Neil Young is not a fan of presidential candidate Donald Trump (how weird does that sound?) using his iconic “Rockin’ in the Free World” for his campaign. But he’s cool with Bernie Sanders, apparently, giving the Vermont Democrat permission to use the track.
It absolutely makes sense for Young to take the track away from Trump, who basically stands for everything Young is against. The two were never meant to be together.
In a statement, Young said, “Trump was never authorized to use ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ in his presidential candidacy announcement.” The singer went on to say, “Neil Young, a Canadian Citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America.”
Trump’s camp claimed that they reached out to both performers’ rights organizations, ASCAP and BMI, for rights to the song, and that they paid for those rights, but that they’d stop using Young’s song out of respect for the songwriter. It seems funny when presidential candidates, especially Republicans, use “Rockin’ in the Free World,” being that it’s a track that takes jabs at Republican President George H. W. Bush.
Is it too late for Young to add a track about Trump to his politically focused album The Monsanto Years?
(Via Consequence of Sound)
