SHOULD we be afraid of Americans, as Bowie sang in the 1990s, or expect anarchy in the USA, to paraphrase the Sex Pistols? Donald Trump is back for a second term, and it could become a presidency of dissonance, a kind of vaudeville requiem for a lot of us.

In the next four years he and his donor and Department of Government Efficiency head, Elon Musk, could after all end up disrupting everything from the American economy and democracy, to climate change, Canada, Panama and Greenland, Britain and Germany, the football club Liverpool FC, and the music business. 

Donald Trump certainly likes a good tune. His 2024 election campaign was steeped in music with more or less positive messages – from gay anthem YMCA to Beyonce’s Freedom, even though many of these musicians have been less than enthusiastic about Trump using their songs, including David Bowie’s son. Trump has used Bowie’s Heroes, Rebel Rebel and Starman.