Let 'Em Burn

Album: The Stories We Tell Ourselves (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song was borne from observing people's behavior in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. Singer Jonny Hawkins explained to Billboard magazine:

    "There's a lyric: 'Everybody, everybody lies. Everybody, everybody buys it. Everybody, everybody, we all divide.' People, when they hear this song, if they're on the right or the left, they're going to think we're talking about their opposite or the candidate they hate or whatever. That's fine, they can identify with it that way, but when we say, 'Everybody,' we mean literally everybody.

    I'm talking about the people on Facebook as much as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I think they're equally as much a part of the problem with how our discourse and dialogue with each other is so flawed."
  • The concept for the song's grim, violent video was fueled by the growing fear and divisiveness in the US. Directed by Ben Roberds, the clip is a commentary on the frequency of mass shootings in America and the powers-that-be's refusal to accept the reason for all the slaughter.

    "The media has become our God and we have become its bitch," said Jonny Hawkins. "We are blind to human solutions because our emotions have been glued to political problems, and it has paralyzed our progress. Most of us know that mental health is the cause of mass shootings, yet we are obsessed with talking about the symptoms and gridlocking ourselves in political battles without proper action. It's time to find solutions... it's time to focus on mental health."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Little Richard

Little RichardFact or Fiction

Was Long Tall Sally a cross-dresser? Did he really set his piano on fire? See if you know the real stories about one of rock's greatest innovators.

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

90s Metal

90s MetalFact or Fiction

Test your metal - Priest, Maiden, and Beavis and Butt-head show up in this one.

Who Did It First?

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

Ed Roland of Collective Soul

Ed Roland of Collective SoulSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Shine," "December," "The World I Know" and other Collective Soul hits.

Yacht Rock!

Yacht Rock!Song Writing

A scholarly analysis of yacht rock favorites ("Steal Away," "Baker Street"...) with a member of the leading YR cover band.