WASHINGTON, Aug 16, 2012 (AFP) – Mitt Romney’s late Irish Setter Seamus was hounding him again Thursday, now as the hero of a track by post-punk pioneers Devo mocking the US candidate for strapping the dog to the roof of his car.
The new song by the eclectic band — which hit the big time in the 1970s and 80s with songs like “Whip It” and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” — has hit the web, and it’s not flattering to the Republican candidate.
In “Don’t Roof Rack Me, Bro!,” Devo vocalist Jerry Casale immortalizes Romney’s infamous decision to strap Seamus to the roof rack of his car during a 12-hour drive from Boston to Ontario on a 1983 family vacation.
“Your former master is on the attack. If he was honest and told the truth, he’d go to jail for what he did to you,” Casale sings.
“Seamus, why did he make you ride outside?”
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Casale said the new single, which can be heard on the Soundcloud website, was a clear jab at Romney but said it should not be seen as an Obama campaign song.
“This isn’t a red state thing or Devo stumping for Obama,” Casale told the magazine. “But I think any animal lover that hears the story will learn so much about the character flaw of Romney.
“It’s just a deal-breaker about the man,” he adds. “My God, the world is a scary place with seven billion people. What you want in a leader is a guy with some humanity at his core. I just don’t feel that Mitt does.”
The tale of Seamus has been campaign trail fodder for months, but it got dragged into the fray in a big way on Tuesday when President Barack Obama cheekily alluded to the story during an appearance in Iowa.
Obama was touting his own support for wind energy, and knocked Romney for having said this year that “you can’t drive a car with a windmill on it.”
“Now, I don’t know if he’s actually tried that. I know he’s had other things on his car,” Obama chuckled.
Devo head out on tour later this year with fellow new wave act Blondie, and Casale said it “doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility” for the band to play their ode to Seamus.
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1 Comment for this article
Pro k-9 and con superhuman, ibid., 2012 presidential contenders, “Don’t Roof Rack Me, Bro! (Seamus Unleashed)” by Devo is a shameless “devolution.” It’s an awkward attempt at righting a wrong and consists of the ingredients for disaster: Culture + Society + Civilization = Democracy. A word to the wise: don’t step in it and, by all means, never eat it.