Wilco has never been a particularly political band, at least in terms of overt song content – but like a lot of Americans, they’ve had a bit of an awakening since November 9, and have become much more vocal in concerts and interviews. And now, the group has released a quickie single, “All Lives, You Say?” in response to not only last weekend’s white nationalist-fueled violence in Charlotte, but the “All lives matter!” nonsense that’s dogged Black Lives Matter and similar protest movements for years now, from the mouths of Twitter trolls, conservative commentators, and President Donald J. “On Many Sides” Trump.
“All Lives, You Say?” deploys a honky-tonk sound not unfamiliar to the band’s fans, but with lyrics addressed directly to anti-BLM voices, including “Your skin is so thin, your heart has escaped” and “You were born at the end of the noose.” Take a listen:
The song is available as a free stream on Wilco’s Bandcamp page, or as a $1 (or more) download with all proceeds benefitting the Southern Poverty Law Center in the name of frontman Jeff Wilco’s father, Robert L. Tweedy, who died earlier this month. “My dad was named after a Civil War general, and he voted for Barack Obama twice,” Tweedy writes. “He used to say ‘If you know better, you can do better.’ America – we know better. We can do better.”