The blues have been around for a few years. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that there have been several blues songs directed at commanders-in-chief or their political decision-making, from the generic “Mr. President” to “Eisenhower Blues” and “President Kennedy” to “Vietnam Blues.”
Probably one of the best-known blues tunes about presidents has more to do with their use on our currency than their actual presidencies or politics, and we can’t think of a more appropriate way to observe the holiday honoring our past national leaders than this one. Written by the late great Willie Dixon, its lyrics still hold true today:
“Hamilton on a ten can get you straight,
But Jackson on a twenty is really great.
And if you’re talkin’ about a poor man’s friend,
Grant will get you out of whatever you’re in.
Them dead presidents,
Them dead presidents,
Well, I ain’t broke,
but I’m badly bent.
Everybody loves them dead presidents.”
-Dead Presidents, Willie Dixon