# How Barack Obama inspired the defining song of 2009: “Impossible not to get swept up”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/how-barack-obama-inspired-the-defining-song-of-2009-impossible-not-to-get-swept-up/
- Published: 2026-11-03T04:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-03T04:53:42+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/how-obama-inspired-defining-song-2009/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Obama’s 2008 election inspired The Drums to write ‘Let’s Go Surfing’.
- The song captured widespread optimism about political change.
- Its hopeful mood now feels bittersweet against Obama’s contested legacy.

## Summary

The Drums wrote ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ on the day Barack Obama won the 2008 US presidential election, with the band later saying the national mood of excitement inspired its buoyant sound. The song became a defining snapshot of millennial optimism, capturing the belief that Obama’s promised “hope and change” could bring a fresh start.

Guitarist Jacob Graham said people could hardly avoid being swept up in the election, while singer Jonathan Pierce described the preceding eight years as feeling like being “in prison”. Lyrics about a “new kid” moving into the “big house” point to Obama’s arrival at the White House. The article contrasts the song’s hopeful mood with the more complicated legacy of Obama’s presidency, including his expanded use of drone strikes and the later dismantling of the Affordable Care Act.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.