only the pauses and silences.
Bush for Peace is in the tradition of the above, editing an address by Bush to have him say something else - although apart from EBN, I don't recall having seen others using the video of speeches in addition to the audio. EBN, Osymyso and others added electronic music to the samples; Bush for Peace is like ECC and NCN in using only the speech. While other artists have tended to make Bush's speeches more war-oriented, this piece is perhaps more optimistic, making Bush say something we rather wish he had said in sincerity. (After Bush for Peace was finished, in 2004 Bush has said he now wants to be the "Peace President," but he seemed more sincere in Bush for Peace, perhaps because he had originally been speaking sincerely about his desire for war as the "War President.") However, in my opinion, while competent, Bush for Peace doesn't find anything new to add to this tradition. I think it would be of interest mostly to anyone who hasn't seen anything of this nature done before.
About the same time, another group "Fresh Bush and the Invisible Man" went whole hog and did a song called "Hard Times" in which George H.W. Bush did all the lyrics. The Evolution Control Committee (ECC) on their Gunderphonic album put out two "corrected" versions of a George H.W. Bush speech which made Bush sometimes say things the opposite of the way he actually said them.
After the Supreme Court put George W. Bush into office, and after the start of the second Iraq war, quite a lot of protest songs emerged. Among others, The National Cynical Network (NCN), and Osymyso created tracks editing State of the Union addresses of George W. Bush quite similar to what ECC had done with his father, again making him say things opposite to what he had said, and perhaps coming closer to candor in the result. One of the more curious entries in this field was done by Matt Rogalsky in "two minutes fifty seconds silence for the USA" in which he removed Bush's voice from Bush's March 17, 2003 ultimatum to Saddam Hussein, leaving only the pauses and silences.
Bush for Peace is in the tradition of the above, editing an address by Bush to have him say something else - although apart from EBN, I don't recall having seen others using the video of speeches in addition to the audio. EBN, Osymyso and others added electronic music to the samples; Bush for Peace is like ECC and NCN in using only the speech. While other artists have tended to make Bush's speeches more war-oriented, this piece is perhaps more optimistic, making Bush say something we rather wish he had said in sincerity. (After Bush for Peace was finished, in 2004 Bush has said he now wants to be the "Peace President," but he seemed more sincere in Bush for Peace, perhaps because he had originally been speaking sincerely about his desire for war as the "War President.") However, in my opinion, while competent, Bush for Peace doesn't find anything new to add to this tradition. I think it would be of interest mostly to anyone who hasn't seen anything of this nature done before.