Jim James at Roseland, New York 2006, photo by Mindy Bond
In October 2004 Exclaim! published an article featuring Jim James written by Lorraine Carpenter, the original article can be found here.
Keywords: politics
"We've always made it a point not to be a political band," says My Morning Jacket's Jim James. "I don't write political lyrics, I don't get up on stage and make speeches because I think music should be a beautiful escape for anybody, regardless of their politics."
Unlike Fat Mike of NOFX — who penned a song about Bush called "Idiot Son of an Asshole" — James refuses to bad-mouth the Republicans, preferring to let his band's inclusion in the Vote For Change tour do the talking. But that doesn't mean he's not critical of their imperialist endeavours and deficit-dilating policies, which My Morning Jacket's generation (and their kids) will pay for.
"If I can't afford health insurance and rent, I'm gonna be too busy thinking about that to meander on my couch all day, playing guitar and writing songs," says James. "I try to make my life and my music into as much of a fantasy as possible, but if I don't try and help the real world, I'm not gonna have a fantasy world to come back to."
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