Those Melania movie music mistakes….

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Were there any Melania movie music mistakes?

Launching a $70 million documentary about Melania Trump during her husband’s controversial second term was a risky move, and it’s facing significant backlash. The film had no press screenings and has only earned $16 million at the box office. However, the biggest complaints are coming from musicians who object to their songs being used without permission, revealing several musical errors the filmmakers overlooked or disregarded.

As a film buff, I’ve always known music rights can be a real headache – and a major expense! Think about how much it cost to use ‘Yesterday’ by The Beatles in the movie of the same name. Recently, producer Marc Beckman talked about a similar situation with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, who wasn’t happy about his score from ‘The Phantom Thread’ being used in a documentary. Apparently, his contract includes a clause saying they have to at least ask him before reusing his music, but frustratingly, he doesn’t actually have the power to stop them, which is exactly what happened in this case – even though he objected!

So what were those Melania movie music mistakes….

There’s a possibility the music choices in the Melania documentary weren’t accidental. Using just the instrumental version of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” suggests the filmmakers intentionally avoided the song’s lyrics, perhaps because they were too pointed or obvious.

The filmmakers may not realize they began the film with The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” featuring the incredibly powerful vocals of Merry Clayton.

‘Rape! Murder!

It’s just a shot away!

It’s just a shot away!’

As a film buff, I found it really interesting that the Stones even allowed their music to be used – it felt almost like a statement in itself. And the film ends on this fascinating note with Boney M’s ‘Sunny’ – it’s a cheerful song, sure, but then you catch one of the lyrics and it suddenly feels… different.

‘Sunny
Thank you for the smile upon your face
Sunny
Thank you for the gleam that shows disgrace’

I was really surprised to learn that Melania Trump actually picked a lot of the songs used in that documentary! It’s amazing how many artists, like Prince’s estate and even Guns N’ Roses (who were divided on the issue!), didn’t want their music included. Despite all that drama, the documentary definitely got people talking, and you know what they say – any publicity is good publicity… unless you’re Meghan Markle, apparently!

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2026-02-25 21:23