Aubrey Negron on Canva

Bruce Springsteen. Green Day. Marvin Gaye. These aren’t only the names of icons in the music industry, but also the names of people who have used their voice to address problems happening within the United States. In the 1960s, Bob Dylan sang “Blowin’ in the Wind” to discuss issues related to civil rights in our nation. A decade later, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young sang “Ohio” in response to the Ohio State shootings of four students who were protesting against the Vietnam War. In the 2000s, Neil Young sang “Let’s Impeach the President,” criticizing George W. Bush for sending U.S. soldiers to invade Middle Eastern countries, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, in the aftermath of 9/11—sparking a “Global War on Terror” that still has lasting effects on the country.

In the present day, the problems of our past may feel less extreme than they once were. However, these problems very much do still exist, and as of late, have been getting worse. A survey conducted by Pew Research Center found that 85% of Americans feel that politically motivated violence is increasing. More so, 53% of Americans said that they see left-wing and right-wing extremism as major issues in our country.

Despite these statistics, it might be difficult to understand where exactly musicians come into the mix here. Is it really possible for one person to have so much of an effect on people politically? Absolutely. Just last year, pop star Taylor Swift posted an endorsement of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris on her Instagram page for the 2024 presidential election with a link to the website vote.gov attached to the story. After Swift’s post, a whopping 406,000 people clicked on the link that led them to state voting websites. Although it’s unclear how many people actually followed through with voting, the fact that Swift was able to draw this many people in with just one simple link is unbelievable.

Since Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term as president, he has been strongly pushing mass deportations of immigrants in the United States. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has come under strict fire from US citizens for using harsh tactics when detaining immigrants. Trump has vowed to deport criminals and rapists, yet the Deportation Data Project found that a little over one-third of people arrested by ICE since Trump’s second term began have actually had no criminal record.

On Instagram, ICE has been very active. On their own accounts, as well as those run by the Department of Homeland Security, they’ve discussed deporting immigrants while using trending songs. In one video, the Department of Homeland Security asked undocumented immigrants to self-deport, using pop singer Olivia Rodrigo’s song “all-american b—h” as the audio. Rodrigo commented on the post, telling the department, “don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.”

Rodrigo is not the only singer to fire back at ICE. The organization recently used singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter’s “Juno” as part of one of their tweets on Twitter. The tweet contains a video of Carpenter singing the lyric “have you ever tried this one?” with clips of people being hurled on the ground and arrested by ICE agents. Carpenter replied to the tweet saying, “This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.” Despite Carpenter’s response, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson decided to clap back on the app. Borrowing a lyric from Carpenter’s hit song “Manchild,” Jackson wrote, in reference to illegal immigrants, that “anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?” It is concerning that a government agency is involving itself in online feuds with musicians who are simply telling them to back off and not use their own personal property to promote beliefs with which they do not align themselves.

Carpenter hasn’t only been politically active when it comes to ICE. When she performed at the VMAs in September, she had several drag queens join her on stage for the song “Tears,” holding signs with sayings such as “Protect Trans Rights.” For every ticket sold during her Short n’ Sweet tour, Carpenter donated $1 to various charities, such as the Transgender Law Center and LGBT National Help Center as part of her Sabrina Carpenter Fund. In total, she raised over $1 million for these organizations, choosing to express her support of these communities through actions that will directly help the people she hopes to reach.

In October, country singer Zach Bryan released a teaser for his new song, “Bad News,” that included lyrics such as “ICE is gonna come bust down your door” and there is a “fading of the red, white, and blue.” Bryan quickly faced backlash for these lyrics, also from White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson. In a statement, she wrote, “While Zach Bryan wants to Open the Gates to criminal illegal aliens and has Condemned heroic ICE officers, Something in the Orange tells me a majority of Americans disagree with and support President Trump’s great American Revival,” intertwining the titles of multiple songs by Bryan into her response—which might’ve been intended to be witty, but comes out as corny.

Despite the heat Bryan faced for these comments, he insisted it was not a political statement, noting “I served this country, I love this country” and that “the song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space.”

“I wasn’t speaking as a politician… just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else,” he said in an Instagram post. The singer also added that he is not just embarrassed about the waves the song made in the political atmosphere, but scared.

As the United States has evolved over the decades, so has the way the people who represent the forefront of the nation choose to criticize it. Singers are still singing about issues that haunt our nation on a daily basis, but they have also chosen to directly speak to the organizations that they think is causing the most damage within our country and have even decided to put their own wealth aside to benefit marginalized groups who need more support than ever in this current political climate. 

As political tension in America increases alarmingly faster each day, it makes you wonder who will be the next singer to be caught in a headline for deciding to get involved in the world beyond the music they release.