Charles Foster Kane Forever

flogen

does anyone know what is happening (or has happened) between the White Stripes as Orson Welles estate over their rip-off of Citizen Kane in the song The Union Forever? I dont doubt that the song is a tribute to either the film or the man Welles himself, but the people who own the film rights arent so pleased about it, last i heard they were being taken to court, but I havent heard any verdict..... that said if you just watch the film and listen to the song you cannot deny the theft. heres the majority of the parrallels:

The Union Forever (TUF) opens with the lines 'it cant be love, for there is no true love.....(X 2), in Citizen Kane (CK.. not calvin klein) there is a scene with a Jazz band at a picnic.. the first seconds of the scene see the front-man singing the exact same lines to the camera.

in TUFs second stanza it says 'shure i'm C.F.K., but you gotta love me....'. CFK is obviously Charles Foster Kane, and the 'you gotta love me' bit refers to CFKs eternal quest for everyone to love him. the next line 'the cost no man can say' is used in the film in reference to CFKs huge mansion Xanadu which is so large its cost cannot be estimated.

the third stanza states 'well i'm sorry but im not interested in goldmines, oil wells, shipping or real estate'. this is in reference to the scene in the movie where CFK is given control by his guardian to 60 major companies (oil wells, gold mines etc). he replies with a letter that rejects all of the companies but one, the inquirer newspaper, the only thing he is interested in. the next line 'what would i liked to have been? everything you hate.' this is taken from a conversation between CFK and his guardian. Tathcher (his guardian) after buying back the newspaper, asks him 'what would you liked to have been'.. to which he replies 'everything you hate'.

the next stanza which starts with 'there is a man, a certain man.....' is lifted directly from a scene in which Kane has just bought the best writers in the city and a party is being held. a man comes out and sings a song about CFK, and the words are exactly the same as this spoken piece of the song.

finally the songs title itself is taken from the beginning where we see CFK as a child playing in the snow and shouting 'The Union Forever, The Union Forever'.



as i said, no doubt a homage to the film, but it was stupid to do it without asking for permission first.... so have they been sued yet?

Flogen

Doctor J

That one seemed to fizzle out alright. I think the White Stripes argued that, if anything, it would possibly bring new interest to the film. It's a hard one, where does inspiration become plagarisation? Anthrax, for example, have made a number of songs inspired by Stephen King (Lone Justice : The Gunslinger --- A Skeleton In The Closet : Apt Pupil --- Among The Living : The Stand --- Misery Loves Company : Misery) but King, to his credit, sees this as the compliment it is intended as.

Personally, I would say they have used pieces of the film, for sure, but not in a ripping-off kind of way (the way Wells' "estate" are trying to beat money out of a corpse).

flogen

yeah, although i love Welles and his films, you have to remember its not him behind the estate anymore, it could well be a money hungry snob-nosed idiot with no artistic capabilities what-so-ever.
And it is a tough line to call too, perhaps had the song insulted the film or its creator there would be a case, but this is more likely to get White Stripes fans to buy the film to see why it was worth writing a song in honour of it.....

Flogen