The Killers release song critiquing US immigration policy — VIDEO
Up to this point, The Killers repertoire has been driven by synthesizers more than social commentary.
That changes on just-released new tune “Land of the Free.”
Accompanied by a documentary-style video shot by filmmaker Spike Lee, which features footage of migrants traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border and getting tear gased by U.S. Border Patrol agents, the song serves as a critique of the current administration’s immigration policies, among other things.
“Down at the border/ They’re gonna put up a wall,” Killers frontman Brandon Flowers sings on the stirring mid-paced number with gospel-worthy backing vocals. “Concrete and rebar, steel beams/ High enough to keep all those filthy hands off of our hopes and our dreams/ People who just want the same things we do.”
The song alludes to past immigrants who came to this country by boat in pursuit of the American dream. “Land” also addresses the for-profit prison system (“Incaceration’s become big business”) and racial inequality (“When I go out in my car, I don’t think twice / But if you’re the wrong color skin, you grow up looking over both of your shoulders.”)
“Land of the Free” is easily the group’s most overtly political tune ever, something which had been building within Flowers, as he explained in an interview broadcast today with Beats 1’s Zane Lowe.
“I think it is a very important time right now and ‘enough is enough’ was basically where it comes from,” he said.
“I would start the song, and then I would put it away and say, ‘I’m not the guy to do this’… and then it just piled up,” he added. “It was just like, ‘I have to get this out.’ ”
