Don Henley
Posted on 08/02/2004 11:23:01 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
HOLLYWOOD VS. AMERICA
1st Linda Ronstadt, now Don Henley booed
'We used to be able to have civil debate in this country. Not anymore'
Don Henley |
Singer Don Henley was booed at a concert in Orange County, Calif., after mentioning his friendship with Linda Ronstadt, who gained national attention after alienating much of her audience with a song dedication to leftist filmmaker Michael Moore.
At the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Thursday Henley made several political comments between songs, according to a report in the Orange County Register.
One comment began: "Given what my good friend Linda Ronstadt …" but was interrupted immediately with a chorus of boos from the audience.
According to the Register, Henley responded: "Whoops – Orange County," adding, "We used to be able to have civil debate in this country. Not anymore."
Orange County is known as a politically conservative area of Southern California.
Later in the concert, Henley, a former member of the Eagles rock band, suggested his next song could be sung as a duet by President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Written by Randy Newman, "Political Science" has the U.S. dropping nukes on nearly every other part of the world.
One of the lyrics is: "They don't respect us so let's surprise them. We'll drop the big one and pulverize them."
"[Henley] really blindsided everyone," Joshua Owen of Long Beach told the local paper. "There was booing. Some people headed for the exits."
Henley performs tonight in Saratoga, Calif., with future concerts on his summer tour slated to include Washington, Alaska, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Virginia and Texas.
As WorldNetDaily reported, last month Ronstadt's onstage tribute to Moore at the Aladdin in Las Vegas was booed by concertgoers in attendance, hundreds of whom walked out. Her action prompted Aladdin President Bill Timmins, who attended the concert, to ban Ronstadt from the property. Staff checked her out of her room and escorted her to her tour bus.
When will these morons understand that Americans don't care what their political agendas are? Hopefully they all keep getting booed.
I stood right in front of the stage at a Springsteen show in Milwaukee last September, and a couple of friends of mine and I decided it he started one of his patented anti-Bush rants (he didn't) we were going to yell "PLAY FREE BIRD!" ;>)
FYI - the guy who created Beavis and Butthead now writes the somewhat conservative "King of the Hill".
The Eagles were indeed a wussy adult-contemporary band for worthless coked out 70's yuppies..
yuck!
hey man speaking of "Atomic Cafe" that reminded me of the movie I wanted to see where the promo pic was those old rollergirl ladies in Vegas...
Does anyone here know what the heck I'm talking about? I misplaced the film company's link...
tkx!
First, the song is by RANDY NEWMAN, not Don Henley. Randy Newman wrote "Short People," and "It's Money That Matters" and "I Love LA." He's not known for his serious commentary. The title of the song is "Political Science," not "The Big One," (it's even on his greatest hits album, for pete's sake, check the facts) and I'm pretty sure he was trying to write a funny song, not a treatise, because THAT'S WHAT HE DOES.
Second, I was making the broad point that Dubya and most of the rest of us likely agree upon the sentiment of this song, that the world seems against the U.S. and not grateful at all for what the U.S. has done for the last 90-odd years, served as first the arsenal and then the policeman of the free world. Frankly, not a day goes by when I don't think about this song and seriously consider its message to blow the rest of the weasels up and get it over with.
I don't think it's anti-American at all--I think it's anti-weasel. I mean, c'mon, it's even pro-Australia! How American is that?
Ewwww!Well, EXCUUUUUUUUUSE ME!
I still think it smacks of anti-Americanism.
Live with it.
Feel free to elaborate HOW it smacks of Anti-Americanism, exactly.
You do a great Steve Martin impression, by the way.
Friends went to the Warp Tour in Charlotte yesterday. It was screechingly anti-Bush, urging young people to get registered and vote Bush out. Anti-Bush songs throughout. One of worst was Flogging Molly, Irish group. The Irish have enough socialism at home and we don't need these anti-Americans coming to America to gather up the big bucks while trashing our president. I am an American of recent Irish descent and scum are scum whatever their country of origin.
Thanks....I appreciate the compliment.Steve was a funny guy in his day.
Now,as for the song, the lyrics speak much more eloquently than I could in describing it. It conveys the message to me that we are a big bunch of bullies who are willing to go stomping all over the world and force our will on others,and that there will be hell to pay if there is noncompliance.I had never heard the song,or,before today,even saw the lyrics.But it doesn't take a quantum physicist to see what Henley (AS THE SINGER)and Newman (AS THE AUTHOR) are trying to say.
My opinion.Hope that's elaborate enough for you.
He should "Get Over It"
Fun fact: Randy Newman also wrote the soundtrack to The Natural, one of the great soundtracks of cinema. Of course it was up against A Passage to India in the Oscar.
I'm sure you could get a consensus that the US is underappreciated in the world. But I still don't think Dubya would agree with a message to "blow the rest of the weasels up and get it over with."
BTW I liked "Short People" too.
Yes --- the non-celebrities, the little people are supposed to shut up and listen whenever a Hollywood type tells them something. They're better than us after all --- they've got big money, they see themselves as the aristocrats of this country.
Okay, slack cut. :)
I don't think that 'dropping the big one' was indeed a serious message from the song, which I love. If I were freeping (thank God there will never be any issue with freeping here, too Republican for Kerry to even visit--jinx jinx jinx), I'd have that song playing in the background just to piss off the rats because it's so much fun.
That and Kate Smith's "God Bless America," Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful," and maybe the classic Merle Haggard songs, "Me and Crippled Soldiers," and "Okie from Muskogee."
I get a different message from the song entirely.
It's essentially saying no one likes us even though we don't do any bullying at all, so maybe we should just do some bullying and get rid o' the whiners. BUT IN A JOKING WAY.
And I said, "Frankly, not a day goes by when I don't think about this song and seriously consider its message to blow the rest of the weasels up and get it over with." I don't think that's that same as saying Dubya does. I might have minor delusions of grandeur, but I don't think I'm the President. Maybe Ed Begley, Jr., but NOT Dubya.
If you want to imagine that the song or author is remotely serious about it, um, reread the lyrics.
Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us
We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too.
Could you POSSIBLY imagine this song is to be taken seriously? South America STOLE OUR NAME? C'mon. It's a JOKE.
Henley, who has no sense of humor, just wanted to make it SOUND serious so that he'd be able to hack on Bush. Newman was not remotely writing an anti-American screed--it was funny when he wrote it and it's funny now.
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