The famous American rock band Semisonic, who became internationally famous with the release of their second album Feeling Strangely Fine a 1998 Grammy nominee, is railing against the White House for using their hit song Closing Time in a social media post showing a handcuffed deportee. It's not the first time a musician or band has objected to Trump and his administration's unauthorized use of their songs.
The White House added a song to a post showing a man with handcuffs on his wrists strapped to his waist being searched at the airport. The video was captioned with the song's lyrics: "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."
"The use of our song by the White House was in no way authorized or approved by us. And no, they didn't ask us. The song is about joy and possibility and hope, and they didn't quite get it." the band wrote on X.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday, when asked about the contribution, said that "our entire government is clearly sympathetic to this president's message".
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) retweeted the White House's post on X with the caption "It's closing time. We're making America safe again."
The Trump administration shared the video two days after the White House controversially deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to a supermax prison in El Salvador.
U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order Saturday to temporarily block the deportations, but lawyers told him that two planes carrying immigrants were already in the air.
Semisonic has joined a long list of musicians who have objected to Trump's authorized use of their songs. They include ABBA, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Neil Young, R.E.M., Guns N' Roses, Woodkid a Beyoncé.
Survivors Sinead O'Connor had previously issued a cease-and-desist order to Trump, while the survivors Isaac Hayes sued him for 134 counts of copyright infringement.
Céline Dion also condemned the use of her song My Heart Will Go On from the Oscar-winning film Titanic, that was used at one of Trump's rallies. Dion's team questioned the song choice and wrote: "And really, this song?"
Another band that added its name to the ever-growing list of artists who have sued Trump over the illegal use of their songs in campaign videos was the group The White Stripes. Last year, the rock band called attention to the "gross misuse" of their hit song Seven Nation Army. In a post on Instagram, Jack White captioned a copy of the legal action with the words: "This machine is suing the fascists."
euronews/ gnews.cz - RoZ
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