\n<\/p>\n
Nineties alt-rockers Semisonic have condemned the White House’s use of their hit song “Closing Time” in a new video promoting deportation.<\/p>\n
“We did not authorize or condone the White House’s use of our song ‘Closing Time’ in any way,” Semisonic wrote in a social media statement, which you can see below. “And no, they didn\u2019t ask. The song is about joy and possibilities and hope, and they have missed the point entirely.”<\/p>\n
Released in 1998 as the lead single off Semisonic’s sophomore album\u00a0Feeling Strangely Fine<\/i>, “Closing Time”\u00a0topped\u00a0Billboard<\/i>‘s Alternative Airplay chart and pushed its accompanying album to platinum status.\u00a0Although the lyrics\u00a0literally\u00a0refer to leaving a bar at the end of the night, bandleader and songwriter Dan Wilson also wrote the song about the birth of his daughter,\u00a0Corazon.<\/p>\n
The White House’s 17-second video, shared on social media on Monday,\u00a0shows\u00a0U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents\u00a0putting cuffs around a man’s waist and hands as the verse to “Closing Time” (“Closing time, you don’t have to go home \/\u00a0But you can’t stay here<\/em>“) plays. As the song’s chorus (“I know who I want to take me home<\/em>“) kicks in, the camera cuts to a shot of several men boarding a plane, with a border patrol vehicle plainly visible in the foreground.<\/p>\n You can watch the\u00a0clip below.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong>\u00a075 Best Rock Songs of the ’90s<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Semisonic are far from the first artist to\u00a0blast President\u00a0Donald Trump’s administration for using their\u00a0songs\u00a0without their consent. In 2022, the\u00a0Tom Petty<\/a>\u00a0estate\u00a0demanded<\/a>\u00a0that pro-Trump Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake stop using Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” as she contested\u00a0her election loss.<\/p>\n In 2020, the\u00a0Rolling Stones<\/a>\u00a0also\u00a0threatened to sue<\/a>\u00a0the Trump campaign over unauthorized use of their song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”<\/p>\n And last year,\u00a0Jack<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Meg White<\/a>\u00a0filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Trump for use of the\u00a0White Stripes<\/a>‘ “Seven Nation Army” in a campaign video. White shared a photo of the lawsuit on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0with the caption, “This machine sues fascists.”<\/p>\n Politicians are consistently using songs by bands without their permission, and these artists had enough of it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nOther Rockers Who Have\u00a0Condemned Trump for Using Their Songs Without Permission<\/h3>\n
20 Artists Who Told Politicians to Stop Using Their Music<\/h2>\n