The Killers penned this song for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting that left 58 people dead. The front man Brandon Flowers writes of how shocked he was hearing of the news, then about the Sandy Hook shooting, and Parkland, that mass shootings in the United States were far too common, and becoming a new norm-to the point most aren’t shocked by such news anymore. He kept pushing off writing the song down after each shooting, but he felt enough was enough, and released it in 2017 in response to the government’s weak response to trying to prevent such tragedies from happening again. The song is of the alternative/indie genre, and it isn’t a political genre, no music genre is actually. It’s the lyrics and the meaning that makes a song political in someone’s eyes.
Listeners would also put their own spin on the song, mostly due to the political shift due to the 2016 election and onwards, that created a much more noticeable divide between the American people. The lyrics “We’ve got a problem with guns…who just want the same things we do” showcases the message that both facts that we can all agree, hardly anything has changed in the “land of the free”. Every month, every year, we have mass shootings at schools, anywhere, immigrants are turned away at the border “wall” when all they want is a life we all look forward to, and racism, all are topics that are at least touched upon in the duration of the song. It is markedly a useful song for political protest, mostly due to the riveting lyrics and the piano’s dynamic, that bring harmony together with the background gospel choir.
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I love that you shined light upon a very sensitive topic. I feel like this song is such a great representation of political songs. This song gives off vibes that it will be about America as it is titled “Land of the free” and show red and blue lights in the beginning of the music video.