Cass McCombs Shares "Don't (Just) Vote" Feat. Angel Olsen, Bob Weir and Noam Chomsky
Today Cass McCombs has released “Don’t (Just) Vote”, a reimagined version of his 2011 song “Don’t Vote”.
"Don't Just Vote,” noted writer and activist Noam Chomsky encouragingly states in the song. “We have to excise a malignant cancer from the body politic. But that's just the beginning. Real politics is what you do before and after you push the lever. You have to keep your shoulder to the wheel: engagement, activism, organizing - that's what will make the difference.”
Produced by Sam Cohen and Joe Russo, the updated track also features guest vocalists Angel Olsen and Bob Weir; listen to it HERE.
“I was compelled to write something for the election and I thought of no better way than to troll myself, laying waste to a much-misunderstood song of mine from over a decade ago, ‘Don't Vote’,” McCombs explains. “Most people never made it much further than the title, anyway. For this new song, ‘Don't (Just) Vote,’ the message is clear: Vote, yes, but when you do, imagine the world you would like to see, beyond what appears on your ballot. Harness your imagination and justice becomes inevitable.”
McCombs has been known for social activism and politically-focused songs throughout his career. He performed at the benefit concert Occupy Sandy, Occupy Wall Street and People’s Climate March in 2014 with the Chapin Sisters and, in 2020, at the 51st People’s Park Anniversary in Berkeley, CA with Bongo Sidibe. NPR said that “the recalcitrant singer-songwriter has never cared for The Man.” The focus of “Bum Bum Bum,” released in 2016, is systemic racism. He states, “Blood in the streets, our eternal river, I know the killer. He counts my silver…How long until this river of blood congeals?”
McCombs also gets explicit on female reproductive rights in “Run Sister Run” in 2016. The music video was made in collaboration with young Indigenous leader, activist and athlete Tracie Léost who had made a 115km rally cry run against the Prime Minister in the video, symbolizing victims of abuse from the point of view of their attacker. In 2019, McCombs and Mr. Greg released a song, “Wave A Flag for Harvey Milk,” with a companion coloring book to educate children on Harvey Milk and LBGTQ rights, and most recently, "Requiem for Ruth Bader Ginsberg."
In “Bradley Manning” featured on Democracy Now! in 2011, McCombs protests the trial, speaking directly to Manning before her transition to Chelsea saying, “Bradley, know you have friends, though you're locked in there." And the latest, “Sleeping Volcanoes,” where he cries, “Help me, Armageddon!” empathizing with refugees, elders and the oppressed.
All royalties after costs from “Don’t (Just) Vote” will be donated to Elevate Oakland, who help fund music education in the Oakland area. For more information on voting, go to headcount.org
This past May Cass McCombs released the new single “The Wine of Lebanon” in partnership with Universal Audio. The song’s video was filmed in January, prior to the current shelter-in-place orders, and McCombs visited the resting places of the respected and influential artists Ritchie Valens, Etta James, Merle Haggard, Darby Crash and more. Watch the video HERE. “McCombs conjures an otherworldly in-between realm teetering on the edge of salvation,” said Rolling Stone, who declared “The Wine of Lebanon” a Song You Need To Know.