Political punk rockers ANTI-FLAG has issued “A Dying Plea” to the world with their newest track, featuring DE’WAYNE, Marcia Richards, Julise Della Gary and Tom Morello. The political punk band also released the bone-chilling music video directed and produced by Keith Ray and INDECLINE along with the single.
Dropping during one of the most important election weeks in modern history, “A Dying Plea Vol. 1” is just that – a plea to the people to come together and fight for change. On today’s release, the band shares the following message: “The 2020 election has highlighted the heightened divide between so many Americans. It has also clearly defined the unity among the ruling classes, who hand pick and present political candidates who have no intention of challenging an unjust structure of power which protects and enriches the nation’s economic elites”.
“Their unwillingness to waver on the marginalization, persecution and murder of BIPOC whether by economic isolation, environmental disaster or militarized and racist police forces. Their inability to break from the corporations that buy, sell and trade their policies and platforms allowing them to devour our planet, make us sick and create endless war for the sake of their economies”.
“With the civic duty of voting behind us and while the world waits to see the electoral outcome, we must turn our attention to the next phases of the work we all need to be doing. Working to hold these people accountable, fighting racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and all bigotry. The change we seek doesn’t come from presidents, prime ministers or popes. It has historically and will always come from The People”.
All proceeds from “A Dying Plea” will benefit sisTers Pittsburgh, SARI, Justice LA Now and My Block, My City, My Hood Chicago.
Lyrics:
We can’t breathe…
I know you looking for a victim to kill – I KNOW YOU
I know you looking for a son to steal – I KNOW YOU
You wanna catch me slipping down on my heels
For a moment to boast and shout look at this nigga I killed
But what about my rights?
What about my life?
We ain’t equal to them
If they ain’t kill us
Slamming us down
Saw the tape on CNN
Got a call from my mother
You bet not go outside again
Got a call from my father
Like put a damn gun to they head
BANGWith others oppressed no one is free…
When just to breathe is a dying plea
Your freedom falls only skin deep
Out of reach like an American DreamThe blue lines cross at demand and need
Raze the statues from the hanging tree
Out of reach like an American DreamWe can’t breathe…
Well I’m unbelievably out of breath
I remember inna school that respect wasn’t there
Imagine what a fool, I’d step where the other girls stepped
I’d forget that I checked and the step wasn’t there
I know underneath another layer lies another liar
Out come the wolves from their wool to deny our rights
Buckle up, watch it take a turn until your luck is up
We got the backup and we’ll say their names until you’re gone
With others oppressed no one is free…When just to breathe is a dying plea
Your freedom falls only skin deep
Out of reach like an American DreamThe blue lines cross at demand and need
Raze the statues from the hanging tree
Out of reach like an American DreamHow long must we wait
For all of this to change
The fear, the death, the pain…
Will it ever go away
How long must we wait
How long?When just to breathe is a dying plea
Your freedom falls only skin deep
Out of reach like an American DreamWe can’t breathe…
The track features a formidable list of guest artists including DE’WAYNE who dove into the important conversations happening in our country with the release of “National Anthem” earlier this summer. Marcia Richards of The Skints bring a global influence to the track after her 2019 politically charged release “Swimming Lessons”. Young vocalist Jálise Della Gary, the niece of Chris #2, adds a powerful plea. Rounding out the track is a guitar riff from the formidable Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who dropped a five-song EP “Comandante” last week.
Anti-Flag is a political punk band, which is obvious from their name alone. But over the course of 12 albums across more than 25 years together, they’ve rarely set their sights on singular individuals in songs. Unlike their punk predecessors in the 80s, who made targets of Reagan and his cronies, Anti-Flag has always opted not to date their work with current references, instead focusing on fighting ongoing oppression and dismantling deeply rooted systems of injustice. But on their most recent album, “20/20 Vision” the band is drawing a big, fat line in the sand.
“We have actively chosen to not attack Presidents directly, either with album art or songs about certain times in history, because we recognize that the issues we’re dealing with are cyclical” says bassist Chris #2. “But this record in particular, we kind of said, well fuck that, we need to be on the record in opposition to the policies of Donald Trump and Mike Pence”.
And while the news cycle moves faster than ever before, “20/20 Vision” aims to take a step back and stare down the most pressing problems of our time: kids in cages, the fentanyl crisis, rolling back EPA restrictions. It’s a record that at once feels both timely and forward thinking. “20/20 Vision” is a work that Anti–Flag hopes will serve as an immediate form of communication with those who are politically engaged as well as a document of our modern times for a future generation.
As #2 puts it: “We hope that when someone trips over this record in the sand of the post apocalypse, they’ll know that there were people who once stood in opposition to all of this”.
Stay tuned to Anti–Flag’s socials for more information on “Vol. 2” soon.
