Last week, the US House of Representatives was silenced by a congresswoman quoting the White Stripes. Democrat Donna Edwards read out lines from the song Effect and Cause in a desperate attempt to get the two parties to agree a budget. Edwards quoted the song like a performance poet, emphasising lines such as: "You burnt my house down and then got mad at my reaction?"
Since its release in 2007, the song's meaning has been hotly debated. It has been read as singer/guitarist Jack White's response to the Bush administration deflecting responsibility for the Iraq war, but the duo were rarely explicitly political and a more likely source of inspiration was the tension between the band and their less successful Detroit contemporaries. In 2003, White was involved in a bar brawl with Von Bondies singer Jason Stollsteimer. Jealousy, it seemed, had raised its head (and its fist). Still, Edwards's re-appropriation of White's lyrics has caught the world's attention, and perhaps this is a savvy way for public figures to shine the spotlight on important issues. Could it work for others?
• Gillian Duffy tackling Nick Clegg about the coalition: "In some respects I suspect you've got a respectable side/ When pushed and pulled and pressured/You seldom run and hide/But is it for someone else's benefit/Not for what you wanna do?" (You Don't Know What Love Is, You Just Do As You're Told)
• Andy Coulson to David Cameron on the phone-hacking scandal: "Find a canary/A bird to bring my message home/Carry my obituary/My coffin doesn't have a phone" (Hello Operator)
• Alex Reid to Katie Price about being dumped by her: "The nurse should not be the one who puts salt in your wounds/But it's always with trust that the poison is fed with a spoon." (The Nurse)
