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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."
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
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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."
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