Can ‘dad rock’ help Zelenskyy and Ukraine?

Volodymyr Zelenskyy starts his day with a shock from AC/DC.

It is an endearing image of an inspiring leader. Before being briefed, holding meetings, issuing orders and supervising the counter-offensive, the Ukrainian president is spinning classic rock at full throttle. As he told CNN’s Erin Burnett this week, music energizes him.

There is nothing funny about this horrific war in Ukraine. It keeps me awake at night. But I did smile as I watched Zelenskyy lament about his morning routine, which included training to ripping guitars, pounding drums and the high octane uncle from AC/DC, Eric Clapton and Guns N’ Roses. His life is ‘Welcome to the jungle’.

The West is supplying weapons to Ukraine And music.

It’s amazing how the right song can put you in the right mood. We have love songs. Songs about the breakup. We have songs for proms and weddings. Birthday songs. Funeral Songs. My favorite are dishwashing songs. Have you ever tried to scrub a pot at Debussy? It’s not possible. You drop that sponge and stare into mid-range in a fugue state as “Clair de lune” makes you salivate in the Palmolive.

But crank up the Zeppelin and your cookware will shine.

Now a new subgenre: songs to motivate a world leader to repel a barbarian invasion by a nuclear superpower that has wreaked unspeakable death and destruction. Songs to inspire courage and determination against murderous aggression.

A few years ago, Zelenskyy was an actor and comedian. Now he’s a wartime president and AC/DC helps him believe that, to quote one of their songs, he’s got “Big Balls.”

A few summers ago I went through a Spanish pop phase, even though I didn’t understand the lyrics. For all I know, I shook my head and grunted along as the singer exclaimed, “Your stolen kitten has genital herpes.”

It didn’t matter. Latin American music makes for excellent shower songs.

Zelenskyy laughed after admitting that he often doesn’t know what AC/DC is singing when he practices in the early hours. He shouldn’t feel sheepish. Even if English isn’t your first language, it’s hard to understand “Concrete shoes, cyanide, TNT / (Done dirt cheap) / Ties, contracts, high voltage / (Done dirt cheap).”

He also questioned whether his music taste is dated: “Maybe it’s too old music.”

This led to some headlines this week associating Zelenskyy with “daddy music.” Can we please do away with the “daddy” as a pejorative prefix? Dad jeans. Dad jokes. Dad shoes. Daddy bid. Dad Emojis. Dad glasses. Dad haircut. Papa crème brûlée (inside joke).

No, Mr. President. Your music is not too old. There’s a reason why astronauts in space still listen to the Moody Blues. There’s a reason sports arenas still destroy Queen. There’s a reason the Rolling Stones are still touring after we’re all long gone.

Classic rock is timeless. Classic rock is power. Classic rock takes center stage.

You know who isn’t a fan of the Eagles? Vladimir Putin.

So today I call on all able rockers to help Ukraine win this terrible war. Putin is a malignant tumor on the planet. Music can be a chemo. Guns N’ Roses have already put the Ukrainian flag on the video board when they perform “Civil War” during their concert. U2’s Bono and the Edge played in a subway in Kiev last year. The Scorpions changed the lyrics to “Wind of Change” – a power ballad associated with the fall of the Berlin Wall – as they felt it now “romanticized Russia”.

And they don’t want to romanticize war crimes against Ukraine.

I think classic rockers should start supergroups to buy drones or raise money for Ukraine. AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses should join forces and release new material, with all proceeds going to the beleaguered land to rebuild after the fighting stops.

Eric Clapton and Brian May should start an “Octaves for Odessa” guitar tour. Paul McCartney, who performed in Moscow 20 years ago, should take his microphone to Kharkov.

Why can’t there be some kind of “Live Aid” benefit concert for Ukraine? The biggest stars should raise awareness and perform their greatest hits, while sending a melodic message to the world’s autocrats: We stand with Ukraine.

Zelensky could have escaped to rule in exile once that convoy of Russian tanks rolled across the border last year. But he stayed to fight for his people. Give the man new songs and new collaborations to fuel this fighting spirit.

Power the man’s secret bunker speakers with inspiration.

When Zelensky addressed the Grammys in a satellite message last year, he noted that war is the opposite of music: “Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos. They sing for the injured in hospitals – even for those who can’t hear them…

“But the music will break through anyway… On our land we are fighting against Russia, which with its bombs brings a terrible silence – the dead silence. Fill the silence with your music. Fill it out today to tell our story…”

All living rock stars cannot stop Putin from violating international law or targeting Ukrainians with his insidious weapons of war. But they can help Zelenskyy stay in the right mood as he bravely defends his country.

In the end, there’s only one lyric that matters:

If Ukraine doesn’t win, we all lose.

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