From pop to punk, hip-hop to heavy metal, Donald Trump‘s rise to power has triggered a new wave of protest songs. Below we present a representative sampling, ranging from a reworked Carole King classic to YG’s consummately blunt “Fuck Donald Trump” rallying cry. Also featured: A Tribe Called Quest, Tim Heidecker, Chicano Batman, Loudon Wainwright III and many more.
Billy Bragg, “The Times They Are A-Changing Back”
The British folkie rewrote Dylan’s anthem as a call to resistance, adding lyrics about “Mexicans, Muslims, LGBT and Jews.”
Carole King, “One Small Voice”
“The emperor’s got no clothes on,” King sings in a new take on her classic ballad that balances its indignation with a sense of radical purpose.
YG feat. Nipsey Hussle, “FDT (Fuck Donald Trump)”
The Compton MC mixes rage with sadness, especially when he raps about how much Trump makes him miss Obama.
MILCK with GW Sirens and Capital Blend, “Quiet”
Initially written as an anthem for abuse survivors, this original song by Los Angeles singer-songwriter MILCK went viral after she (and a flash mob–turned-choir) sang it live at the D.C. Women’s March.
Loudon Wainwright III, “I Had a Dream”
His post-election nightmare will have you laughing through your tears: “The new national anthem was ‘My Ding-a-Ling’!”
A Tribe Called Quest, “We the People”
Days after the election, A Tribe Called Quest made their feelings about the new president-elect abundantly clear with a track that riffed on Trump’s campaign rhetoric (“All you bad folks, you must go”). At the Grammys, Busta Rhymes added an extra layer of urgency to the song with his righteous “Agent Orange” diatribe.
Fiona Apple, “Tiny Hands”
Cleverly sampling the P-Grabber-in-Chief himself, Apple chants “We don’t want your tiny hands/Anywhere near our underpants” over a marching beat.
Chicano Batman, “This Land Is Your Land”
The dapper L.A. psych outfit Chicano Batman dropped this bilingual take on Woody Guthrie’s classic, just in time for the Orange One’s inauguration. “Esta tierra es para ti y para mi,” they insist. “This land was made for you and me.
CocoRosie feat. Anohni, “Smoke ‘Em Out”
CocoRosie and Anohni share dreams of feminist insurrection – “occupying the White House with a mob of women and children armed with forks and knives” – in this bubbly outsider-pop communiqué.
Brujeria, “Viva Presidente Trump!”
Mexican death-metal warlords Brujeria do not mince words in this blistering revenge fantasy track – although some of those words notably belong to Trump himself.
Tim Heidecker, “Trump Talkin’ Nukes”
Comedian turned sly social commentator Tim Heidecker looks back on a simpler era of nuclear paranoia – and ahead to a dark new age – in this understated protest song. “Crazy how it only takes a maniac,” he croons at the end of the track, unveiled as part of the Our First 100 Days initiative.
Our First 100 Days by Tim Heidecker
Ryan Adams, “Karma Police”
Adams’ live acoustic
cover of Radiohead’s anti-authoritarian anthem strips it to its core of raw
desolation.
Mac McCaughan, “Happy New Year (Prince Can’t Die Again)
McCaughan perfectly summed up the bitter taste left by a Trump-tainted 2016 in this sardonic Christmas Eve ditty: “You could say any horrible thing,” the Superchunk frontman hisses, “and still rise to the top of this shit heap.”