Neil Young Tells Trump To Quit 'Rockin' In The Free World'

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And now this; Donald Trump is in.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DONALD TRUMP: I am officially running...

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: For president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again.

(APPLAUSE)

INSKEEP: He made that announcement at Trump Tower in New York City, and he walked on stage to this song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROCKIN' IN THE FREE WORLD")

NEIL YOUNG: (Singing) Keep on rocking in the free world.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

It's Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World," and that got Trump on a list.

INSKEEP: The list of politicians who have used music without the artist's permission, like Ronald Reagan who used Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA."

GREENE: And Mitt Romney who was threatened with legal action by the rapper K'naan for using his song "Wavin' Flag."

INSKEEP: Then there was Democratic National Committee which used Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" in an ad attacking Romney. Lauper asked the Democrats to stop. And the Dropkick Murphys were unhappy recently that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker used their cover of "I'm Shipping Up To Boston." They tweeted, quote, "we literally hate you."

GREENE: Well, Neil Young did not quite go that far with Trump, but he did say Trump was not authorized to use "Rockin' In The Free World," and that he supports Bernie Sanders for president.

INSKEEP: Which is his right in a free world. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.