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Monday, March 7, 2011

White House Music! A Cut Off Johnson

Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Mar 7, 2011 at 3:02 PM

LOSER!

(This is part of an ongoing series rating presidential campaign songs, in rough chronological order. You can find all the previous entries here.)

"Just Before Election, Andy" is an anti-campaign song. It's a song that gloats about the fact that Andrew Johnson, who took office after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, will not be elected president of the United States.

Just before election, Andy
We are thinking most of you;
While we get our ballots handy
Just be sure they're not for you;
No, dear Andy, you'll not get them,
But you will get what you deserve;
Yes, you'll get your leave of absence
As you swing around the curve.

Of course, the song turned out to be correct: Johnson badly lost the election, and he's generally considered to be one of the worst presidents of all time. As an anti-campaign song, it's just about perfect: Cutting, sarcastic, and brief. I love how it refers to Johnson in the diminutive and directs its insults directly at him, although the grammar gets a little clumsy here and there. I wish it was peppier—it's set to "Just Before the Battle, Mother," which is a little too austere for the lyrics—but content-wise, campaign songs don't get much more feisty than this.

Lyrics: 9
Enthusiasm: 8
Infectiousness: 8
Total Score: 8.33

(Updated because I kept confusing my presidents with boring surnames.)