"Great, America (2017)" is Shovels & Rope's own state of the union address

Yesterday, Rolling Stone debuted Shovels & Rope’s new single, “Great, America (2017),”
aptly describing it as a “stark commentary on the U.S.” Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent told the Rolling Stone Country, “We felt like we needed to give ourselves and our fans a national pep talk.

“This song represents our observations and feelings regarding many of the overwhelming events of the year 2017,” they said of the song that was written in Denver hotel room. “Jet-lagged and feeling sensitive to the world politic, we turned on the news and it was a barrage of floods and fires, civil rights protests being confused with anti-patriotism, and escalating nuclear and refugee situations. Everybody gets weary, but we are always faithful in the hearts of people who put love and community first. We hope that we can contribute to a constructive conversation about how we should be acting toward one another and set a good example in our own lives.”

Sales for the single will be donated to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which has already built five treatment facilities in the U.S., with four more in the works, to serve military families with traumatic brain injuries. “These injuries continue to affect hundreds of thousands of military personnel,” David Winters, President of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund told Rolling Stone. “It is thanks to these kinds of donations that we can continue to build specialized medical facilities, called Intrepid Spirit centers, that diagnose and treat these service members and help them on their road to recovery.”

Purchase the single here. Listen for yourself above. We’ve transcribed the lyrics below for you to absorb.

“Great, America (2017)”
There are tears rolling down my front and back
There’s a mirror holdin’ up a one-eyed jack
There’s a hurricane swingin’ at a lowly shack
In 2017

There’s a compass lost on the open sea
Another shooter in my community
There’s a steady stream of insanity
In 2017

There’s a dog with a nuclear bomb in his mouth
Hey, old white man, meet the brave, new South
Don’t it make you wanna scream and shout?
In 2017

My TV is as busy as a can of bait
Point and click and get it now
You never have to stop and wait
But your airplane is going to be a little bit late
In 2017

My eyes and my ears and my senses are tired
Everybody’s scared; everybody’s inspired
The world is under water; it’s also on fire
In 2017

Great, America
Come on, come on, come on
We’re baited in hysteria
There’s litter on your lawn
if it’s smokin’ while we’re sleepin’
There’ll be fire in the dawn
So come on, America
Come on, come on, come on

You talk like this, but you live like that
It says ‘go back home’ on your welcome mat
Did somebody really say that the world is flat?!
in 2017

There’s constant unchecked brutality
A brave man takes a stand by droppin’ to a knee
Try to understand you, try to understand me
In 2017

I’ve tried to understand you, you try to understand me
In 2017