Neil Young 'In' On Becoming U.S. Citizen, Voting Democrat
Now Canada and America Have a Neil Young, Sort Of
Former Canadian Neil Young, 74, has announced on his website that he's now a U.S. citizen and will be proudly voting Democrat.
He also posted a video on his Instagram where he's singing "I'm proud to be a Camerican" (a mix of American and Canadian) and waving one of those little paper flags you find on cakes. One side has the American flag; the other the Canadian.
Reporting For Civic Duty
It seems clear that Young's not planning to vote Republican in the 2020 U.S. election.
Along with a picture of Young saluting in front of a table for people to register to vote Democrat, he wrote, “I’m happy to report I’m in!! Vote your conscience.”
"Vote your conscience" was eloquently spoken by Michael J. Fox during The American President. That movie still rings true today.
Young is ever the free spirit, and will most likely always be an enemy of President Trump, especially after Trump used Young's song "Rockin' In the Free World," during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump's campaign did say they paid for permission to use the song.
"Through a licensing agreement with ASCAP, Mr. Trump’s campaign paid for and obtained the legal right to use Neil Young’s recording of ‘Rockin' In The Free World,' " said Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.
While Young acknowledged Trump could legally use the song, he was clear that he wasn't happy about the whole thing.
In 2018, Young said, “DT does not have my permission to use the song ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ at his appearances/. Legally, he has the right to, however it goes against my wishes.”
Lewandowski continued: "Nevertheless, there are plenty of other songs to choose from. Despite Neil’s differing political views, Mr. Trump likes him very much."
'Dangerous, Vilifying and Hateful Rhetoric'
Young also said in 2018, as Trump continued to use his song:
“I asked him then, in a widely shared, public letter to cease and desist. However, he chose not to listen to my request, just as he chooses not to listen to the many American voices who ask him to stop his constant lies, to stop his petty, nasty name calling and bullying, to stop pushing his dangerous, vilifying and hateful rhetoric.”
Other artists at the time also spoke up against Trump after he tried to use their songs, like Axl Rose, Rihanna and Pharrell.
Rose spoke up a few years ago, complaining that Trump's campaign is being super-sneaky about using others' music without proper permission.
“Unfortunately the Trump campaign is using loopholes in the various venues’ blanket performance licenses which were not intended for such craven political purposes, without the songwriters’ consent.
Personally I kinda liked the irony of Trump supporters listening to a bunch of anti Trump music at his rallies but I don’t imagine a lot of ‘em really get that or care.”
