Foo Fighters have released a statement expressing their dismay that republican John McCain has used one of their tracks, 'My Hero', during the course of his US presidential campaign. The band say: "The saddest thing about this is that 'My Hero' was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential. To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song".
They're not the only music act to have asked presidential candidates to refrain from using their songs; the trouble is, of course, that as long as the campaign in question gets a blanket licence to play music at their public events, they can't be stopped. John Mellencamp and Jackson Browne have complained about McCain using their tracks, whilst Sam Moore has asked Barack Obama to stop using 'Soul Man'.
McCain-Palin spokesman Brian Rogers says "The McCain-Palin campaign respects copyright. Accordingly, this campaign has obtained and paid for licenses from performing rights organisations, giving us permission to play millions of different songs, including 'My Hero"'.