Mick and the boys blast Bush on new CD (FR post quoted)

Portsmouth Herald News, NH ^ | August 16, 2005 | Helen Kennedy , New York Daily News

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The normally apolitical Rolling Stones have no sympathy for President Bush.

In the refrain of the 13th track on their upcoming album, frontman Mick Jagger belts out the refrain: "How come you’re so wrong, my sweet neo-con?"

"You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite," the verse goes. "You call yourself a patriot. Well, I think you are full of s--!

Fans have been buzzing about the tune for months, with many up in arms over rumors that Virgin Records cut it from the final disc, fearing America’s conservative-owned radio networks and big box chain stores would refuse to play or stock it.

But it’s there, even though Jagger told Newsweek magazine that Connecticut resident Keith Richards is "a bit worried" about the song because he lives in the United States.

Even though nothing sells a new album better than a little splash of controversy, the wrinkled rockers’ people seem a mite jumpy, too.

Stones publicist Fran Curtis told the Daily News the song doesn’t mention Bush by name. Amusingly, she told the Washington Post it isn’t even about the Bush administration, though the term neo-con is indelibly linked to the neo-conservative policies behind the invasion of Iraq.

The album - "A Bigger Bang" - isn’t even out yet but right-wing Internet discussion groups were already fizzing with anti-Stones vitriol.

"The Rolling Stones’ main audience these days is that segment of the Boomers that has refused to recognize that the 60s have been over for almost 40 years, and so they’ll lap this slop up and beg for more...while they tie their hair back into gray ponytails and stretch those old tye-dyed t-shirts over their pot bellies," wrote one particularly vivid poster at Free Republic.

The song is clearly not going to break Bush’s heart. When the White House put out the contents of the presidential iPod, his playlist was dominated by country music. Nothing by the Stones made the cut.

[My2Cents]

Yet another group of show business people I can add to the "Don't Patronize" list.

[yobid]

Irrelevant ancient rockin' roller alert!!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The Rolling Stones are teaming with ABC and the NFL for a season-long marketing tie-in with “Monday Night Football.” Footage from the Stones’ concert tour performance in Detroit will be included in “NFL Opening Kickoff 2005,” a one-hour pre-game special on Sept. 8 (8 p.m. ET). The special will run before the season opener between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders. They are, from left to right: Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and Ron Wood. The Stones kick off their world tour Aug. 21 at Fenway Park in Boston. AP photo

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Hey, Mick, ever hear of Natalie Manes and the Dixie Chicks?

There's a reason for that.

[exile]

They look like the cast of a Golden Girls Reunion Special.

[cripplecreek]

The Strolling Bones incontinence on ten continents tour.

[JimWforBush]

Shut-up and don't sing.

[Paleo Conservative]

Which group is uglier, the Stones or Aerosmith?

[cripplecreek]

I read that their combined age is something like 245 years.

[TXBSAFH]

Isn't their new tour going to be named the "Mr. Jagger, its time to take your medicine tour."

[InsureAmerica]

it ain't even worth bothering with. if anyone suggests that these guys have anything serious to say that affects reality and/or my life, well....


they upon occasion entertain me. when I choose. that is all.

it is only rock and roll

[InsureAmerica]

HA! much wisdom there...

[TXBubba]

Ooooo, he is sooooo ugly!

[yobid]

I saw these idiots a few years back. Don't get me wrong, I'd never pay a dollar to go to their show. I went on a free ticket and must say this:

THIS BAND SUCKS LIVE.

Okay Stones fans......let me have it!

[mollynme]

That guy on the left would make a good spokesman for Dent-U-Grip. LOL

[Rokurota]

The Rolling Stones Tour 2005

Sponsored by Viagara and Depends

[Izzy Dunne]

How can I boycott someone I never bought anything from anyway?

[sofaman]

Stones...a "no contest"

[Izzy Dunne]

THIS BAND SUCKS LIVE.

Well, that's unfortunate, because their records really stink.