Republican Wisconsin governor and presumed 2016 Presidential candidate Scott Walker is down with the kids. At least that what he’s wanted them to think as he walked out to the Dropkick Murphys’ “Shipping Up To Boston,” a song popularized in the Martin Scorcese film The Departed. It turns out that the punk band caught wind that this past weekend, he took the stage at the Iowa Freedom Summit to the song and asked him to stop using the song via a tweet. “Please stop using our music in any way…we literally hate you !!! Love, Dropkick Murphys,” the tweet said. The band got a lot of mileage out of it, with over 8,700 retweets, and the band addressed it recently, addressing why they’d asked Walker to walk to other music via Facebook:
Nothing like politics to get people talking !! We are seeing many quotes and speculations on what our thoughts are. Not to get sucked into the political drama, but we want to set the record straight, and show you the statement that we sent to those who have been chasing us for a comment:
STATEMENT FROM DROPKICK MURPHYS REGARDING GOV. SCOTT WALKER USING “I’M SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON”:
“The bottom line is: when a politician uses our music to walk out to, for better or worse, it brands us with that person. If one of our favorite teams’ rivals, such as the Montreal Canadiens, used a Dropkick Murphys song when they took the ice, we’d be equally displeased.”
“We feel that we have the right to ask to not be associated with certain events or people – we don’t think that’s too much to ask. This isn’t a legal issue to us—we’re not looking to sue someone. Yes, our words were a little harsh, but it was borne out of frustration with the past history of Wisconsin Republicans, such as Jeff Fitzgerald, using our music.”
“The band has stood for and aligned itself with certain principles since its inception in 1996, so people who react as though we’re jumping on some sort of political bandwagon simply don’t know the history of the band.”
“We are what we are, we believe what we believe—and for the most part, try to leave our politics to our lyrics. ”
OK, that’s that. Time to start shoveling !
In closing, take that, Canada! Really, it seems to suggest that if a New England politician in line with the band’s beliefs (read: probably not a Republican) were to use the song, they’d give it their blessing. That, and they like the Bruins.
[via Aux.tv]
