The Killers have released a powerful political anthem that addresses immigration, gun control and racism with an emotional music video directed by Spike Lee.
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'Land of the Free' takes aim at President Donald Trump's proposed border wall along the US border with Mexico, using real footage of migrant families making desperate attempts for a better life.
Lee, celebrated for his portfolio of politically charged films like BlacKkKlansman and Malcom X, travelled to the border at the end of last year to capture the emotional scenes.
The video features footage of displaced children waving American flags, asylum-seekers battling tear gas and rubber bullets as they make a break for the border, and candle-light vigils and protests.
The track's lyrics juxtapose the concept of the American dream with the nation's ongoing crises of gun violence and racism.
"But if you're the wrong color skin/You grow up looking over both your shoulders/In the land of the free," lead singer Brandon Flowers sings.
"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."
Flowers took to The Killers Facebook page to post a personal note about his motivation for the song - the "heart-wrenching" news of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, which left 20 children and six adults dead.
"If there was a single moment that I mentally began to assemble 'Land of the Free', that was it," he wrote.
"In the months and years that followed, America would be hit with an onslaught of more mass shootings of innocents and too many examples of racial injustice to ignore."
The 'Mr Brightside' singer also shared his own family's story of emigrating to America from Lithuania to escape oppression in the USSR.
"We dishonour our values, our ancestors and our heritage when we tear gas our brothers and sisters seeking asylum," Flowers wrote.
At the time of writing, the longest ever US government shutdown in history continues, as Trump threatens to declare a national emergency in order to secure funding for his border wall.
Newshub.
