Fatboy Slim has recently been dragged into the American political arena, as Vice President Al Gore has been using Slim's hit song, "Praise You," as an unofficial campaign theme for his bid to become the next President of the United States.

Gore hasn't had to pay any sort of licensing fee for using the song yet, as he hasn't featured "Praise You" in any political commercials on TV or radio, only as background music for his speaking engagements.

MTV News caught up with Norman Cook, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, at the Winter Music Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and he offered his thoughts on Gore appropriating a song that he, in fact, had reworked from Camille Yarbrough's original (see [article id="1428923"]"Jazz And Broadway Veteran Offers 'Praise' To Fatboy Slim"[/article]).

[article id="1444006"]"Thank God it wasn't the Republicans [who used the song],"[/article] Cook said. [article id="1444006"]"I don't know, I haven't seen

[the footage] yet, but it's quite funny because it gets on the news in England, and my mum will ring up and go, 'I heard your tune on the news.'

So, on one hand it's kind of funny, a riot. My mum doesn't watch MTV or pop programs, and to get my music on something she'd see is quite a thrill. I haven't examined all of [Gore's] policies and politics, but like I said, thank God it wasn't the Republicans... I would have had to sue." [RealVideo][/article]

Meanwhile, Fatboy Slim told MTV News that he has just started work on a new album and admitted that he was having a hard time getting back into the grind of an eight-hour work day.

The Fatboy Slim/Norman Cook Collection," a compilation album of songs that Cook cut before he began donning the guise of Fatboy Slim, was released last week on Hip-O Records (see [article id="1428915"]"Norman Cook's Pre-Fatboy Slim Work To See Release"[/article]).