Neil Young gives Tim Walz permission for his song – after he sued Trump for using it
Legendary rocker Neil Young gave Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz permission to use his song "Rockin' in the Free World" as an entrance theme at the Democratic National Convention.
Walz reportedly specifically sought permission from Young to use the song, CNN reports.
It's not the first time the song has been used by a political candidate; back in 2015 Donald Trump also used the song, but famously not with Young's permission to do so.
Young not only did not give his permission, but he actively tried to force Trump to stop using the song. He sent the campaign several cease-and-desist threats, but Trump ignored the artist's wishes for years.
The rocker eventually filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Trump in 2020.
Unlike with Trump, Young reportedly had no issued with Walz using the song.
“Rockin' in the Free World” — like Bruce Springsteen's “Born in the USA” — is often assumed to be patriotic, when in fact both are protest songs, lobbing critiques of society. Young's song highlights a lack of empathy for the poor and references pollution, war, and drug abuse in the US.
The song's gripes with the US were what raised eyebrows when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken played the song at a bar in Kyiv in May.
He played "Rockin' in the Free World" alongside Ukrainian band 19.99 during a visit to address the nation's ongoing war with Russia.
"The United States is with you, so much of the world is with you. And they’re fighting, not just for Ukraine but for the free world – and the free world is with you too," Blinken said during his performance.
At the same time, Blinken was facing criticism for the US's stance on Israel's violence in Gaza, and his on-stage appearance didn't earn him any goodwill amongst those critical of the war.
Four days after his big guitar show in Ukraine, Israel conducted an airstrike at a Gaza refugee camp that killed more than 30 people. Days later, protesters yelled at Blinken that he would be remembered as the "butcher of Gaza."
Blinken — acting as an executor of the will of the US government — probably wasn't who Young had in mind to carry his tune.
Similarly, Beyonce almost certainly did not have Trump in mind when she released “Freedom,” but the former president used the song in a video anyway. At least he tried to earlier this week, but Beyonce threatened to sue, and Trump's campaign removed the video.
Instead of playing over Trump, Beyonce's “Freedom“ will be used by Vice President Kamala Harris as her campaign walk-out song.
