The most recent Dumbo stuffing himself into the Clown Car has prompted some pushback. The cease-and-desist demand from The Neil that The Donald stop using Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" in the squirrel-haired Dumbo's political appearances is a classic in our political literature. If this is a (fair & balanced) political screed, so be it.
[x Esquire]
Neil Young's 461-Word Letter To Donald Trump And Corporate America
By John Hendrickson
Tag Cloud of the following piece of writing
We saw this coming. As you may recall, Donald Trump kicked off his 2016 presidential -shitshow- campaign Tuesday morning with Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" cranking in the background. As we pointed out yesterday, Young is a noted environmentalist, and Trump is fighting that good fight to prove climate change is a hoax. Young released a statement last night saying that Trump was "not authorized" to use the song and that he [Young] was supporting Democrat Bernie Sanders in the upcoming election. This afternoon, Young wrote a long missive on his Facebook page that points a middle finger squarely at Donald Trump, corporate America, and the contemporary U.S. political system, as a whole. "Corporations don't have children," Young says. "They don't have feelings or soul."
Meanwhile, Young takes time to plug his music streaming service, Pono, and his new record, The Monsanto Years ...which will be released by Reprise Records, a division of Warner Music Group, the third largest record company in the world. He also concludes the message with "Keep on Rockin in the Free World, Neil Young," which would be a neat way to start signing off on your emails. Read the full post below. We have bolded certain lines for emphasis.
Yesterday my song "Rockin in the Free World" was used in a announcement for a U.S. presidential candidate without my permission.
A picture of me with this candidate was also circulated in conjunction with this announcement but It was a photograph taken during a meeting when I was trying to raise funds for Pono, my online high resolution music service.
Music is a universal language. so I am glad that so many people with varying beliefs get enjoyment from my music, even if they don't share my beliefs.
But had I been asked to allow my music to be used for a candidate - I would have said no.
I am Canadian and I don't vote in the United States, but more importantly I don't like the current political system in the USA and some other countries. Increasingly Democracy has been hijacked by corporate interests. The money needed to run for office, the money spent on lobbying by special interests, the ever increasing economic disparity and the well funded legislative decisions all favor corporate interests over the people's
The Citizens United Supreme Court ruling is proof of this corruption as well as are the proposed trade deals which would further compromise our rights.
These Corporations were originally created to serve us but if we don't appropriately prioritize they will destroy us. Corporations don't have children. They don't have feelings or soul. They don't depend on uncontaminated water, clean air or healthy food to survive. They are beholden to one thing — the bottom line.
I choose to speak Truth to this Economic Power. When I speak out on corporations hurting the common man or the environment or other species, I expect a well financed disinformation campaign to be aimed my way.
Such is the case with the reaction to my new album The Monsanto Years, which covers many of these issues. I support those bringing these issues to light and those who fight for their rights like Freedom of Choice.
But Freedom of Choice is meaningless without knowledge.
Thats why its crucial we all get engaged and get informed.
That's why GMO labeling matters. Mothers need to know what they are feeding their children. They need freedom to make educated choices at the market. When the people have voted for labeling, as they have in Vermont, they need our support when they are fighting these corporate interests trying to reverse the laws they have voted for and passed in the democratic process.
I do not trust self serving misinformation coming from corporations and their media trolls. I do not trust politicians who are taking millions from those corporations either. I trust people. So I make my music for people not for candidates.
Keep on Rockin in the Free World.
Neil Young Ω
[John Hendrickson is the Associate Editor at Esquire Digital. He writes, edits, and conceptualizes multiple stories per week covering a wide variety of topics (news, culture, style, sports, food and drink) and he also occasionally contributes to the print version of Esquire. Hendrickson received a BA (English language and literature) from the Pennsylvania State University.]
Copyright © 2015 Hearst Communications
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License..
Copyright © 2015 Sapper's (Fair & Balanced) Rants & Raves
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