As someone born and raised in the UK but having an acute interest in politics around the world, I am always pained to see the difficulties in the USA. Any time we have a political failing in this country, whether it be on social violence, election reform or racial injustice, I always look to the USA and realise that the problems there are just as disturbing as they are here, if not more so. I am thankful that we don't have the quite the same amount of damaging systems and establishments that the USA does. I see this reflected in the music of our nations; we continue to see socio-political protest songs fairly prevalent in American music today, whereas in the UK I feel you really have to seek them out.
I am writing this a day after Kamala Harris has been announced as the democrat VP nomination, an historic moment in a time when racial injustice has rarely been higher on the agenda. 'An American Lie' is the newest single from USA singer-songwriter Rory D'Lasnow, and it has some pretty direct words on the topic of racial inequality. The majority of Rory's prior work appears to take on themes of love and loss, remaining quite inward in it's lyrical motifs, something very typical of this kind of singer-songwriter. His Acoustic EP from a few years ago reminded me of Jose Gonzalez's soft and subtle emotive folk, but with a little more American energy to it. So seeing someone in this style come out with a big protest anthem is quite refreshing.
Rory's approach musically on this track is a simple and effective one: it's a modern acoustic folk-pop piece with some melancholic chord progressions and a smooth vocal melody. It builds nicely from it's opening as an understated solo guitar and voice opening, into a big and bombastic anthem with some hefty drums and big vocal harmonies. It's also a very catchy tune which is propelled by it's purity. If you are wanting to use your music as a platform to spread a social message to a big audience then you do want to avoid too much brow-furrowing musical experimentation in favour of a tune people can sing easily with conviction. Rory has done an excellent job of that.
I really appreciate that Rory doesn't spend any time dancing around the issue, the lyrics are direct and in a way quite scathing. Lines such as “Well tell me how you sleep / when he says I can’t breathe?” and “Look this ignorance in the eyes / it won’t be just another lost life” have such a forthright feeling that I can imagine them, in a parallel universe, being screamed at full lung-shredding volume over some grizzly punk guitars and light-speed drums. But that isn't Rory's approach, and whilst I was itching for a little more overflowing passion in Rory's clear and sweet vocal performance, the approach he takes will certainly give his words a bigger audience.
At the end of the second verse Rory sings the line “These are all of our problems / only together will we solve them”. He couldn't be more correct, because this issue is about unity, empowerment and creating a level playing field for everyone; increasing the rights of others doesn't diminish your own rights. It's wonderful to see a singer-songwriter take such a candid attitude to the protest song. It's a tune that quickly gets stuck in your head, it's an easy sing-a-long, and it doesn't pull any punches in it's words. You can't ask for much more than that in a good protest song. My hope is that this track can find it's audience and become part of the movement to pull more people into action against racial injustice.
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