\u201cNo Kings\u201d protest <\/a>downtown and throughout the U.S.<\/p>\nThe song \u2014 which laments the radicalization of the federal government by far right-wing nationalists \u2014 joins \u201cBad News\u201d by country star Zach Bryan, as one of the few new songs to emerge in recent months that directly addresses the public anxiety over President Donald Trump administration\u2019s attack on free speech and, most pertinent to McDermott, the threat of social media manipulation.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo people living 30 feet apart can now live in two different realities,\u201d he said. The benefactors of the division \u201care the people who want to take it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDermott wrote the song a month ago as a response to what he describes as a slide toward fascism since the Trump administration took hold of Washington in January. The mid-tempo, piano-driven song strikes a commonsense tone in the lyrics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s time we did some critical thinking\/The Statue of Liberty has started sinking,\u201d he sings. \u201cAll they wanna do is keep you distracted\/At least until martial law is enacted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the song\u2019s dark lyrics, the music was purposely written to sound upbeat \u2014 even with a \u201csha-la-la\u201d chorus \u2014 to make it appeal to the most ears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to sing to the echo chamber; I want to sing to the other side,\u201d he said, adding he wants to reach \u201cthe middle right.\u201d<\/p>\n
He debuted the song two weeks ago while on tour. Last week, in St. Augustine, Florida, an audience member told him he should do a special release of the song timed for Saturday\u2019s march.<\/p>\n
McDermott recorded<\/a> his parts in his Orland Park studio, while in Nashville, Will Kimbrough and John Deaderick added guitars and keyboards. Matt Thompson played bass.<\/p>\nMcDermott plans to record a new version with his Chicago band and include it on a new album, which he plans to perform during a three-night stand at City Winery in December.<\/p>\n
This week, McDermott put together a lyric video that includes footage from recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in Chicago as well as a few shots from \u201cThe Lives of Others,\u201d the 2006 Oscar-winning film depicting life in Communist East Berlin.<\/p>\n