Washington ( CNN ) -- Mitt Romney 's campaign can now point to at least one thing it has in common with Ronald Reagan 's -- a musical act is asking it to stop using its music at campaign stops . The rock band Silversun Pickups this week served Romney 's campaign with a cease-and-desist order after it says Romney 's campaign used its song `` Panic Switch '' at an event earlier this month . `` Seems as if the GOP is once again whimsically ignoring our great nation 's laws to do whatever it wants to do , and shooting itself in the foot in the process , '' band representative Ken Weinstein said in a statement . Ryan Rages Against the Machine . The band 's lead singer and guitarist Brian Aubert could n't resist making a political point : `` We were very close to just letting this go , because the irony was too good . While he is inadvertently playing a song that describes his whole campaign , we doubt that 'Panic Switch ' really sends the message he intends . '' A Romney spokeswoman , Amanda Henneberg , responded to the request , saying , `` The song was inadvertently played during event setup before Gov . Romney arrived at the location . '' `` As anyone who attends Gov . Romney 's events knows , this is not a song we would have played intentionally . That said , it was covered under the campaign 's regular blanket license , but we will not play it again , '' said Henneberg . Squabbles between artists and campaigns over artistic sensibilities , political compatibility , and rights issues have become as much a political tradition as campaign buttons . Among the most famous of these is the clash between Reagan and Bruce Springsteen . During the 1984 campaign , Reagan told a New Jersey crowd , `` America 's future rests in a thousand dreams inside our hearts . It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire : New Jersey 's own Bruce Springsteen . '' But Reagan apparently had n't heard the lyrics . `` Born in the U.S.A. , '' the song he referred to , was n't a message of hope and pride but of `` how this country is going to pot , essentially , and do something about it , '' said Lorraine Ali , pop music editor at the Los Angeles Times . Springsteen was n't amused . Springsteen later told Rolling Stone magazine , `` I think people have a need to feel good about the country they live in . But what 's happening , I think , is that that need -- which is a good thing -- is getting manipulated and exploited . You see in the Reagan election ads on TV , you know , 'It 's morning in America , ' and you say , 'Well , it 's not morning in Pittsburgh . ' '' ICP on FBI lawsuit . Springsteen so much wanted to convey the actual message of his song that he `` took to playing 'Born in the U.S.A. ' on an acoustic guitar so it would n't sound so rousing anymore , '' said Joe Levy , editor of Billboard Magazine . Sen. John McCain 's presidential campaign also came under fire for using music from artists who did not support it . In 2008 , the band Heart asked the campaign to stop playing its song `` Barracuda '' in honor of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin 's nickname on her high school basketball team , `` Sarah Barracuda . '' The band even went on national television to express its outrage . `` Sarah Palin 's views and values in no way represent us as American women , '' Ann and Nancy Wilson told Entertainment Weekly . `` We ask that our song 'Barracuda ' no longer be used to promote her image . '' McCain also settled out of court with Jackson Browne for using his 1977 hit `` Running on Empty '' in a campaign ad without the artist 's permission . Foo Fighters , John Mellencamp and Boston asked McCain and other candidates to stop using their music . And Tom Petty did n't find Michele Bachmann his type of `` American Girl . '' The rocker 's manager asked the Bachmann campaign to stop using his 1977 hit `` American Girl '' after it was played during the kickoff event for the Minnesota representative 's presidential bid . Petty also asked President George W. Bush not to use his music during his campaign , The Washington Post reported . But those artists were alive to protect their music . Ludwig von Beethoven 's Ninth Symphony has been co-opted by everyone from dictators to revolutionaries . Esteban Buch 's book `` Beethoven 's Ninth : A Political History '' chronicles the symphony 's use in clashing political contexts from Hitler 's birthday , to the deadly protests in China 's Tiananmen Square , to the fall of the Berlin Wall . YouTube most popular way teens get music .
Rock band The Pickups asks Romney 's campaign to stop using its music at rallies . Band says its song , ` ` Panic Switch , '' supports Romney 's campaign . Reagan , Bush , McCain came under fire for using music of artists who disagreed with them . Even Beethoven could n't stop his music being co - opted for a variety of political purposes .