Conor Oberst is one of my favorite musicians and he is very involved with politics. His band, Bright Eyes, went on the "Vote for Change" tour with Bruce Springsteen and REM before the 2004 presidential election and performed at a series of Obama rallies in 2008.
Conor has never been shy about sharing his views and criticisms of the government. In 2005, he performed his controversial Bush protest song "When the President Talks to God" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and subsequently had cancellations from 2 other late night talk shows he was scheduled to perform on.
This year he has gotten very involved with the border control/illegal immigration situation. He teamed up with the ACLU and put on "The Concert for Equality" in Nebraska, his home state, which raised money for a lawsuit against the city of Fremont, Nebraska for an ordinance the city passed on June 21, 2010 banning the hiring of or the rental of properties to illegal immigrants. The song above, "Coyote Song", is about two lovers separated by the Mexico-United States border. All proceeds from the song will go directly to the Sound Strike Fund, which provides needed resources to families caring for children in Arizona whose parents are detained or have been deported, immigrant rights organizing and legal defense.
I really enjoyed this song. Also, I thought that this was a great political song to post as it had a lot of meaning to it. I feel like immigration is a hot topic today it politics that need to be addressed. This song shows a different view of the immigration story, but one that is real. I also thought it was very thoughtful on the artist to donate all the proceeds to the families caring for children in Arizona, which is the center of this immigratino issue.
ReplyDelete