Neil Young to Donald Trump: Don't Rock in My Free World

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

Source: Mother Jones



When Donald Trump strode on to the stage at Trump Tower on Tuesday to announce that he would enter the Republican race for president, a rock and roll anthem blared: Neil Young’s "Rockin’ in the Free World." It was an odd choice, given that the 1989 song seemed to slam a Republican administration for not giving a damn about the poor. And Young has taken exception to Trump's appropriation of his tune. A statement issued to Mother Jones for Young by his longtime manager Elliot Roberts suggests Young was not pleased by Trump's use of the song:

"Donald Trump's use of "Rockin' in the Free World" was not authorized. Mr. Young is a longtime supporter of Bernie Sanders."

Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/06/neil-young-donald-trump-bernie-sanders

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[louis-t]

1. Happens a lot with repuke politicians.

They never do research, it's beneath them. Has there EVER been a musician that complained about a Dem using one of their songs? I can't recall one. I think it was Romney that was using a Boston song and Tom Scholz just reamed him good. Called him 'dude'.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

2. To be fair, their pickins are slim

All they have on their side are Pat Boone and Nugent

[yallerdawg]

3. The Nuge - "Cat Scratch Fever" could be appropriate...

considering Deep Parasite Mind Control (toxoplasmosis)!

"Stranglehold" sounds Republican!

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

11. More like 'Wang Dang Sweet Poontang'.

[rocktivity]

34. It was Huckabee, not Romney

Last edited Thu Jun 18, 2015, 10:12 PM - Edit history (6)

MTV: On the campaign trail last year, Huckabee performed covers of the Boston hit and invited former Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau...to play with him...

In his letter, Scholz notes that it was he, not Goudreau, who wrote, arranged, produced, engineered and played all the guitars on the recording..."Your claim that this was ’the guy who originally did it’ is a bit mystifying, since he never played on that recording. Nor has he been ’of Boston’ since he left...over a quarter century ago, after performing with us for only three years.”

...Scholz goes on to say that his band has never endorsed a political candidate, “and with all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything Boston stands for. In fact, although I’m impressed you learned my bass guitar part on More Than a Feeling, I am an Obama supporter.

“While this may seem like a little thing to you, Boston has been my life’s work...By using my song, and my band’s name...you have taken something of mine and used it to promote ideas to which I am opposed. In other words, I think I’ve been ripped off, dude!"

But you sure got the "reamed" and "dude" parts right!


rocktivity

[xocet]

4. Standard Issue Republican Behavior: Use a Song at a Campaign Event W/O Permission from the Artist..

n/t

[SomeGuyInEagan]

9. Yep. Just take until caught. N/t

[dflprincess]

18. There was a rumor that in 2002 Bob Dylan sent Norm "The Weasel" Coleman

a cease and desist order after Colemen started using the "Times They Are A Changing". I never did find out if this was true but Normie did stop singing the lines from the tune.

[rocktivity]

35. Close encounters of the Coleman/Dylan kind

TwinCities.com:

During the 2004 Republican National Convention...Sen. Norm Coleman introduced Minnesota's delegate vote saying, "Minnesota native Bob Dylan said, 'Times they are a-changin'.' They are changing in Minnesota, with our great young Republican governor Tim Pawlenty, half of our Washington delegation being Republican ..."

...(For)...the second night of the (2008) Republican convention...(t)he Minnesota Agri-Growth Council had been seeking to land Jakob Dylan and his band, the Wallflowers, to perform for 5,000 invited guests at a...nonpartisan celebration of America's food industry called AgNite...GOP conventioneers are definitely welcome...but Democrats and independents are, too.

Representatives had agreed on a performance fee, although no contracts had been signed, said Daryn McBeth, executive director of the agribusiness trade group. McBeth...is quoted...as saying, "The lead singer of the band, his dad is Bob Dylan, and I'm told he (Bob) weighed in and encouraged them not to do it because of the political nature of what's going on in town that week."

The Dylan camp...said the Wallflowers were approached to perform at the event, and turned it down. They said Bob Dylan had no involvement whatsoever....

rocktivity

[rocktivity]

29. It's been going on for so long it's practically a status symbol LOL

Of these eighteen examples, 12 are rock acts and only one involves a Democrat:

http://my.xfinity.com/slideshow/entertainment-rockersvspoliticians/


rocktivity

[xocet]

33. Thanks for the link to that list. Here is the information re-organized and sorted by frequency....

John McCain (6).....“Right Now”, Van Halen; “Eye of the Tiger”, Survivor; “Our Country” & “Pink Houses”, John Mellencamp; “My Hero”, Foo Fighters; "Running On Empty*", Jackson Browne
*John McCain, the RNC and the Ohio Republican Party

Sarah Palin (3).....“Who Says You Can't Go Home”, Bon Jovi; “Barracuda”, Heart; "Independence Day", Gretchen Peters

George W. Bush (2).....“I Won’t Back Down”, Tom Petty; “Still the One”, Orleans

Newt Gingrich (2).....“Eye of the Tiger”, Survivor; “How You Like Me Now?”, The Heavy

Michele Bachmann (2).....“American Girl”, Tom Petty; “Walking on Sunshine”, Katrina & The Waves

Chuck DeVore (2).....“The Boys of Summer” & “All She Wants to Do Is Dance”, Don Henley

Ronald Reagan (1).....“Born in the U.S.A.”, Bruce Springsteen

Mitt Romney (1).....“Wavin’ Flag”, K'naan

Charlie Crist (1).....“Road to Nowhere”, David Byrne

Barack Obama (1).....“Hold On! I’m Coming”, Sam Moore


Source: http://my.xfinity.com/slideshow/entertainment-rockersvspoliticians/20/

and now one may add the following to the list:

Donald Trump (1)....."Rockin’ in the Free World", Neil Young

[The Jungle 1]

5. No clue

He and his minions have no clue what that song is about.

[wordpix]

24. yes the song & music vid are critical of the US

The video features poverty, homelessness, war...

The stoopids over at the Trump campaign are getting up their jingoistic America First pricks when they play it. No clue is right.

[Skittles]

6. it occurs to me I have loved Mr. Young for 46 years

yes indeed

[alboe]

7. Go Bernie!

Even Trump's announcement turned into an endorsement for another candidate!

[mountain grammy]

8. John Fuglesang was talking about great rock songs on his show today..

This one immediately popped into my mind.. one of the greatest!

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

10. Every slang word for penis IS The Donald.

[Divernan]

12. The Scots refer to him as "Wee Donald"

[cosmicone]

13. Maybe Toby Keith will write a song like "Toupée on an asshole"

for Trump's campaign

[mahina]

14. Derivative of NOFX

[longship]

16. Is there a song entitled "Rabid Squirrel on my Head"?

Of course, then there's Rand Paul's campaign tune. "Rabid Weasel on My Head"

Either way, it is the same. Rabies is rabies. Deadly no matter what the vector.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

15. There's a reason why I've always loved this man! Good on him!

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

17. Say what you will about Rick Perry

At least he sticks to using the crap musicians on his side for his announcement

[wordpix]

19. The Donald is entitled to freebies, or so he thinks

That's the way it's done in Donald World. You do me a freebie, I'll do you one, and we all make billion$ after awhile.

[Enthusiast]

20. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

[Paladin]

21. Trump's people are now saying the use of the song was authorized and payed for.

That's not good enough. Let's see every bit of paperwork backing that claim up---right fucking now.

[wordpix]

22. if that were true, Young wouldn't make a fuss

He would be happily presiding over more $ in the bank

[Paladin]

23. I want irrefutable proof from Trump and his people.

And even then, I won't believe it......

[wordpix]

25. haha, just the tip of the iceberg lies we'll get from Capt. Combover

[Paladin]

26. God knows this election cycle can use some comic relief. (nt)

[Politicalboi]

27. The man can't sing for shit

But I'm glad he's mad at The Donald.

[JudyM]

28. May not be deep and rich or a vocal acrobat, but there's character and intensity in his voice.

He has a uniqueness that may not be for everyone, but his imagery is great and some of his work, like

Cinnamon Girl, Old Man, Ohio, Lonesome Me, Southern Man, like a Hurricane, are such great songs that are made greater by that plaintive echoiness of his voice.

Just my two cents, since I love his stuff.

Maybe you have to be of a certain age or frame of mind, to feel it like I do.

[progressoid]

32. Yeah, but he's written some great songs.

[cbdo2007]

30. Politicians aren't required to "get permission" any more than your local bar has to

get permission to play any songs. They pay a use fee to the publisher, who has made this song available in a catalog with millions of other songs to be played at events.

[progressoid]

31. It's not that simple.

According to an ASCAP document called "Using Music in Political Campaigns," for a song to be used properly, "the campaign will need to contact the song's publisher and possibly the artist's record label to negotiate the appropriate licenses with them." It's unclear whether the Trump campaign contacted Young, his management company or record label to use the track. (Editor's Note: As The Hollywood Reporter notes, that usage applies only to the use of a song in a campaign ad. A representative for ASCAP declined to comment when asked for details about the case.)

Young shares a co-writing credit on "Rockin' in the Free World" with Crazy Horse guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro through Young's Silver Fiddle Music and Sampedro's Poncho Villa Music, according to ASCAP.

ASCAP addresses artists' legal rights and criticisms in their document on political campaigns under the question, "Can the campaign still be criticized or even sued by an artist for playing his or her song at an event?"

"Yes. If an artist does not want his or her music to be associated with the campaign, he or she may be able to legal action even if the campaign has the appropriate copyright licenses," ASCAP says. "While the campaign would be in compliance with copyright law, it could potentially be in violation of other laws, including "Right of Publicity" and "False Endorsement."

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/neil-young-donald-trump-spar-over-rockin-in-the-free-world-use-20150617#ixzz3dMTJw0oF

[cbdo2007]

36. According to your post, it is that simple.

This was an event, not a "campaign ad" where they are free to use whatever songs they would like from the event usage catalog.

Look, I hate idiot repubes as much as anybody on here, and I'm happy to Neil Young to speak out in such a public forum against Donald Trump, but it's kind of silly for people to think they need "permission" to use the songs in all cases, at all times just because their political views are different than the artists.

[progressoid]

37. It doesn't have to be an ad.

This part:

... If an artist does not want his or her music to be associated with the campaign, he or she may be able to legal action even if the campaign has the appropriate copyright licenses," ASCAP says. "While the campaign would be in compliance with copyright law, it could potentially be in violation of other laws, including "Right of Publicity" and "False Endorsement."