(LifeSiteNews) — A new rock-and-roll song is blowing the whistle on musicians who comply with radical, left-wing government mandates, particularly those who did so during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ain’t No Rock and Roll” by American singer-songwriter Brad Skistimas was released by the anti-woke music label Baste Records on October 6. Both its lyrics and music video lament the betrayal of the values and advocacy on which the genre of rock and roll was founded, committed by artists caving to the liberalism infecting the contemporary music scene.
In his latest release, Skistimas sings about the general downfall of the music industry as it falls under the control of the government while also calling out particular artists for their participation in the betrayal of rock and roll’s tenets of freedom, justice and protest.
“Well, there ain’t no rock and roll ever since they sold out Rolling Stone,” Skistimas begins. “All the words that were sung in the past will never feel the same when we’re looking back.”
“Ain’t No Rock and Roll” by Five Times August is OUT NOW from @basterecords wherever digital music is sold/stream! Get it today: https://t.co/3CPdPlIJW4 🎶 pic.twitter.com/qJcSdEMgDa
— Five Times August (@FiveTimesAugust) October 6, 2023
He continues by arguing that rock legends, referred to as “old men” in the song, “don’t bother standing up” after years of fame and that “there ain’t no peace and love ever since the 60s kids grew up.” Similarly, Skistimas accuses the classic “bad boy rebels” of rock and roll of not meaning the protest songs they sang, saying “we didn’t know that none of it was true.”
“There ain’t no rock and roll and the blues has lost its soul
All the punks gave the man control and every pop star’s bought and sold”
In the next verse, Skistimas continues:
“And there ain’t no Joni no Bob; no one stuck around for their protest job
All the stars and the Big Pharma whores shillin’ for a check from their corporate chores
All the actors say what they’re paid to say while the fans take the blame
All the once cool fools that were me and you, well, they pushed us all away”
Before ending the powerful ballad, Skistimas suggests that even aspiring rock stars are also engaging in “deafening” silence while “the suits lick the boots of the government [and] what they sang they never meant.”
The music video includes visuals to the harsh sentiments of the lyrics, featuring headlines slamming “anti-vaxxers” who were resistant to taking the experimental COVID-19 vaccines and advertising “vaccinated-only audiences” at concerts. Another headline announced a song with similar themes that was released by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters.
John Legend, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Green Day and Queen’s Roger Taylor all appeared as examples of rock stars voicing support for the radical pandemic mandates, whether through the endorsement of vaccine passports, the shots themselves or postponing performances.
Sam Smith — the infamous artist who put on a satanic display at the 2023 Grammy Awards show in February — was included as one who has been “bought and sold.”
Certain words such as “rock and roll,” “peace and love” and “anti-establishment” (which was changed to pro-establishment) are blacked out in the video along with part of the faces of the musicians, emphasizing the stark message that rock and roll and the values it promotes are history.
Responding to the ‘very disappointing’ compliance of rock legends
In an email exchange with LifeSiteNews, Skistmas explained that “Ain’t No Rock and Roll” is “a response to all of my musical heroes, the supposed rebels, who either kept quiet during all the covid era lockdowns, restrictions, and mandates, or sold out to Big Pharma and joined the regime.”
Noting the critical moment “to speak up against ‘the man,’” he said that the lack of challenge from fellow musicians is “very disappointing,” save “very few exceptions like Eric Clapton and Van Morrison.”
“The response so far has been great, and I think it resonates so well because we’ve all noticed that deafening silence from the entertainment industry and Hollywood the last few years. They’ll speak up when it serves a specific pre-approved mainstream agenda, but when it came to standing up against forced and coerced injections you had bands like Foo Fighters and Rage Against the Machine literally segregating their audiences based on vaccination status. Then you had artists like Pink and John Legend making Pfizer commercials.”
Skistmas said that “this song is just for anyone who’s noticed these things, who are as disappointed as I am [and] anyone who’s realized all our former heroes weren’t actually anything special.”
The musician told LifeSiteNews that the question driving the song, “Where are my heroes?” is “one of the things that drove me to speaking out through my own music in the first place.” His latest hit was born after waiting for them to “eventually show up, but they never did.” It serves as a form of “holding them all to it now.”
“I just didn’t like the direction we were heading in 2020,” he continued when asked what sparked his conservative protest songs. “I didn’t want my kids to look back and wonder why Dad didn’t do anything about it. I had a little bit of a platform to say something, so I did.”
“What’s funny is I don’t think I changed, it’s society that changed … As it turns out, just being a normal person with common sense is the most rebellious thing you can be in this world right now.”
“Ain’t No Rock and Roll” was produced by Baste Records, a label that describes itself as “a harbinger of the counter culture to cancel culture.” It “aims to promote traditional music values and resist the influence of political correctness” and was established in spring 2023.
LifeSiteNews has also contacted Steven Lee Rachel of Baste Records for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Countering betrayal of a classic genre’s foundational values
Since its origins in the1940s and 1950s, rock has been known as the wild child of the musical genre family. It was the soundtrack of young Americans through the 1960s and 70s, when the nation’s youth adopted the genre’s advocacy for freedom, social justice, peace and love.
They weren’t afraid to challenge authority if unjust expectations or regulations were placed over them. While the hippie movement brought its fair share of drug abuse, homosexuality and other issues, its young participants were motivated by the good intentions and values presented in the protest songs of rock music.
Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA,” lamenting the state of the nation after the Vietnam War, and the civil rights anthems of Bob Dylan were once the staples of rock music in the late 1900s. Today, the protests more frequently come in the form of social media posts and public acts endorsing left-wing agendas and political leaders.
Examples of such acts include Pearl Jam’s support of Planned Parenthood and the infamous Neil Young controversy of 2022, when the famed rock star demanded his music be removed from Spotify due to the platform’s allowance of conservative Joe Rogan’s podcast and his anti-vaccine guests.
Since early 2021, Skistmas has remained committed to the good intentions that built the classic genre, using his platform to present his conservative protest songs. Last year, he released a song titled “I Will Not Be Leaving Quietly” amid the Canadian Freedom Convoy protests. “Silent War,” the title track of his 2022 album, reflected on the intentionally divisive actions and lies of world leaders. “Sad Little Man” is on the same album and calls out the hypocritical actions of Dr. Anthony Fauci during the pandemic.
After the release of “Ain’t No Rock and Roll,” Skistmas is continuing his musical endeavors with similar projects, telling LifeSiteNews that he is “always working on new songs and music videos” that “can be used as tools for battle in our culture war.”
“I’m happy to be partnering with the new label Baste Records, who are looking for artists like me, so we can get back to making important art again, and not just the fluff we’re fed through the mainstream. They have a lot of great things in the works, so it’s an exciting time.”
More information about Skistmas and Five Times August can be found at his website.
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