If Iñigo Montoya from “The Princess Bride” ever attended a Donald Trump rally or watched his campaign videos, it’s clear what he would say: “You keep using that song. I don’t think it means what you think it does.
From the 2016 campaign to the present day, music fans have been baffled by Trump’s use of “You can’t always get what you want” from the Rolling Stones as his exit music at rallies. But that is only beginning to compare with the bewilderment as to why he or his campaign believe Linkin Park’s “In the End” is a motivating anthem, as opposed to one of the most overwhelmingly depressing and demotivating rock songs to reach the state of success. A video tweeted by Trump was removed from Twitter on Saturday after Linkin Park’s management company filed a copyright claim, which probably won’t stop him from continuing to use the song as part of his rally playlist, such as He did it in Tulsa. But the mystery remains unsolved: why would you want to, unless you send a secret message that you really want to lose?
Look on the Genius.com page for the Linkin Park song and the first comment says. “This chorus evokes existential nihilism, which postulates that personal achievement, and even life itself, has no inherent meaning.” Now, there is no doubt that existential nihilism has been enjoying a great comeback in the Trump era, but it is not yet generally invoked in the same breath as “four more years.” Who knew that the President was an important Sartre Stan?
Of course, other songs Trump or his friends have favored also seem oddly contradictory, from Neil Young’s cynical “Rockin ‘in the Free World” to REM’s dejected “Losing My Religion”. That extends to the songs on his playlist that mostly have to do with drunkenness or death. (To be fair, every once in a while a campaign song really seems irresistible, like Queen’s “We Will Rock You” or Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”, though that doesn’t stop these artists or their properties trying to cast cease and desist, just like almost every artist who ended up on a Trump playlist.)
The following are some songs that have been staples of the Trump events, starting with Linkin Park, noted down with obvious reasons why they’re not the best rah-rah rally songs:
“The End” by Linkin Park
What the Trump campaign hears:
Who knows? It is difficult to choose a single moment or line of this incessantly somber song that anyone could mistake for motivating.
What attentive listeners hear:
“I’m surprised that he’s gotten this far,” sings the late Chester Bennington, perhaps channeling Trump’s thoughts, if you believe the theory that he never expected to be elected in 2016. Singer Chester Bennington once said that Trump was “a it is a greater threat to the US than terrorism, “so perhaps you would like to think that the Trump campaign exploits these words:” I had to fall to lose everything, but in the end, it doesn’t even matter. ” Really, there couldn’t be a better theme song … for a Make America Meaningless Again campaign.
You can’t always get what you want ”from the Rolling Stones
What the Trump campaign hears:
Perhaps it is simply supposed to be the promise that you “get what you need” from the president? Or maybe it’s the MAGA supporters who are supposed to be the protesters who chant, “We’re going to vent our frustration. If we don’t, we will burn a 50-amp fuse.”
What attentive listeners hear:
At best, the song is about a peaceful acceptance of a stark reality once expectations have waned. (Maybe not Herbert Hoover’s vote for a chicken in each pot, then, but at least a little Hamburger Helper?) At worst, It is what Marianne Faithfull referred to as: a “junk song” and a “tough drug song.” As Mick Jagger once told the BBC: “If I were Donald’s DJ … it’s a fun song for your play song.” When the speech ended, she performed this, a kind of silly drug ballad in Chelsea. It’s kind of weird if you think about it … kind of weird, really weird. “In the surreal lyrics, there are recipes that are stocked, and deceptive women with bloodstained hands, calling Kellyanne Conway, anyone? – and” death ” as an end and everything In other words: Go team!
“Rockin ‘in the Free World” by Neil Young
What the Trump campaign hears:
Some phrases, here and there, may sound pariotic, in isolation: “There are colors on the street / Red, white and blue … / I don’t feel like Satan, but I am for them / … I have fuel to burn … / …free world.”
What attentive listeners hear:
The verses describe homeless people as zombies “sleeping in their shoes”. An addict lets her son die while she writes down drugs. Holes in the ozone layer are invoked. Young opens his own holes in speeches written by George HW Bush written by Peggy Noonan on “a thousand points of light” and “a kinder and gentler nation”: “We have a thousand points of light for the homeless man / We have a kinder , softer machine gun hand. ” Trump is apparently no more a fan of the Bush family than Young, but reliving the rock star’s mockery of the language that inspired and helped unite the Republican party just a generation ago is probably not the president’s reason for being so attached. to the song.
“In the air tonight” by Phil Collins
What the Trump campaign hears:
Something exciting is in the air. It must be victory!
What attentive listeners hear:
Something exciting is in the air. It must be Collins’ anger and bitterness over his first divorce. “Well, if you told me you were drowning, I wouldn’t give you a hand,” sings Collins, in just a taste of the incessantly bad and / or deeply hurt feelings. “You can erase that smile, I know where you’ve been,” Collins continues, mocking: “It was all a lot of lies.” The song’s nonstop vituperation spirit fits in well with the president’s daily litany of complaints, though that’s probably not the reason for his position on the playlist.
“My Way” by Frank Sinatra
What the Trump campaign hears:
Lack of apology, or reverence of any kind: “It is not the words of someone who kneels / The record shows, I took the hits.” And: “Sorry, I’ve had a few / But, again, too few to mention.” Being Trump means never having to ask for forgiveness.
What attentive listeners hear:
The narrator is about to die.
Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”
What the Trump campaign hears:
Hello, all of you rivals, enemies, fake news and negativity nabobs … you should beat it! We go for you
What the attentive listener hears:
What has often been lost in “Beat It” s 37-year history is that it actually advocates withdrawal. The narrator of the song tells a young man that he is fighting for a fight that could end up seriously injured or dead if he doesn’t swallow his pride and back off. Or, as one commentator says on the song’s Genius.com page: “You want to show that you are tough and not a fag, but since they are more difficult, you should go out. Be the best man and stay away from violence. “In some ways, this message seems very off-brand for a campaign.
“Losing my religion” by REM
What the Trump campaign hears:
“That’s me in the spotlight,” maybe? In addition to that line, his conjecture is as good as anyone’s: it is difficult to understand what could really be considered as an agitation in this hymn to vulnerability, sadness and impossibility.
What attentive listeners hear:
“A wounded, lost and blinded fool … The slip that brought me to my knees … Trying to keep up with you, and I don’t know if I can do it … Why try?” Democrats listen to these desperate thoughts about the PA at a Trump rally and think: from the lips of Michael Stipe to the ears of God.
Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright (for Fighting)”
What the Trump campaign hears:
It is Saturday night. Are you ready to rumble?
What attentive listeners hear:
Lyricist Bernie Taupin writes about going to the local pub as a teenager and getting drunk on his pumpkin to escape an unhappy home life: “I am a youthful product of the working class / whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass.” “He has Elton singing. Tellingly, the underage protagonist of the song sings:” My old man is drunker than a barrel full of monkeys / And my old woman, she doesn’t care. “Maybe Trump is related? Although his father, Fred, was not an alcoholic, his niece Mary Trump’s new book describes Trump Sr. as an abusive and high-functioning “sociopath”, and his mother in return is distant and indifferent to children. that kind of education, who wouldn’t be ready for a piece?
“All Right Now” by Free
What the Trump campaign hears:
Everything is fine now. No, really, it’s fine.
What the attentive listener hears:
Fornication with a prostitute and / or a night is a good and desirable thing. If you, the man, suggest that love is involved, the woman will correct you and assure you that love has nothing to do with it. You will be surprised and satisfied with this agreement. Lovemaking, like politics, can be purely transactional, without the need to carry the relationship into the future.
Billy Joel’s “Piano Man”
What the Trump campaign hears:
Hyperbole the size of the crowd, perhaps? “It’s a pretty good audience for a Saturday,” sings Joel. “You made us feel good.”
What the attentive listener hears:
Drunkenness, drunkenness and more drunkenness. “Businessmen slowly take drugs: They are sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it is better than drinking alone.” A withering portrait of Wall Street 2020?
“My Heart Will Continue” by Celine Dion
What the Trump campaign hears:
“I’m king of the world!”
What the attentive listener hears:
The other part on stage of this song is clearly dead. Transmitted. No more. It has gone to meet its creator. A stiffness Stripped of life. Pushing up the daisies. He kicked the bucket. He shuffled his deadly coil. Run through the curtain and join the invisible bleeding chorus. A ex persona. (See also: “My way”).
“Nessun Dorma” by Pavarotti or Andrea Bocelli
What the Trump campaign hears:
“Vincerò, vincerò!” (“I will win!”)
What the attentive listener hears:
“E noi dovrem, ahime, die.” (“And we will have to die”).
