This Song Honoring Donald Trump Could Give You Nightmares
Published in Le Journal de Montreal
(Canada) on 15 January 2016
by Mikael Lebleu (link to original)
(Canada) on 15 January 2016
by Mikael Lebleu (link to original)
Translated from
by Meredith O'Connell.
Edited by Paul Lynch.
If you thought that Donald Trump's campaign had reached its lowest point, wait until you see this performance by the USA Freedom Kids, captured by Fox 10 cameras Wednesday in Florida during a political rally for the Republican candidate.
"Enemies of freedom, face the music, come on, boys. Take ‘em down!" chant the three young girls, dressed in cheerleader uniforms the color of the American flag in front of several thousand voters. "Over here ... USA! Over there ... USA! Freedom and liberty everywhere!” A little later on, the song entitled “Freedom's Call,” echoed the Trump campaign's official slogan: "President Donald Trump knows how to make America great," continue the girls, prancing about to a military march with sugary electro-pop accents, which strangely sounds like Blondie's “Heart of Glass.”
A Voter’s Creation
To be clear, this nursery rhyme sounds like the Barney theme song, albeit a Barney who is transfixed by dollar signs. It is not the work of Trump's team but that of a very early Donald admirer, Jeff Popick, one of the girls' fathers. Questioned by Time, the 53-year old man swears he has been a Donald Trump fan for years. "He has a big heart and a brilliant spirit. He has a methodology for success and winning that’s second to none. To me, he’s always just been an inspiration."
Originally the song was written in honor of Gen. George Patton, one of the heroes of World War II. After hearing Trump speak of Patton in a speech, Popick had the idea to adapt the lyrics.
Perfectly Mirroring the Donald
If this Donald-glorifying hymn is not officially backed, at least for the moment, it perfectly encapsulates all the outrageousness and sentimentality of his character. Like Trump, the Freedom Kids are straight tackiness and razzmatazz. You can't miss their tour vehicle; nothing cries "Liberty!" more than a pick-up transformed into a limousine, or vice versa, parked in front of a Wal-Mart.
The song's lyrics, with their childlike simplicity and indeed mind-numbing yet redoubtable catchiness, are the perfect mirror to Trump's discourse — an infantilized message, reduced to the most simple expression, a thousand times more powerful in black-and-white, forgetting any sort of nuance or subtlety.
This Is America, Too Bad for Everyone Else
So don't be surprised if Donald Trump decides to keep the Freedom Kids in his inner circle. Since almost all artists on this planet, with Neil Young, Steven Tyler and Michael Stipe at the top of the list, have refused to let their music be used for the campaign, it won't be surprising if he decides to make “Freedom's Call” his new official propaganda song.
"Enemies of freedom, face the music, come on, boys. Take ‘em down!" chant the three young girls, dressed in cheerleader uniforms the color of the American flag in front of several thousand voters. "Over here ... USA! Over there ... USA! Freedom and liberty everywhere!” A little later on, the song entitled “Freedom's Call,” echoed the Trump campaign's official slogan: "President Donald Trump knows how to make America great," continue the girls, prancing about to a military march with sugary electro-pop accents, which strangely sounds like Blondie's “Heart of Glass.”
A Voter’s Creation
To be clear, this nursery rhyme sounds like the Barney theme song, albeit a Barney who is transfixed by dollar signs. It is not the work of Trump's team but that of a very early Donald admirer, Jeff Popick, one of the girls' fathers. Questioned by Time, the 53-year old man swears he has been a Donald Trump fan for years. "He has a big heart and a brilliant spirit. He has a methodology for success and winning that’s second to none. To me, he’s always just been an inspiration."
Originally the song was written in honor of Gen. George Patton, one of the heroes of World War II. After hearing Trump speak of Patton in a speech, Popick had the idea to adapt the lyrics.
Perfectly Mirroring the Donald
If this Donald-glorifying hymn is not officially backed, at least for the moment, it perfectly encapsulates all the outrageousness and sentimentality of his character. Like Trump, the Freedom Kids are straight tackiness and razzmatazz. You can't miss their tour vehicle; nothing cries "Liberty!" more than a pick-up transformed into a limousine, or vice versa, parked in front of a Wal-Mart.
The song's lyrics, with their childlike simplicity and indeed mind-numbing yet redoubtable catchiness, are the perfect mirror to Trump's discourse — an infantilized message, reduced to the most simple expression, a thousand times more powerful in black-and-white, forgetting any sort of nuance or subtlety.
This Is America, Too Bad for Everyone Else
So don't be surprised if Donald Trump decides to keep the Freedom Kids in his inner circle. Since almost all artists on this planet, with Neil Young, Steven Tyler and Michael Stipe at the top of the list, have refused to let their music be used for the campaign, it won't be surprising if he decides to make “Freedom's Call” his new official propaganda song.
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