3 Songs That See Rock Stars Take a Jab at a President

2024 is an election year. Come November, roughly half of the country will be disappointed in the Presidential outcome. It’s a pattern that has been repeated since the dawn of America. The three musicians below were similarly disillusioned with the President of their time.

1. “Ohio” (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)

Neil Young quickly churned out this protest song in the wake of four protestors being killed in Ohio. He got his supergroup bandmates to record the track just as quickly. In the opening line, Young pointed a finger at President Richard Nixon, who commanded the National Guardsmen that shot the four teens.

Tin soldiers and Nixon’s comin’
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drummin’
Four dead in Ohio

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2. “Let’s Impeach the President” (Neil Young)

Young strikes again. In the case of “Let’s Impeach the President,” Young had his sights set on President George W. Bush and his involvement in the Iraq War. While “Ohio” saw him be a little more coded in his approach, this track is a damning review of the administration at that time.

Let’s impeach the president for lyin’
Misleading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door

Who’s the man who hired all the criminals
The white house shadows who hide behind closed doors
And bend the facts to fit with their new story
Of why we have to send out men to war

3. “Line ‘Em Up” (James Taylor)

When thinking of James Taylor, one often wouldn’t dub him a protest artist. His most popular efforts are on the sunnier side of things. Nevertheless, even he has had a bone to pick with a Commander in Chief. Taylor hit at Nixon decades after his impeachment in “Line ‘Em Up.” Oh I remember Richard Nixon back in ’74…Tiny tear in his shifty little eye, Taylor sings.

Oh I remember Richard Nixon back in ’74
And the final scene at the White House door
And the staff lined up just to say goodbye
Tiny tear in his shifty little eye

“Nobody knows me
Nobody understands
Little people were good to me
Oh, I’m gonna shake some hands”

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for Autism Speaks)