Nobody wants to be mocked.  And if you’re a rock star, surrounded by sycophants for the better part of 35 years, it must be especially hard to deal with being mocked.  It makes sense, then, that Don Henley does not like the parody of his song “Boys of Summer,” penned by Chuck DeVore, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, and Justin Hart, his advisor.  But Henley’s copyright-infringement lawsuit is far bigger than one rock star or his feelings.  Henley’s lawsuit undermines the First Amendment right to speak freely.  

Don Henley makes no effort to hide his political leanings.  In addition to performing at scores of fundraisers, Henley has given about $750,000 to partisan, liberal causes, including $10,000 to Barack Obama and $9,000 to DeVore’s soon-to-be opponent, Barbara Boxer.  Henley also exploits his music to advance a liberal, political agenda. 

Henley’s “Boys of Summer” is no exception.  On the surface, “Boys of Summer” is a wistful look at an old romance, a fling between two kids, now grown, who have moved on with their lives.  But the song also has a clear political message.  Henley says that the second verse of the song-the one with the famous line about seeing “a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac”-was about the essential failure of Sixties’ politics: “I don’t think we changed a damn thing, frankly….  After all our marching and shouting and screaming didn’t work, we withdrew and became yuppies and got into the Me Decade.”  (more…)

A few days ago I posted some Obama parody lyrics set to Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” and am now formally soliciting the deep base of Big Hollywood talent to do a professional version of this parody. The campaign will have a contest and choose the parody effort posted on YouTube by April 6th.  

In the spirit of April Fool’s Day, here’s our own attempt performed by the DeVore for California Director of New Media, Justin Hart, working entirely on his own time.  (more…)