Here is the dramatic video for Chatting Through Steel (Revisited) by Cole Gallagher. David Hidalgo of Los Lobos adds gritty, characterful vocals, complementing Gallagher’s own impassioned voice as he sings with compassion about immigration and the plight of people at the US border. It’s a sensitively written song that attempts to bring humanity to the issue by imagining a conversation between two people on either side of the border wall. Musically, there’s a feeling of unresolved tension in the instrumental layers, and we get lost in the cinematic drama of Gallagher’s sound. As well as Hidalgo’s contribution, Chatting Through Steel features Sadler Vaden, Jimbo Hart and Chad Gamble of Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit. The fine writing was enhanced further by 7-time GRAMMY winner Vance Powell’s production.
Gallagher says of the song: “Look, I’m not a politician, and I don’t have a massive platform. But I truly believe this song and video carry a message that can move people and get them looking at this issue through a humanitarian lens instead of a political one. My only goal is to amplify this story and get it in front of as many people as possible.” The song seeks to confront us with the real lives and human stories of those affected. Gallagher adds: “The hope is that people will speak to their neighbors again, that they will call their relatives who they haven’t spoken to in years and listen. There is a bridge back to common sense and real, effective change—however, it is through tough dialogue. We are launching this campaign with the hope of giving people some perspective. For many years, immigration has been used as a political tool, and reform has been stalled by those in power to the benefit of politicians and their donors’ wallets. I think it’s time that the public demands that we look at this as a humanitarian crisis and pull it out of the polarized political echo chambers that people in D.C. would like it to remain in.”
The original video for Chatting Through Steel was the first single from Gallagher’s debut EP The Confluence. Almost five years later, he revisits the song with a new, atmospheric visual that transports us to the border between the USA and Mexico. Studio footage of both Gallagher and David Hidalgo delivering powerful vocal performances is interspersed with images of the border from Yuma, Arizona, to the border wall’s terminus at the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, locating the song’s narrative in reality and reinforcing the message. This is a fine song written with purpose.
