SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Filmmaker Spike Lee spent a few weeks in 2018 documenting migrants' experiences at the U.S.-Mexico border for The Killers' "Land of the Free" music video, over which he reportedly was given full creative control. (Photo: YouTube/screenshot)
Watch: Devastating New 'Land of the Free' Music Video Decries Violence and Cruelty of Trump's America
Set to a short film by Spike Lee, The Killers take on Trump's wall, tear-gassing of asylum-seekers, mass incarceration, and gun violence
Jan 14, 2019
In a powerful indictment of cruelty across the United States, The Killers' new song "Land of the Free"--released Monday with a devastating music video directed by Spike Lee--decries President Donald Trump's proposed border wall, the dehumanization and abuse of asylum-seekers, mass incarceration, institutional racism, and the nation's refusal to address the epidemic of mass shootings and gun violence.
Watch:
Taking on Trump's widely denounced immigration policies, frontman Brandon Flowers sings:
Down at the border, they're gonna put up a wall
Concrete and rebar steel beams (I'm standing, crying)
High enough to keep all those filthy hands off
Of our hopes and our dreams (I'm standing, crying)
People who just want the same things we do
In the land of the free
"Incarceration's become big business," he notes, "And we got more people locked up than the rest of the world." Written partly in response to mass shootings that have become all too common in this country, he asks, "So how many daughters, tell me, how many sons, do we have to have to put in the ground, before we just break down and face it: We got a problem with guns?"
In a message posted to Facebook, Flowers recalls how his grandmother and her family fled to U.S. "from Lithuania to escape the USSR's oppression," opting to work "in dangerous coal mines, rather than endure tyranny at home." Condemning "too many examples of racial injustice to ignore," including the tear-gassing of migrants at the border, he concludes: "I see my family in the faces of these vulnerable people... you've gotta believe that we can do better."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In a powerful indictment of cruelty across the United States, The Killers' new song "Land of the Free"--released Monday with a devastating music video directed by Spike Lee--decries President Donald Trump's proposed border wall, the dehumanization and abuse of asylum-seekers, mass incarceration, institutional racism, and the nation's refusal to address the epidemic of mass shootings and gun violence.
Watch:
Taking on Trump's widely denounced immigration policies, frontman Brandon Flowers sings:
Down at the border, they're gonna put up a wall
Concrete and rebar steel beams (I'm standing, crying)
High enough to keep all those filthy hands off
Of our hopes and our dreams (I'm standing, crying)
People who just want the same things we do
In the land of the free
"Incarceration's become big business," he notes, "And we got more people locked up than the rest of the world." Written partly in response to mass shootings that have become all too common in this country, he asks, "So how many daughters, tell me, how many sons, do we have to have to put in the ground, before we just break down and face it: We got a problem with guns?"
In a message posted to Facebook, Flowers recalls how his grandmother and her family fled to U.S. "from Lithuania to escape the USSR's oppression," opting to work "in dangerous coal mines, rather than endure tyranny at home." Condemning "too many examples of racial injustice to ignore," including the tear-gassing of migrants at the border, he concludes: "I see my family in the faces of these vulnerable people... you've gotta believe that we can do better."
In a powerful indictment of cruelty across the United States, The Killers' new song "Land of the Free"--released Monday with a devastating music video directed by Spike Lee--decries President Donald Trump's proposed border wall, the dehumanization and abuse of asylum-seekers, mass incarceration, institutional racism, and the nation's refusal to address the epidemic of mass shootings and gun violence.
Watch:
Taking on Trump's widely denounced immigration policies, frontman Brandon Flowers sings:
Down at the border, they're gonna put up a wall
Concrete and rebar steel beams (I'm standing, crying)
High enough to keep all those filthy hands off
Of our hopes and our dreams (I'm standing, crying)
People who just want the same things we do
In the land of the free
"Incarceration's become big business," he notes, "And we got more people locked up than the rest of the world." Written partly in response to mass shootings that have become all too common in this country, he asks, "So how many daughters, tell me, how many sons, do we have to have to put in the ground, before we just break down and face it: We got a problem with guns?"
In a message posted to Facebook, Flowers recalls how his grandmother and her family fled to U.S. "from Lithuania to escape the USSR's oppression," opting to work "in dangerous coal mines, rather than endure tyranny at home." Condemning "too many examples of racial injustice to ignore," including the tear-gassing of migrants at the border, he concludes: "I see my family in the faces of these vulnerable people... you've gotta believe that we can do better."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.