Neil Young is pretty much the poster boy for a whole generation of lefty troubadours. So, you’d think Young might have a little problem with walking right-wing fever dream Donald Trump using his music at his rallies. And you would be right! However, Young says he holds no ill will toward the Donald.
In a new interview with Reuters, Young says he doesn’t think Trump was doing anything wrong by playing “Rockin’ in the Free World” before describing his favorite ways of making Americans of the non-white variety decidedly less free.
“[Trump] actually got a license to use it. I mean, he said he did and I believe him. So I got nothing against him. You know, once the music goes out, everybody can use it for anything. But if the artist who made it is saying you never spoke to them, if that means something to you, you probably will stop playing it. And it meant something to Donald and he stopped.”
Donald of Orange had less than kind words for Young at the time, calling him a “total hypocrite.” But he did actually stop using the track, and aging Canadians are a forgiving bunch. To what extent, we really had no idea.
(Via Stereogum)
