"The Donald" made his big announcement earlier this week. Yes, Trump is running for president, and during his announcement, he acknowledged that he was not a nice guy, but said that he would get business in America to boom like no other president in history, and would end America's growing reliance on China. Funny, since some of his own companies are based in China. But that is not what I wanted to discuss.
In announcing his candidacy for the 2016 GOP nomination for president, much to the delight of comedians everywhere, Trump happened to play Neil Young's Keep on Rockin' in the Free World to help kick off his campaign.
Fittingly, Young objected to the use of this song, and made clear he wants absolutely nothing to do with the slimy Trump, who may very well be the biggest asshole in America, and perhaps the most visible symbol of everything that is wrong with the country.
Young proclaimed his support for Vermont's Bernie Sanders instead.
It was funny, yet it was actually not exactly new. In fact, politicians offending musicians by playing their tunes during political campaigns is quite commonplace. Indeed, there is a long history of musicians taking exception to politicians using their music during their campaigns.
Perhaps the most famous one was Bruce Springsteen being highly critical of Ronald Reagan using his Born in the USA during his campaign. Springsteen could not stand Reagan, and was highly critical of his policies, suggesting that Reagan essentially stood in opposition to everything that that particular song is about, and most of what Springsteen's songs stand for more generally.
Heart took exception to Sarah Palin using Barracuda in her introduction to the stage, and made clear that this was without their permission, and that Palin herself was very much without their support.
The man who chose Palin as his running mate, John Cain, was similarly asked by Jackson Browne to stop using Running on Empty in his political campaigns.
Similarly, Mitt Romney was asked by musician K'naan to stop playing his song Wavin’ Flag.
Newt Gingrich was asked to stop playing Eye of the Tiger by Survivor.
Tom Petty got Michelle Bachmann to stop playing American Girl.
Don Henley won a copyright lawsuit over conservative Chuck DeVore after he used Henley's Boys of Summer and All She Wants to do is Dance.
Earlier this year, The Dropkick Murphys very bluntly rejected Governor Scott Walker's use of their song I'm Shipping Up To Boston. They are in favor of unions, and did not appreciate Walker's track record against unions in Wisconsin. To that end, they requested that Walker "please stop using our music in any way" and added "we literally hate you !!! Love, Dropkick Murphys."
Pretty direct. Yet, Walker has continued to use music from John Mellencamp, despite Mellencamp also requesting that he stop (I have a feeling his request was not quite as direct as it was with the Dropkick Murphys).
Dropkick Murphys tell Gov. Walker: 'We literally hate you' Published January 26, 2015Associated Press
Though I'm not an especially big fan of Cher and not in the habit of quoting her, I thought her reaction to Trump's announcement was kind of funny: "Donald Trump's ego is so inflated, he might as well be the Hindenburg! In [the] dictionary next to 'obnoxious asshole' [it says] see photo of 'THE DONALD'."
ReplyDeleteWhen asked if she'd ever take a picture with Trump as president, Cher responded, "I [sic] RATHER STICK NEEDLES IN MY EYES." When another follower asked her to choose between Trump and fellow Republican Ted Cruz, her response was just as frank: "That's like saying 'would you rather have a Migraine or Throw Up.'" (Source: Huffington Post)