The rest of the world watched in horror as the American people elected convicted felon, rapist, racist, misogynist, homophobe, xenophobe, ableist, and all-around idiot Donald Trump as president on Tuesday. For the second time.
For those who began their day in the depths of despair, who think the future looks bleak, who know their right to marry who they choose and identify how they want is in jeopardy, who are afraid for their reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, who are discouraged upon witnessing yet again how deeply racism and misogyny run in this country, who are deeply disappointed in humanity, I don’t have an answer for you, because I’m right there with you. I’m deeply saddened, bitterly angry, and most of all, terrified.
When I woke up on Wednesday morning, all I wanted to do was to turn to music to help me process the dire state of the country, to comfort me, and to restore some faith in humanity. Here are ten songs, ranging from angry to hopeful, that you can play on repeat to help get you through this time.
‘American Idiot,’ Green Day’s infamous protest anthem written in response to 9/11, holds up so well, it’s as if the political climate hasn’t changed at all in the past 20 years. Punk rock has historically been all about raging against the machine, and few do it better than Green Day.
The band made headlines in January 2024 after their performance at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest; lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong altered the original lyrics of the song, “I’m not a part of the redneck agenda,“ to “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda,“ prompting both enthusiastic support from longtime fans and backlash from Trump supporters (yes, the ones who ironically claim people are too sensitive nowadays.)
‘American Idiot’ maintains its relevancy in 2024, and is arguably one of the most perfectly cathartic songs to put on repeat right now to combat ever-present fear for the future; you can even take a page out of Armstrong’s book and yell, “Fuck Trump!“ before the song starts, a tradition he upheld on tour in 2017. (Additionally, make sure to check out ‘The American Dream Is Killing Me,’ from the band’s most recent album, Saviors.)
This harrowingly realistic and dark song symbolizes and stands for far more than a social media trend. Paris Paloma flexes her lyric writing muscles to attack patriarchal norms and gender roles, harnessing the unbridled rage, ever-present pain, and all-encompassing exhaustion of generations of unseen, unheard, and beaten down women.
The chorus sounds almost like a chant, sung forcefully and powerfully by a vast group of women who have reached their breaking point from centuries of being treated like thankless servants and voiceless incubators: “All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid; Nymph, then a virgin, nurse, then a servant; Just an appendage, live to attend him; So that he never lifts a finger; 24/7 baby machine; So he can live out his picket fence dreams; It’s not an act of love if you make her; You make me do too much labour.“
This song never fails to stir an intense level of rage in me, and right now, rage is an understandable and just emotion to be filled with. (Be sure to check out the remix, ‘LABOUR - the cacophony’ and ‘fruit’ by Paris Paloma as well.)
Released in 2017 by fem-core punk band Cheap Perfume, ‘It’s Okay to Punch Nazis’ is anything but subtle; it rages against Trump, the alt-right, white supremacy, homophobia, misogyny, and fascism.
Lead singer Stephanie Byrne sings, “Never thought it’d happen; But now look where we are; Rather have a rapist; Than a woman in power; When we got complacent; In defending our rights; The Nazis changed their name; Now they’re called the alt-right.“ Five years later, these lyrics are still reality, and very little has changed.
‘It’s Okay to Punch Nazis’ is a perfect anthem to scream at the top of your lungs that directly and specifically addresses not only the exact emotions you’re feeling, but the exact same situation you’re in, because somehow, we let it happen again. (Be sure to listen to ‘No Men,’ ‘Trump Roast,’ and ‘Fight Like a Girl.‘)
What does it say about American society that a song written in 1967 lamenting the cruelty of rampant and crippling racism would ring true over fifty years later? ‘I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free’ by Nina Simone, revered and infamous freedom singer, is an anthem of lament and sorrow, not rage; she sings, “I wish I could share all the love that’s in my heart; Remove all the bars that keep us apart; I wish you could know what it means to be me; Then you’d see and agree; That every man should be free.’“
Through her music, Simone advocated so passionately for civil rights and the end of segregation that some of her songs were even banned in the South. ‘I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free’ is a cry to be heard and a plea to be seen and understood in a time where Black people were treated as less than human, especially Black women. But sadly, the sentiment remains relevant. (Check out Simone’s entire discography for a harrowing history of Black people’s fight for racial justice, particularly: ‘Mississippi Goddam,’ ‘Baltimore,’ ‘To Be Young, Gifted and Black,’ and ‘Four Women.’)
“Love was the law, religion was taught,“ may be one of the most heartbreaking lyrics I’ve ever heard, and it hits especially hard when the far-right party of the president elect, made up mostly of people who identify as Christian and Catholic, spews anti-LGBTQ+ hate and supports dangerous oppressive policies aimed at the community.
Gigi Perez has become a queer icon seemingly overnight, and ‘Fable’ is a harrowingly tragic tribute to her sister, Celene, who passed away in 2020. Perez explores religious doubt and the hypocrisy of religious people through a lens of grief and reflection; she laments, “Cause you believe, doesn’t mean that it’s there, it’s so rare; It’s so rare that somebody’d look out for you; Thoughts and prayers was all they’d do.“
If you’re still in the grieving phase, ‘Fable’ is the perfect song to play on repeat. (Listen to Perez’s ‘Sailor Song,’ the song that catapulted her to fame in the LGBTQ+ community.)
Anderson .Paak’s bold and raw protest anthem, ‘Lockdown,’ details his experience of attending Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles in 2020. He reflects on racial injustice, protests escalating into violence, police brutality, and even how the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionally affects minorities; he raps, “Said, “It’s civil unrest,” but you sleep so sound; Like you don't hear the screams when we catchin’ beatdowns? Stayin’ quiet when they killin’ n*****; but you speak loud; When we riot, got opinions comin’ from a place of privilege; Sicker than the COVID how they did him on the ground.“
‘Lockdown’ is an angry cry for justice in a world where Black people, and Black men in particular, still suffer from targeted brutality and racial profiling from law enforcement. It’s deeply tragic and disturbing that half of Americans voted for a man who has an extensive and detailed history of horrifying anti-Black racism, and Paak captures the exhausted frustration and righteous rage many are probably feeling right now more than perfectly. (Make sure to check out the ‘Lockdown’ music video, as well as Paak’s ‘6 Summers.’)
‘Talkin’ Bout a Revolution’ is a staple in Tracy Chapman’s robust and passionate discography; it’s an ode to the people who fight, protest, and tirelessly advocate for social justice and political change.
Unlike some of her other songs, this one is relatively general. Chapman sings, “Don’t you know; They’re talking about a revolution? It sounds like a whisper.’ Despite painting the sad image of people ‘standing in the welfare lines; Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation; Wasting time in the unemployment line,“ there is an underlying message of hope conveyed not only through words, but through the calm, slow guitar and Chapman’s deep and smooth vocals.
Though the most prevalent emotions at this time may be anger and fear, quiet hope is deeply essential to processing emotion and banding together to ensure that our voices are heard in a society that both fears and hates people who are different from them. (Make sure to check out Chapman’s ‘I Was Born To Fight,’ as well.)
Hozier’s rich discography has always has been deeply influenced by politics, and one of his most recent releases, ‘Nobody’s Soldier,’ is no exception. The song is centered around the Irish songwriter’s refusal to conform to pro-war ideology and propaganda, to being ‘a salesman or a soldier,’ ‘a butcher or a pauper,’ as well as the absurdity of witnessing war and global violence in the digital age.
He boldly proclaims, “Honey, I’m taking no orders; I’m gonna be nobody’s soldier.“ The song strongly refuses to support or even be complicit in war profiteering, rejecting the pressure to choose a side, eat or be eaten.
At a time when the two-party system and the far right have its claws deeply dug into the American political sphere, we should take a page out of Hozier’s book and choose to be advocates for peace and love, instead of being a soldier. (Listen to ‘Nina Cried Power ft. Mavis Staples’ and ‘Swan Upon Leda’ for more.)
MUNA’s ‘I Know A Place’ is a passionate and pleading call for peace and acceptance; it’s both optimistically hopeful and sadly realistic. The entirely queer band, made up of Katie Gavin, Naomi McPherson, and Josette Maskin, often dedicates the song to the trans community at their live shows. Gavin sings about a place where everybody ‘lays down their weapons,’ and where ‘you don’t need protection, even if it’s only in my imagination.’
After Trump was inaugurated into presidency in January 2017, MUNA started performing the song with a bit of a twist; they extended the bridge to call out the president on his racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic views. Her voice thick with emotion, Gavin sings, “Even if our skin and our gods look different; I believe all human life is significant; I throw my arms open wide in resistance; He’s not my leader even if he’s my president.“ The band changes the last chorus to a rallying cry, imploring for change. They sing, “Let’s build a place we can go; Where everyone gonna lay down their weapon.“
Who knew that seven years later, MUNA would have to start playing the extended version of this song again and continue to both plead for the protection of the most vulnerable communities and strongly stand against the bigoted reality TV personality who holds the highest office in the country. (Check out ‘I Know a Place - Acoustic’ from ‘About U: One Year On’ for the extended version.)
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Institutionalized’ justly and boldly critiques a society that congratulates itself for having a supposedly progressive mindset, but in reality, falls short. In ‘Institutionalized,’ Lamar, an infamously acclaimed voice of modern Black consciousness, explores how deeply-rooted systems of economic and psychological oppression constrain the existence of the Black community. The title itself, a clever play on ‘institutional lies,’ serves as a critique of structures that hold marginalized communities back without remorse.
Lamar’s lyrics capture desperation to escape poverty, all while confronting inequality. He raps, “If I was the president, I’d pay my mama’s rent . . . Free my homies and them,“ illustrating how material and financial success appears to be the only escape from a system that seems to want to keep Black and other disenfranchised groups in ‘chains.’
Lamar has built a legacy that serves both as a testament to resilience and a call for justice; his powerful lyricism both unites audiences in solidarity to fight for the rights of Black people, but also creates a space for centuries of anger at injustice and oppression to be expressed. (Check out Lamar’s entire discography, specifically ‘Alright,’ ‘The Blacker The Berry,’ and ‘Fear.’)
In addition to this list, Sonic Hub has curated a playlist including all ten of these songs, as well as many others that seem appropriate at this time. Please save it, and listen to your heart’s content. Even though the world may seem like a dark place right now, please remember your voice matters, and you are loved.
WORDS ALLYSON PARK
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