Semisonic Slams Use of ‘Closing Time’ in White House Immigration Video: ‘They Have Missed the Point Entirely’

Semisonic‘s biggest hit may have been used in a recent White House video glorifying the deportation of undocumented immigrants, but that doesn’t mean the band approved of it.

After the Donald Trump administration shared a brief clip Monday (March 17) on X depicting Border Patrol agents putting handcuffed men on a plane to the tune of 1998’s “Closing Time,” Semisonic was quick to slam the song’s use in a statement to Rolling Stone. “We did not authorize or condone the White House’s use of our song in any way,” the Minneapolis rock group began.

Related

Musicians Who’ve Slammed Donald Trump for Using Their Songs Without Permission

10/15/2024

“And no, they didn’t ask,” Semisonic continued. “The song is about joy and possibilities and hope, and they have missed the point entirely.”

Billboard has reached out to the White House for comment.

Released as a single from Semisonic’s album Feeling Strangely Fine, “Closing Time” remains Semisonic’s best-known hit. The track topped the Alternative Airplay chart for five weeks and reached No. 8 on Pop Airplay.

The song’s lyrics find frontman Dan Wilson — who has gone on to co-write songs for hitmakers like Adele (“Someone Like You”), Taylor Swift (“Treacherous”) and Chris Stapleton (“White Horse”), among others — singing about patrons exiting a bar that’s closing for the night. “Closing time, you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here,” he belts on the rock tune. “I know who I want to take me home.”

In the White House’s video, however, the lyrics are reinterpreted in the context of border agents patting down two handcuffed men of color before sending them onto a plane for deportation. Anti-immigration policies have been central to the president’s administration, with Trump emphasizing strict deportation measures — which many who oppose his views have deemed extreme — as part of his “Make America Safe Again” platform.

Semisonic is far from the first act to call out Trump’s unauthorized use of their music in official content, an issue that was particularly flagrant during his presidential runs in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Last year alone, Beyoncé, Celine Dion, Foo Fighters, Isaac Hayes, the White Stripes and more artists distanced themselves from the politician as his campaign used their songs without permission, with some even taking legal action against him.