Posted by By: Zach Lieme, Staff Writer
Art is political, if you look back throughout all of history, there is a renaissance at the heart of almost every major uprising and empowerment movement. Music is one of, in my opinion, the greatest art forms humans are capable of. If you think of political music, everybody will think of different genres but every genre is accurate. Political music stems back far with iconic releases such as “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday in 1939, “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke in 1964, and “If I Can Dream” by Elvis Presley in 1968. While these songs were primarily focused on the racial conflict, Credence Clearwater Revival wrote songs at the same time criticizing the U.S. for our involvement in the Vietnam war. It’s safe to say that artists weren’t afraid to speak up going into the 70s and, thankfully, that trend continued into the new decade.
Punk was built on being political with bands such as the Ramones, the Dead Kennedys, the Clash and Black Flag taking control of the music scene in the 1970s. As time continued, politics spread to every crevice of the music industry and left no stone unturned. Rap and hip-hop created Public Enemy and N.W.A in the 1980s who gained notoriety for their controversial song “Fuck tha Police”. Metal had always been political with Black Sabbath, one of the first and most influential metal bands, creating “War Pigs” and “Children Of The Grave” but when Hip-hop became mainstream, the two fused and spawned the bastard nu-metal in the 1990s. This fusion created Rage Against The Machine and System of a Down who were extremely outspoken and gave the advice of “so make a move and plead the 5th ‘cause ya can’t plead the 1st ”. In the 2000s it was pop’s turn and thus Lady Gaga was born; through her entire career, she has been unwavering in her support of the LGBTQ community which has caused her to be banned in mainland China and will likely be denied entry if she ever tries to perform in Russia again.
In the 2020s, politics has held its prominence in music with Hozier, the 68th most listened to artist in the world, routinely using his stage to speak on global issues including excessive military spending, the conflict in Gaza, advocating for implementation of pro-choice policies, and many more. On an even bigger stage, Kendrick Lamar, the 15th largest artist in the world, created a segment in his super bowl halftime performance where uncle Sam ( Samuel L. Jackson ) criticized him for being “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto”. So, with musicians being so vocal in this day and age, why is Zach Bryan under fire for following suit?
The country music star has been sharing music since 2019 when he recorded and released his debut album DeAnn while on leave from the navy. In 2021, Bryan was honorably discharged to pursue a career in music and his big break came the following year with the release of his single Something In The Orange. His music routinely explored deep, emotional themes with releases such as Pink Skies and Letting Someone Go dealing with the pain of loss. In 2025 he put pen to paper again and shared a clip from a song titled “Bad News”. Unbeknownst to him, this action would put him right in the crosshairs of the department of homeland security.
Bryan took to his instagram and hit post, thousands of people listened as he proclaimed “ICE is gonna come bust down your door / Try and build a house no one builds no more / But I got a telephone / Kids are all scared and all alone.” The song, designed to be a lament for the cultural melting pot America was supposed to be, instead enraged conservative politicians and put a target on Bryan’s back. When asked for comment, DHS secretary Kristi Noem stated “I hope Zach Bryan understands how completely disrespectful that song is, not just to law enforcement but to this country, to every single individual that has stood up and fought for our freedoms”. With Bryan being a veteran, I can’t help but wonder if this claim comes from a place of ignorance or irreverence towards the superstars eight years of service.
I find it incredibly inappropriate a clip of an unreleased song is the priority of high-ranking government officials.
Feeling his art was being defaced, Bryan again took to instagram to defend what he had sung stating “When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle. ” In his post, he later went on to proclaim his love for America and criticize those using his work as a political weapon saying they were doing nothing but “proving how devastatingly divided we all are.” In his song and response, Bryan never directly threatened, or even criticized the conservative or liberal party so, with two wars raging not far from our shores, I find it incredibly inappropriate a clip of an unreleased song is the priority of high-ranking government officials. With the head of the department of defense waging war against journalists and now this, I find it necessary to ask: who is keeping an eye out to make sure we are safe from real threats?
Whether it be because of his fame, or because country has mainly been seen as conservative music in the modern era, this response makes me wonder if speech really is free anymore or if it comes with a cost. It’s the responsibility of those with a platform to speak for those whose voice goes unheard, that’s what it means to be an advocate. If it is not possible to use our voice to speak out against injustice in this country then Zach Bryan was right in his new song, we are truly witnessing “the fading of the red, white, and blue”.
The Maroon 