Neil Young Reminds World in Which Rock is Free

June 17th, 2015: As seen on Archive (PDF)

A spoof campaign poster for Trump's almost 2012 run; Photo: n/a

Yesterday, if you somehow missed Donald “Blow Hard” Trump’s predictably dumbfounding presidential bid announcement, amidst his promises of ISIS iron-fisting and Great Border Wall of Mexico erections, he did what every idiot campaigning republican loves to do, and used an unauthorized song to emphasize his propaganda.

Descending the elevator of one of his many great dicks in the sky, Trump took the podium in his NYC Tower to Neil Young‘s “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

Not since Ronald Reagan’s use of the BOSS‘ completely anti-establishment/anti-war “Born in the U.S.A.” has an American gotten it so wrong in matching sentiment to agenda — “Rockin’ in the Free World” a seething attack on the Big Brother powers that control ‘free’ and what it means to be a proud democratic American.

Because imperialistic war-mongering and border-patrol are gateways to freedom. And as we all know Trump’s tears for the dumpster drug babies who will never get to fall in love, never get to feel cool.

We could go on, but Uncle Neil has responded quick and strong, first with a declaration of an uncleared use of the song, and then with a Facebook diatribe on the meaning of free, how his latest album The Monsanto Years brings all of this ill-conceived corporate agenda full circle, and ending the 460-word attack with the assertion, “I make my music for people not for candidates,” followed with “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World,” as a salutation. 

Trump’s camp did fire-back claiming they did clear a legit sample of the song, but they did not double-check the political specifics of their corporate legal jibber, as Rolling Stone dutifully points out, and didn’t contact Young and his label directly and correctly.

Meanwhile, in other Young news, many of the corporations Young has sent up in The Monsanto Years has spoken up to Billboard in hilarious balking fashion, most notoriously Monsanto claiming Young’s lyrics are based on “myths.”

Such is how a dinosaur act roareth. Keep on keepin’ on the rockin’ in the free world, Neil.

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