Iconic British rock band Pink Floyd will take legal action against the Liberal Party Australia, over the decision by the party to ditch its agreement with the band to use the words and lyrics from the song ‘Comfortably Numb’ as the marquee soundtrack for the Liberals’ forthcoming Federal election campaign.
The legal action follows the now-controversial decision by the Liberal Party to use a song from the British-American band, Katrina and the Waves. The federal party will now proceed to implement ‘Walking on Sunshine’ in the future federal election campaign.
Through a statement issued by its solicitors, Pink Floyd said that the cancellation of its agreement was both ‘a stab in the back’ and ‘a kick in the guts’, especially as the federal party had only recently assured the band that the launch of the forthcoming election campaign, incorporating ‘Comfortably Numb’, was at advanced stages, and that the party, from the Prime Minister downwards, was delighted with the result. In response to the Liberal Party’s recent assertion that the members of Pink Floyd were kept fully informed, and given advanced notice, of the cancellation decision, the band’s statement noted simply ‘that’s bollocks’.
A staffer at the Liberal Party, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that ‘the decision to go with the Pink Floyd song was the PM’s idea’ but explained that this was on the basis that the federal election would take place in 2021 on the back of a successful vaccination rollout. The staffer added that the postponement of the election until 2022, the anti-vax sentiment being expressed by the Liberal Party’s key opponents, the United Australia Party, and the party’s desire to show its environmental cred, necessitated a pivot away for its selected song. The party felt that the key line from the Katrina and the Waves, ‘walking on sunshine’ would show Australians that the Liberals were ‘on-board’ with renewable energy.
Representatives of Katrina and the Waves have, to date, issued no comment, other than the band was delighted by the decision of the Liberal Party, and that they had dealt exclusively with ‘that fella from down under’ in concluding negotiations.
