Voices for Change
September 22nd, 2004
Taken From a Rolling Stone Article -
Voices for Change
From Bruce Springsteen to Jadakiss, artists speak out about John Kerry, George Bush and what's at stake on Election Day
As the election approaches, some of rock & roll's biggest artists are embarking on a tour with an unprecedented message: Vote for change. While musicians have played benefits for candidates in the past, nothing on this scale has ever been attempted: a nine-day tour of Ohio, Florida and seven other swing states, culminating on October 11th in a historic concert in Washington, D.C. Spearheaded by Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews Band, Dixie Chicks and R.E.M., the tour is expected to raise $10 million to mobilize voters. On the eve of this ambitious undertaking, ROLLING STONE asked twenty-six artists to discuss why they're voting - and why this election is so important.
Dave Matthews
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
I'm an immigrant and America has been great to me. This country represents a dream of what people of widely varying backgrounds can create together. This election is not only about what this country is now. It's also about what it can be. I'm an American, and it's my responsibility to say what I think. With what I see in the world today, I cannot justify not standing up and saying, "I feel with every bone in my body that this country is going in the wrong direction."
We've got to get somebody new in the White House. Being from South Africa, I know how much the rest of the world fears the United States right now. It's like if the world is a room, and everybody is in there, and suddenly somebody walks in who is seething and has headphones on, and the music is playing really loud, and he's armed. That's the way the world sees us. Everyone is on tiptoes, afraid of what this country might do. It's bound to scare everybody.
Boyd Tinsley
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
I've gone to Walter Reed Hospital and spent some time with kids who have lost their arms and legs fighting in Iraq. They're eighteen, nineteen, twenty years old, and they're the kind of kids who go to Dave Matthews Band concerts. They're brave and strong and willing to fight. But maybe they're fighting a war they didn't have to fight. We respect our Republican fans. But as a band, we all feel that the country is not going in the right direction.