Singer-songwriter and playwright Stew released the Spike Lee-directed music video for his “protest song” about President Donald Trump, entitled “Klown Wit Da Nuclear Code,” on Monday.
Released right before Independence Day, the four-minute video features the song’s lyrics scrolling across the screen and a mix of American slave-era photos and anti-Trump newspaper covers from Trump’s presidency and the election.
“Now come check out the scene, everyday is Halloween/ Dead ideas waltzing from their graves/ Swipe right for information/ Bring back that old plantation/ Only this time we all get to be slaves/” Stew sings. “‘Cuz it’s good old boy on a fear run/ Lead by a monkey on a pearl commode/ A toddler with a handgun bang bang bang/ A klown wit da nuclear code.”
“This song is in the American tradition of protest songs,” Lee said in a statement, according to Variety. “The lyrics are self explanatory — there’s a reason the words appear on the picture. There is no album [attached to the song], it’s one and done (and hopefully not the end of the world as we know it).”
Stew — real name Mark Stewart — won a Tony Award in 2008 for Best Book for his semi-autobiographical rock musical Passing Strange. The California crooner has worked extensively with the infamous New York Public Theater, most recently Stew’s musical “The Total Bent” play had a twice-extended run at the Public Theater.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson
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