Neil Young Don’t Want Trump ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’
It would be interesting to see the real, raw reaction Neil Young had when he saw Donald Trump trot out in front of the media to throw his hat in the ring as a 2016 Presidential candidate, backed by Young’s iconic anthem, “Rockin’ In The Free World.”
Neil Young, his progressive politics and liberal views going hand in hand with his decades of music, may have just frowned, or perhaps thrown the TV remote at the screen, but regardless his actual reaction, Neil Young is not pleased that the decidedly conservative Donald Trump used “Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World” to kick off his presidential campaign, according to the Associated Press.
But this didn’t seem to be a concern for Donald Trump, who in his usual confident and grandiose style, took to the stage in the atrium of his own Trump Tower in Manhattan after being introduced by his widely respected daughter, Ivanka Trump, followed by Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World,” to the set tone.
But as soon as Neil Young and his camp found out about this apparent outrage, they quickly called Donald Trump and his camp out.
According to Neil Young and his manager, not only did Donald Trump not have permission to use “Rockin’ In The Free World,” Neil Young also pointed out that he’s supporting Democrat Bernie Sanders for President.
“Donald Trump was not authorized to use “Rockin’ In The Free World” in his presidential candidacy announcement. Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America.”
Donald Trump’s response to Neil Young’s protest for using “Rockin’ In The Free World”, was that the Trump campaign used the song legally via an ASCAP licensing deal, ASCAP being Neil Young’s copyright group, reports NPR.
At the same time, Rolling Stone points out that according to ASCAP rules, using a song such as “Rockin’ In The Free World” for a political message necessitates that Trump should have actually checked with Neil Young first.
In the meantime, along with the Neil Young “Rockin’ In The Free World” brouhaha, the Donald Trump Presidential campaign is creating all kinds of other interesting reactions across social media, mostly mocking “The Donald.”
But don’t expect Neil Young or anti-Donald Trump-ians to slow the real estate mogul down.
Whether doing business, interviews, TV shows, or unapologetically using Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World”, Donald Trump always manages to garner much attention.
[Images by Richard Ellis and Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images]
