Ah the minefield of the politician and pop music.
If they’re not horribly misinterpreting the message behind a classic song – read Reagan and Bruce Springsteen‘s ‘Born In The USA‘ – then they’re facing the wrath of musicians who aren’t all that keen on having their music used in the political arena at all – read Paul Ryan and Tom Morello.
We can now add Donald Trump and R.E.M to this blacklist, thanks to Trump’s use of ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)‘ at a Republican rally in Washington DC on yesterday (September 9th).
The defunct band’s frontman Michael Stipe isn’t happy, and released a short statement through bass player Mike Mills‘ Twitter page which bluntly declared:
“Go f**k yourselves, the lot of you – you sad, attention-grabbing, power-hungry little men. Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign.”
After a few deep breaths, a joint statement was then issued to Facebook which goes a touch deeper into their thoughts on current US politics as the nation searches for its 2016 Presidential candidates.
“While we do not authorize or condone the use of our music at this political event, and do ask that these candidates cease and desist from doing so, let us remember that there are things of greater importance at stake here,” they said.