by Julian Spivey
Today is President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, and he’s throwing himself a big military parade in his honor. In protest of this and his policies, many across the country are participating in a “No Kings Protest” to remind those who need to be reminded that this country doesn’t have kings and that the will of the people and the rule of the constitution mustn’t be trampled upon. Protests will be taking place in more than 2,000 communities across the nation, in what is sure to be the largest single-day peaceful protest in recent American history, according to ABC News.
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If you plan to attend the “No Kings Protest” and are looking for a playlist to pump you up as you head to or while participating in the protest, we have one for you…

​“This Land Is Your Land” & “Tear the Fascists Down” by Woody Guthrie
No protest playlist should begin without Woody Guthrie, and we’re giving you two essential Guthrie protest songs to kick off our playlist. The first is “This Land Is Your Land,” which I’ve posited before should be adopted as the new National Anthem of the United States of America. Let’s be honest, President Trump, his administration and the majority of his followers don’t believe “this land was made for you and me” if you’re anything other than a straight, white, Christian American. But it is, and Guthrie knew that nearly a century ago when he wrote this song. This song was written in response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” which Guthrie believed didn’t accurately represent the entire country in the aftermath of the Great Depression.
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“This Land Is Your Land” is a pleasant way to begin the “No Kings Protest,” as it’s a nice reminder that everybody belongs in this country, but Guthrie’s “Tear the Fascists Down” is where the real work comes in because that’s what we’re fighting to do right now, not just in our home country, but in many countries around this world. Guthrie was singing about the Nazis when he wrote the song but unfortunately fascism never fully died and unthinkably we find ourselves warring with it on the home front today.

“Long Walk Home” by Bruce Springsteen
President Trump hates Bruce Springsteen because Springsteen has been one of the music superstars unafraid to speak out against Trump’s agenda, recently making waves with the President with speeches he gave during concerts on his European tour. You can hear Springsteen’s eloquent words HERE. Numerous Springsteen songs would fit this playlist – you’d be likely to see his terrific “Land of Hope and Dreams” on many similar playlists – but I’ve chosen “Long Walk Home,” from his underrated 2007 album Magic. The song and that album were written in response to George W. Bush’s administration and the unnecessary war he began in Iraq. But it’s also an important reminder that this fight we find ourselves in against the Trump regime isn’t going to be easy; it’s going to take time. It’s going to be a long walk home before we can take back our country.

“American Idiot” by Green Day
Like Springsteen’s “Long Walk Home,” Green Day’s “American Idiot,” from 2004, was written about the George W. Bush administration, but some things don’t change, and in fact, many of the things Billie Joe Armstrong and his bandmates sang about have gotten worse. Armstrong has amended his song to fit today’s America, changing the lyric: “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” to “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda.” This one should get your blood pumping before you take to the streets to show your displeasure with the current administration.

“Revolution” by The Beatles
Our ancestors in the ‘60s knew how to protest, and their protests helped lead to turning tides when it came to things like racism in this country and making many in America realize sometimes America goes to war for less than moralistic reasons. So, “Revolution” by The Beatles, the biggest thing in ‘60s music, makes for a nice addition to any protest playlist. John Lennon was inspired to write the song after watching political protests in early 1968, but he was also against the violent tactics being espoused by some during the era. “Revolution” is a reminder that we should protest, but we should do it peacefully.

“Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution” by Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman was only 24 years old when her self-titled debut album was released in 1988, but she was wise beyond her years with “Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution,” featuring an incredible line about how such things begin with a whisper. The time for whispering might be over, but Chapman’s song about class warfare with lines like: “poor people gonna rise up and take what’s theirs” should be taken as a warning in an era where the rich seem to get richer and the poor poorer. Chapman, who rarely makes public and television appearances, brought this song out on the eve of the 2020 Presidential Election for a performance on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” and it was powerful. The American people stood up against President Trump then, but they must have forgotten a great deal in four years.

“Living in the Promiseland” by Willie Nelson
Country music has a way of being viewed by many as “conservative music,” and if you listen to the kind of bullshit put out by artists like Jason Aldean I can understand how you could think that. But music genres aren’t inherently political, and some of the most legendary figures in the history of the genre have recorded songs that would make MAGA followers roll their eyes. One such song is Willie Nelson’s 1986 No. 1 country hit “Living in the Promiseland,” written by David Lynn Jones. The song begins with the words written on our Statue of Liberty, words that President Trump and his administration metaphorically spit on daily: “Give us your tired and weak/and we will make them strong.” The song continues: “Bring us your foreign songs/and we will sing along.” This is obviously a pro-immigration song.

“Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down” by Kris Kristofferson
There’s probably never been a bigger “lefty” in the history of country music than the great Kris Kristofferson, who was never afraid to get political in a country song. One of the most famous representations of this is 1990’s “Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down,” where he sings: “We’ve seen the ones who kill the ones with vision/Cold-blooded murder right before your eyes/Today, they hold the power and the money and the guns/It’s getting hard to listen to their lies.” If you’re heading out to protest today, remember, don’t let the bastards get you down.”

“Stupid Kids” by Will Hoge
Will Hoge is likely the one name on this list you haven’t heard of – unless you’re just a ridiculously cool person. He’s a singer-songwriter in the Americana realm who’s written hits for other artists, including the No. 1 Eli Young Band tune “Even If It Breaks Your Heart.” His 2018 album My American Dream is an album full of protest songs, taking on things like gun control, immigration and the Confederate flag, which was born out of the way the country and world was turning in the first President Trump term. “Stupid Kids” is my choice for this playlist because I genuinely feel that it’s the younger generation of Americans who will turn the tide in this country – it may just have to wait until the older generations pass away. Hoge understands this with lines like: “Oh, stupid kids, don’t listen to what the old folks say/You’re the only ones that are ever gonna make things change.” It also has good advice for what you can do during the protest: “Keep your feet marching/raise up your voice/don’t quit.”

“Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley
There’s been a lot of rock and country on this list, so let’s get a little more flavor on the playlist with the greatest reggae legend of all time … Bob Marley. Marley, who wrote “Get Up, Stand Up” with Peter Tosh, was inspired to write it while touring Haiti and being moved by that nation’s severe poverty. The Guardian called the song: “a militant, righteously pissed off call to arms that has lost none of its urgency.” Remember what Marley said: “Get up, stand up/stand up for your right/get up, stand up/don’t give up the fight.”

“Fight the Power” by Public Enemy
You can’t possibly have a protest playlist without Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” perhaps the greatest hip-hop song of all time. Earlier this year, Rolling Stone magazine named it the second greatest protest song of all time, behind only Sam Cooke’s Civil Rights anthem, “A Change Is Gonna Come.” The 1989 song, which became the theme to director Spike Lee’s important film “Do the Right Thing,” is appropriately defiant and angry, something we all should be in this moment.

If you’re participating in the “No Kings Protest” today, please exercise caution and safety, and always remember to “fight the powers that be.” 

by Julian Spivey
The 50th season of “Saturday Night Live” featured many great musical performances (and some that weren’t so great) from today’s hottest stars, along with some musical legends thrown in the mix like Stevie Nicks and Elton John.
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Here were my five favorite ‘SNL’ music performances from season 50. 
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5. “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish
It was Billie Eilish’s gravity defying performance of “Bad Guy” on “Saturday Night Live” in 2019 that made me stand up and say, “who is this artist?” and “Damn, this is cool.” Eilish has been one of the show’s favorite and best musical guests in the half decade since her debut on the show, and “Birds of a Feather,” her Grammy-nominated hit, showcased that this past season. It may not have been the showstopper, “Bad Guy,” but it showed off Eilish’s whispery-smooth vocals. 

4. “Who Believes in Angels” by Elton John & Brandi Carlile
A collaboration between music legend Elton John and one of today’s best singer-songwriters, Brandi Carlile, makes perfect sense. Elton John was one of Carlile’s musical heroes, and the fact that she could have this moment with him is sure to put a smile on even a cynic’s face. My favorite song they performed on ‘SNL’ is actually “Little Richard’s Bible,” but there was some issue with the sound in Studio 8H that night for that one, so I’ve settled on “Who Believes in Angels,” a bit more of a weepy ballad for my selection from their episode. The duo knocked it out of the park. 

3. “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga
So, “Abracadabra” isn’t one of my favorite Lady Gaga songs, but I couldn’t leave the performance off this list because it was mesmerizing. It was the biggest showstopper performance at Studio 8H during Season 50; it just comes in at No. 3 on the list because there are songs I prefer more. Lady Gaga did a fantastic job at utilizing the space of Studio 8H on ‘SNL,’ taking her performance backstage and through the halls of the studio before winding up on the stage. The performance was truly a workout for her, as evidenced by the heavy breathing at its end. 

2. “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan
2024 was the year of Chappell Roan in pop music, and that was certainly no different when she showed up at ‘SNL.’ I’d hoped she’d perform her Grammy-nominated “Good Luck, Babe,” but I think she may have been tired of it by that point and used the opportunity to debut a new song, in the country-tinged “The Giver.” While “The Giver” might not be much to my liking, I was mesmerized by her first song of the evening, “Pink Pony Club,” which was one of the most energetic and infectious ‘SNL’ performances in recent memory, and the “we all belong” vibes of the song just make me feel good. 

1. “Too Sweet” & “Fairytale of New York” by Hozier
I knew Hozier for his 2013 debut single “Take Me to Church,” which I’m a fan of, but I didn’t really know that Hozier was still a thing more than a decade later, so I was pretty late to the amazingness of “Too Sweet,” his 2024 No. 1 hit. This song is the absolute epitome of what pop-rock should be, with a bit of soul and funk music thrown in to boot. The sound of the track mixed with Hozier’s incredible vocals makes you want to get up and dance. And the fact that he, as an Irishman, paired this terrific modern-day hit with a Christmas classic, “Fairytale of New York,” which was originally done by The Pogues, who combined Irish folk music with Celtic punk, made it the best one-two punch of any musical performance on ‘SNL’ this season. 

NOTE: Unfortunately, Hozier's performances are no longer available on YouTube.