Why are 1980s indie band The Smiths in the news again? Has their singer Morrissey said something controversial?
No – it’s because noted alternative pop miserabilist Donald Trump has been playing The Smiths’ 1984 track Please Please Please, Let Me Get What I Want at campaign rallies. Presumably he identifies with the lyrics, “See, the luck I’ve had can make a good man turn bad”
So Trump is a Smiths fan. What next – controversial Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban is partial to a bit of Cocteau Twins?
We may never know. What we do know is that the group’s guitarist, Johnny Marr, has expressed dismay at Trump co-opting The Smiths and promised to “shut this s***’ down right now”.
I wish he could do the same with Morrissey’s solo career. But what are the ramifications? Will politicians stop playing rock songs at their events?
Some chance. If there is one thing that unites politicians of every hue it is that they love to make big entrances to the strains of their favourite banger.
But why can’t musicians prevent it?
The way music licensing works can make this tricky. Two years ago, Mike Pickering of the band M-People revealed that he could not prevent Conservative politician Liz Truss (briefly UK Prime Minister) turning at her party conference to the strains of his 1991 hit, Movin On Up. ‘I don’t want my song to be a soundtrack to lies,” Pickering tweeted. He said that he couldn’t “stop Liz Truss walking out to our song ... very weird!”
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So Johnny Marr might not be able to stop Trump using his music.
It is possible that his hands are tied as songs are licensed on behalf of the artists by management organisations. The crucial point is that musicians don’t get to choose which politicians use their music. If a Democrat can go on stage to The Smiths, then so can Donald Trump. The licensing bodies “recommend” politicians seek the permission of the artists – and there are candidates who wouldn’t want Johnny Marr dissing them on social media. That club almost certainly does not include Donald Trump – in fact, there is every possibility he’ll turn the volume on the tune at his next rally.
It sounds like bad news for bands.
Sometimes there is an upside. The National – a group from Ohio known for their “sad dad” image – received a huge credibility infusion when Barack Obama adopted their song Fake Empire as the unofficial theme of his 2008 election. It made Obama look as if he was down in the indie kids – and helped introduced The National to a wider audience. Everyone was a winner.
How might this work in Ireland. Will Leo Varadkar call a general election with Fontaines DC pumping in the background?
Considering the band sang about the “the gall of Fine Gael and the fail of Fianna Fáil” on their song I Love You, it is unlikely, to be put mildly.
