Loudon Wainwright III – “I Had A Dream”
Donald Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination today despite the musical community’s outcry against him. Earlier this week, the Weeknd and rapper Belly refused to perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live! when they learned that Trump would appear on the show that night as well. We’ve had YG and Nipsey Hussle bluntly say “FDT (Fuck Donald Trump)” and Mac Miller gave his scathing two cents. And though Neil Young is OK with Trump using his music, many other artists have told him to stop using theirs in the months leading up to the nomination.
Today, veteran singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III speaks out against Trump with “I Had A Dream” (via Salon). Honestly, rappers could learn a thing or two from Wainwright about diss tracks. In three minutes he calls Chris Christie Trump’s “flunky,” throws shots at Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, critiques his politics, paints a picture of apocalyptic doom, and even stoops down to call his face orange and his hair weird. Ether, pure ether. This is how you roast someone. Take notes, Meek.
Here’s what Wainwright had to say about the song:
Initially I didn’t want to write a song about Donald Trump but sometimes in the course of human events things get so weird that you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth, especially if the horse has a real mouth on him. In the past, I’ve taken pot shots in song at political figures of fun like Jesse Helms, Newt Gingrich, Bill & Hill, Bush, Cheney, et al., but folks – this is serious. We hold some truths to be self-evident and apparently Mr. Trump does not. As Judd Apatow succinctly put it to me after hearing “I Had A Dream,” – “The only person who benefits from Trump now is you!”
Listen.
UPDATE: Here’s the official music video, produced by Judd Apatow. “I got involved because I love Loudon Wainwright as much as I don’t love Trump,” Apatow says. “Hopefully this song will not make sense in a year — when Trump is back to running his prestigious university full time.” Watch below.
