Dandy Warhols 'Bohemian Like You' Used During Theresa May Speech, Not Primal Scream's 'Rocks'

What began as a Primal Scream problem has been turned over to The Dandy Warhols.

The trouble started earlier this week, when UK Home Secretary Theresa May used a song at a Conservative party conference that was thought to be Primal Scream's 1994 song "Rocks." Apparently, someone at the conference wrongly informed Labour MP Kerry McCarthy that it was the Primal Scream song, and McCarthy had what is the knee-jerk reaction nowadays -- took to Twitter to post a link to the lyrics, which begin like so: "Dealers keep dealing'/Thieves keep thieving'/Whores keep whorin'/Junkies keep scorn'/Trade is on the meat rack/Strip joints full of hunchbacks/Bitches keep bitchin'/Clap keeps itching'."

Why he wanted everyone to associate these lyrics with the Tory Party is another confusing twist. Long story short, this traveled down the Twitter-vine to Primal Scream themselves, who, what do you know, also took to Twitter (before they issued an official statement) to express their unhappiness.

"We would like to distance ourselves from this sick association," Primal Scream tweeted on Wednesday. "The Tories are waging a war on the disenfranchised, They are the enemy."

Ho ho, but wait just a second. This was no Primal Scream song. It was The Dandy Warhol's 2000 song "Bohemian Like You" that May used, yet another song with lyrics that don't quite mesh with the Tory message.

This made The Dandy Warhols want to barf. The bands' frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor posted a hate-filled response on their website:

"WTF? Where do I bitch about this? I’ll tear their fuggin heads off. Well maybe not but this happened to us in an Arkansas gubernatorial race and it makes me super angry. And then I wanna puke."

He continued: "Why don’t these assholes have right-wing bands make them some right-wing music for their right-wing jerkoff politics? Oh, because right wing people aren’t creative, visionary or any fun to be around. Nor are they productive or even introspective about it. Wait, I live in Portland, Oregon….neither are left-wingers come to think of it."

And ended:

"Fuck, now I’m pissed off."

The point here is, nobody wants Theresa May using their music.

This isn't the first time a musician has gotten peeved at a conservative politician. Tom Petty hit Michele Bachmann with a cease-and-desist when she played "American Girl" to close her campaign announcement back in June. But she did it again anyways.

For the rest of us whose words aren't being used to prop up ideals we don't believe in, something good has come out of this! These are both excellent songs, which we will now happily revisit. Do you think anyone should be forgiven for mixing them up?

Dandy Warhols, "Bohemian Like You":

Primal Scream, "Rocks":

Comments

[catbyte]

04:03 PM on 10/10/2011

LOL. It happens on this side of the pond all the time with the GOTP trying to co-opt songs. The musicians have to threaten to sue to get the Teabaggers to stop. It appears that creativity--like reality--DOES have a liberal bias!

[NotBetterThanYou]

12:10 AM on 10/10/2011

Ha ha this is hilarious! My band supported the Dandys on their last tour of Australia, and I can't remember Courtney getting this upset about anything! He seemed like such a laid back dude, he didn't even mind when we repeatedly raided their riders. Took it all with a grin and encouraged us along heaps!

I can see why he might have been a bit miffed by this, though. Stolen songs are much more important than stolen sandwiches :D

[olitenup]

08:08 PM on 10/07/2011

Imagine a republican not wanting to pay for something.

[Marty Jarvy]

08:06 PM on 10/07/2011

Right-wing politicians seem to intentionally use the music of artists they know will dislike them.

It means the artists have to speak out to preserve their reputation, ensuring that the politician is very publicly seen as being cool, but being rejected by a detached group of reckless 'youths' (which for their electorate is anybody under 40).

[aosborneh2o]

08:02 PM on 10/07/2011

Why is it that the conservatives who claim to love the constitution and contract law seem to have the most difficulty with actually following them? What's more they don't waste time reading the actual lyrics so long as the title has the words "America" or USA" in it.

Possibly this speaks to a lack of intellectual curiosity or a certain shallowness?

[catbyte]

04:04 PM on 10/10/2011

Or lack of integrity or common decency.

[Javalation]

07:35 PM on 10/07/2011

Several years ago, National Review listed their top 50 "conservative" rock songs. The problem with the list is that almost all of them were included for vague, bogus reasons, like the Mellencamp song "Small Town", “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” by The Rolling Stones or “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” by The Who. This last one was referring to Ford replacing Nixon, yet was # 1 on their list because, in their estimation, it placed conservative "cynicism" over "liberal" naive idealism. Imagine how surprised Townsend must have been to discover that he has written the conservative anthem.

[misterwrightjos]

07:34 PM on 10/07/2011

they both sound like "lump" by Presidents of the United States

[InCircles]

07:15 PM on 10/07/2011

I love the Dandy Warhols. In this case, I think they ought to have some say under copyright law as to who is allowed to play their music publicly at an organized event if they object to being associated with them.

[Lulo]

07:14 PM on 10/07/2011

I.....Dig it.

(Had to do it)

[Jack Gillespie]

06:53 PM on 10/07/2011

What a bunch of whiners. Artists produce pieces all the time that are interpreted by the public to have different meanings than what they intended. Alienating listeners is no way for musicians to act. As for the monetary issue, I am of the opinion that once the file has been bought and paid for by someone, it should be able to be used however that person/organization chooses.

[bobbyperu]

06:57 PM on 10/07/2011

I guess you have never created anything that wasn't flushed down a toilet.

[Jack Gillespie]

07:09 PM on 10/07/2011

All I said is that artists often have their works' meanings misinterpreted. I didn't say anything about quality of work, nor anything about any of my personal works. Therefore, your comment is irrelevant, and the fact that you have to resort to personal attacks shows your lack of argumentation skills.

[Marie Ruley]

07:06 PM on 10/07/2011

I guess you know little about copy right laws.

[Jack Gillespie]

07:12 PM on 10/07/2011

I said "I am of the opinion of...", which means I think the law should be changed. I am well aware of the law, and I stated my disagreement and contempt for it.

[Caroleeena]

06:05 PM on 10/07/2011

The Dandy Worhals just won themselves a new fan. Well said!

[WarrenPease]

05:27 PM on 10/07/2011

O/T -- ATTN JOHN LENNON fans -- Sunday, October 9th would have been John's 71st birthday. Let's make IMAGINE the most-watched video on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b7qaSxuZUg

Tweet, email, just pass it on!

[1reasonedtruth]

07:35 PM on 10/07/2011

Lennon was a closet conservative.
Tee hee.

[stealur]

05:11 PM on 10/07/2011

There are plenty of conservative bands out there. I seem to recall Skrewdriver being really popular with the cons back in the day. Also, Prussian Blue was popular for a bit, but I heard they aren't conservative anymore since they grew up and told their parents they didn't want to follow their ideology anymore...

[silk olive]

06:59 PM on 10/07/2011

There's Ted Nugent. Kid Rock. Hank Williams Jr. Uh.. no one else comes to mind.

[Marie Ruley]

07:02 PM on 10/07/2011

Victoria Jackson will screech out a song for them.

[MattTS]

07:30 PM on 10/07/2011

Rush.

They dedicated their album 2112 to "The Genius of Ayn Rand."

[Brian D Uyak]

08:08 PM on 10/07/2011

The joke is that those are both racist white power groups.

[2manchew]

05:07 PM on 10/07/2011

I'm not a social conservative but I might change my mind after reading all of these posts.

The main theme here is let's ban it or ban them.

It sounds like a bunch of old church ladies sitting around trying to decide what books to ban.

[giddylockjaw]

05:15 PM on 10/07/2011

check the source of those statements

[WarrenPease]

05:19 PM on 10/07/2011

I agree and I'm liberal/progressive on most issues. Banning music, art or speech is for control freaks.

[Erin7373]

07:17 PM on 10/07/2011

It does seem like control freak mentality, and I agree art should never be banned. But if I think about having something I created used to "decorate" a message that I fundamentally disagree with, it would bother me. Where should the line be drawn? It is hard to say..

[Stilyagi]

04:55 PM on 10/07/2011

"Do you think anyone should be forgiven for mixing them up?"

The mix up isn't important. What's important is they sue the b-ches a- - off.