Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger recently sat down with interviewer Nardwuar The Human Serviette to talk about a range of topics, one of which being the unexpected resurgence of the band’s 2005 hit, ‘Photograph,’ following a tweet from then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
Back in October 2019, Trump tweeted a meme aimed at Joe Biden and his son Hunter, using Nickelback’s ‘Photograph’ as the soundtrack. The tweet, which has since been removed, played on Trump’s unproven claims that Joe Biden improperly used his office’s influence to favor his son.
The meme featured the song’s opening line, ‘Look at this photograph,’ as Kroeger held up a framed photo of the Bidens with a Ukrainian gas executive. The tweet not only sparked political debate but also led to a sudden increase in the song’s popularity. Despite the unexpected attention, Warner Music made a copyright complaint, but the band remained hands-off regarding the situation.
Chad Kroeger’s words about Trump’s tweet in 2019 read:
“Bizarre. Very bizarre. That was really tough to put words on.
I thought it was hilarious. Somebody came to us with the metrics the following week, and they said, ‘Did you realize that because he tweeted that, ‘Photograph’ got played 700 million times?'”
He added:
“We stepped back, didn’t do anything. The label went and said, ‘You can’t do that. This is illegal. You can’t use the band’s…’ whatever. We just sort of stepped back and didn’t do anything.”
It just goes to show how a politically charged meme can lead to an unforeseen revival of a song. It’s also a glimpse into how musicians navigate uncharted waters when their work unintentionally gets caught in political crossfires. Despite the odd circumstances, Nickelback’s decision to step back reflected their choice to let the music speak for itself, regardless of the context it was used in.
