Yeah, might want to avoid the comment section on this one…
Lara Trump, wife of Donald Trump’s son Eric, announced last night that she would be releasing an acoustic version of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” after having released a full band version back in September.
I Won’t Back Down, Acoustic 🎹 Available tonight at midnight. Pre-save here: https://t.co/FCpgQl3IMO pic.twitter.com/DEyti9KfT5
— Lara Trump (@LaraLeaTrump) November 17, 2023
“I Won’t Back Down” was the lead single to Petty’s first solo album titled Full Moon Fever in 1989. It’s gone on to become one of his biggest hits and has been covered by a who’s who of musical artists over the years, like Ronnie Dunn and Johnny Cash on his America III: Solitary Man project.
Now, I’m not going to claim that I knew she had released a cover a few months ago, but somehow this crossed my feed and I felt obligated to give it a listen because of my position here…
Objectively, both versions are pretty horrendous. The vocals are drowning in auto-tune (you could tell me it’s a T-Pain song and I’d believe you) and really there’s nothing about it that makes me want to listen to it again. Honestly I can’t believe I made it through the half of both I did get through.
So when you take that into consideration and then add in her last name, you’re naturally going to get quite a bit of blowback…
Let’s take a quick look at what people had to say on X, shall we?
Narcissism and Autotuned vocals. I’m pretty sure Tom Petty would vomit if he knew his song was being presented in this way in order to receive attention. He got attention with his skills and hard work and dedication to his craft. Lara don’t you have something original that you… https://t.co/yCSkmaXNzR
— Tracii ⨁ 🇺🇸🇩🇰 (@TraciiGuns) November 17, 2023
Trashy dollar store wannabe Stevie Nicks album cover. Cat screeching vocals. https://t.co/toNRjoaDVE pic.twitter.com/s2FwDBlpRs
— 🌸 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓎 🌸🇬🇧~🇺🇲 (@Kismet_Kitten) November 17, 2023
I’m filing a protective order against her on behalf of my ears. The howling, the screeching and fake twang are unbearable. Join me, we’ll make it class action. https://t.co/WzPBuYiYlD
— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) November 17, 2023
I haven’t heard sounds like that since my dad caught his nutsack in the lawn sprinkler https://t.co/xINAN2Vc81
— Triumph® ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴsᴜʟᴛ ᴄᴏᴍɪᴄ ᴅᴏɢ™ Headquarters💩 (@TriumphICDHQ) November 17, 2023
I would rather listen to the screech of a thousand cats trying to climb a wall of chalkboards. https://t.co/ebssWoFusk
— Smatthew (@savebabybuster) November 17, 2023
I legit almost spit out my coffee 😭 this is equally insulting and hysterical https://t.co/OIXO0Xwfec pic.twitter.com/a2uCsc03iJ
— runaway jim aka jimbo phisher (@abouttjim) November 17, 2023
I hope the ghost of Tom Petty haunts you for your horrible singing https://t.co/r3ODvJKBwf
— Emerald Eyes 👀 (@EmeraldEyesGA) November 17, 2023
If you want to know what howler monkeys sound like mating during a train wreck go ahead and listen, otherwise pass. https://t.co/NgyPruVvq7
— James Scott (@GamingDrudge) November 17, 2023
This is why you don't tell people they can sing when they clearly cannot. https://t.co/b0cgraeham
— 𖤐 ƎI⋊ͶOM 𖤐 (@Monkie6669) November 17, 2023
😵💫…acoustic? Don’t do a capella PLEASE https://t.co/EJ8xFEbzTb pic.twitter.com/u6D9gjGaSv
— Courtney Leigh 🐊☀️🍊 (@FreeFLGirly1776) November 17, 2023
And there are plenty more where that came from…
I’m all for someone doing something just because they enjoy it and props to her for actually putting this out there, but man, this just isn’t the move.
Regardless of your politics, we can all say that it’s just not good. If you’d like to take a listen, I’ll put the videos down below.
Full Band Version
Acoustic Version
