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Trump mocks Biden in new video with 'Electric Avenue', but isn't Eddy Grant's song about 1981 Brixton riots?

Donald Trump posted a new video with 'Electric Avenue' soundtrack to mock Biden but internet schooled him about the inspiration behind the song
PUBLISHED AUG 13, 2020
Donald Trump and Eddy Grant (Getty Images)
Donald Trump and Eddy Grant (Getty Images)

President Donald Trump just cannot avoid the spotlight. Not just because he holds an important position but also because he is extremely active on Twitter. Trump started yet another buzz when he released an animated video on Twitter.



 

The clip begins with a red train with Trump/Pence written on the first rake and 2020 written on the other compartments. After the train passes, an animated figure appears to be working on a moving see-saw kind of a structure on the train track. Below that moving object is written "Biden President, your hair smells terrific". While the animated figure is on the screen, one can hear snippets from Biden’s earlier speech in 2017.

As Fox News reported, during that speech he stated, "I got hairy legs that turned... blonde in the sun. And the kids used to come up and reach into the pool and rub my leg down so it was straight and watch the hair come back up again" and that he "learned about kids jumping on my lap, and I loved kids jumping on my lap." According to The New York Post, these remarks were made while describing how he used to be a lifeguard.

However, that’s not the only thing that was juxtaposed in the animated video. At the end, the song ‘Electric Avenue’, written, recorded and produced by Eddy Grant can be heard. The song is from Grant’s 1982 album ‘Killer on the Rampage’. The song’s name is a reference to Electric Avenue in the south London district of Brixton which was the first market street to be lit by electricity.

In a 2018 interview with The Guardian, speaking about how the song was made Grant said, "Just before leaving England, I’d watched the Brixton riots unfold on television. I’d seen the Notting Hill riots starting a few years previously. I wrote down: 'Now in the street there is violence,' and the song just flowed from there. I had been talking to politicians and people at a high level about the lack of opportunity for Black people, and I knew what was brewing. The general attitude was: 'Oh come on, Eddy, you mean rivers of blood?' I myself might have been successful, but I could have easily been one of those guys with no hope, and I knew that when people felt they were being left behind, there was potential for violence. The song was intended as a wake-up call."

The video, shot in Barbados, has been referred to as an important element in the song for it to go mainstream in America. The song was already a hit in the UK and MTV producers ran the music video to add some racial diversity. The video was shot by Steve Barton, and talking about the video, Grant told The Guardian, "By filming in the dark, he (Barton) made Barbados look like a street in Brixton. I recently went back to Electric Avenue to switch on their new illuminated sign, with the mayor, and people came out in their droves in the rain. They even gave me the Electric Avenue road sign that inspired the song."

Fans and music lovers did not waste a minute to get back at Trump. They informed and schooled him about the actual meaning of the song. American television host Joy Reid said, "I have so many questions... Why are they using Electric Avenue, which is an anthem for poor Brixton residents in London about what the rich hoarde? Did they get permission from Black, Guyanese Brit Eddie Grant?? Doesn’t this make Joe Biden look more industrious and hard working??"



 

One directed a query to Grant about whether his permission was taken to use the song. The user wrote: "Hiya @Eddy_Grant did you or your label (I think it’s EMI @parlophone grant @realDonaldTrump a license to use your classic 'electric avenue' in his latest vulgar attack ad?"



 

 Another wrote: "I think we can all agree @JoeBiden powering a train by himself to electric avenue is f***ing rad and makes sane people want to vote for him more."



 

One opined, "You say you know history but the world sees you as an uneducated dumba**. Electric Avenue written by a Black British/Guyanese singer/songwriter is about the Brixton uprising/race riots. I hope you are sued."



 

A user stated, "ANOTHER SELF-OWN by @realDonaldTrump. 'Electric Avenue' was about the 1981 Brixton Riot which was a result of racial issues and poverty/inequality, literally fighting AGAINST Trump's mindset & priorities and the failings of capitalism."



 

Another concurred, "Electric Avenue is about the Brixton Riots of 1981 and how society needs to change."



 

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