The Killers today released the video for “Land Of The Free,” a standalone single that grapples with some of the thornier issues of the present-day republic, among them immigration, mass shootings and the prison-industrial complex.
The video was directed by filmmaker Spike Lee and shot along the U.S. — Mexico border during the final weeks of 2018.
In a message shared on the band’s Instagram, singer Brandon Flowers elaborated on the song: “We dishonor our values, our ancestors and our heritage when we tear gas our brothers and sisters seeking asylum. I see my family in the faces of these vulnerable people. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that my grandmother and her family immigrated from Lithuania to escape the U.S.S.R’s oppression …. I love my country. I know that these are complicated issues but whether you stand to the left, right, or straddle the line, you’ve gotta believe that we can do better.”
Watch the video for “Land Of The Free,” and read the lyrics below. The Killers’ most recent album, Wonderful Wonderful, was released in late 2017.
Can’t wipe that wind blown smile from across my face
It’s just the old man and me
Washing his truck at the Sinclair station
In the land of the free
His mother Adeline’s family came on a ship
Cut coal and planted a seed
Down in them drift mines of Pennsylvania
In the land of the free
In land of the free
When I go out in my car I don’t think twice,
But if you’re the wrong color skin
You grow up looking over both your shoulders
In the land of the free
And we got more people locked up than the rest of the world
Right here in red white and blue
Incarceration’s become big business
And it’s harvest time out on the avenue
In the land of the free
Move on, there’s nothing to see
So how many daughters?
Tell me how many sons
Do we have to put in the ground
Before we just break down and face it?
We’ve got a problem with guns
In the land of the free
Down at the border
They’re gonna put up a wall
With concrete and rebar steel beams
High enough to keep all those filthy hands off of our hopes and our dreams
People who just want the same thing we do
In the land of the free