The Killers Release Their Protest Anthem "Land of the Free" With a Spike Lee-Directed Video

Normally, one doesn't associate The Killers with politics, but the band is switching things up. Their recent single, "Land of the Free," was released on Monday, Jan. 14, and focuses on President Donald Trump's proposed border wall, along with racism and gun violence. The poignant short film accompanying the track was directed by BlacKkKlansman's Spike Lee, who explained that The Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers reached out to him after seeing the film. "[Brandon Flowers] called me up," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's a great protest song. He said, 'What can you do with this?'"

The video documents families at the US-Mexico border as they attempt to make their way into the "Land of the Free" before they're tear-gassed by border agents. Flowers sings about families who "just want the things we do" and how "if you're the wrong color of skin, you grow up looking over both your shoulders," pointedly addressing the human rights that have always been divisive subjects in the US

In an interview with Beats 1 host Zane Lowe, Flowers revealed that he began writing the song after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. ". . . then it just started stacking up. It was things like Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, things like what's happening at the wall. You know this stuff just didn't seem to be in harmony with the values that I believe my country was founded on," the singer explained. "I would start the song and then I would put it away and say, 'I'm not the guy to do this.' Or I would feel inadequate . . . I finally just, you know, Las Vegas, Orlando, Parkland, and it just kept coming. It was just like I've gotta, have to get this out." Watch the short film for "Land of the Free" above and you'll be glad he did.