Neil Young, long one of the most outspoken figures in rock, launched a broadside against President Trump on Wednesday through a new song that decries “fascists” and includes the line, “There’s big crime in D.C. at the White House.”
The new song, “Big Crime,” debuted at a tour stop in Chicago, where Mr. Young performed with his latest band, the Chrome Hearts. On Thursday, Mr. Young posted the song and its full lyrics on his website, Neil Young Archives, where the 79-year-old rock icon sometimes publishes scathing commentary on politics, the music industry and environmental issues.
In classic Neil Young form, the song features pointed lyrics of protest against a raw, stomping rock beat — a style that Mr. Young has returned to numerous times in his career, such as in the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young track “Ohio” in 1970 — about the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University — and “Rockin’ in the Free World” in 1989.
The new song does not mention Mr. Trump by name, but its target is unmistakable. The song opens with the line “No more great again,” adds “Don’t want soldiers on our streets” and “No more money to the fascists / The billionaire fascists” before returning to a harmonized refrain, “There’s big crime in D.C. at the White House.”
Mr. Young has directly criticized Mr. Trump many times before. “If I talk about Donald J. Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminum blanket,” the singer, who was born in Canada, wrote on Neil Young Archives earlier this year.
“Today Trump said his name deserves to be on DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,” Mr. Young wrote in another post this week, “Independence from Truth I guess.”
Mr. Trump has been open about being a fan of Mr. Young’s music, and has used “Rockin’ in the Free World” — a protest song against injustice — for his campaigns without the singer’s permission. Mr. Trump first did it in 2015, when announcing his candidacy, and in rallies during the 2018 midterms. Mr. Young complained at the time that he could not stop it. “Legally, he has the right to,” Mr. Young wrote on his website, “however it goes against my wishes.”
After Mr. Trump used “Rockin’ in the Free World” — and another song, “Devil’s Sidewalk” — in 2020, Mr. Young sued, accusing the campaign of copyright infringement for playing the tracks without a license. Mr. Young’s complaint said he “in good conscience cannot allow his music to be used as a ‘theme song’ for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate.”
Mr. Young dropped the suit after the 2020 election, which Mr. Trump lost.
Ben Sisario, a reporter covering music and the music industry, has been writing for The Times for more than 20 years.
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