It’s almost election day in the USA and here is the video premiere for a politically-charged song from Americana duo The Lied To’s. When Doug Kwartler sings: “I don’t want to see // Leave me in my dreams // Can’t you let me be?” we can associate with the desire to escape the world around us. We are bombarded by stories in the media that make us feel fear or despair.
Kwartler explains how the song emerged: “The song was actually written a couple of years ago. First, Trump had just said that he believed Putin over the FBI at the Helsinki summit. And second, I had a dream that I was jamming with Sheryl Crow. You put those together and there you have it. The song has some political and social commentary aspects to it. We actually never got a chance to officially release the song and the video, we were sort of sitting on it, waiting for a good time. Now, with the election, it seemed like a good time…The song is about escapism I guess, just wanting to enjoy being away from the din of the world. Especially in the last 4 years. And it helped that I had that dream.”
The video features footage of the band playing, displaying excellent musicianship, interspersed with terrific illustrations by seven-year-old Sadie Kwartler, who should be very proud of her artistic contribution. Doug Kwartler continues: “My youngest daughter was really into drawing figures at the time and they were incredibly emotive for her age. So I thought maybe she could draw some of the scenes in the song. And she did a great job. I think people will dig them.” Dig them, we do.
Susan Levine and Doug Kwartler met at a folk festival and soon began performing as a duo. That musical relationship developed into a personal one and it shows in the way they work together. They’ve each been through tough times and bring all that emotion to their songs. The Massachusetts-based duo have been writing and recording new material and hope to release a new album by the summer of 2021. In the meantime, check out their previous release, the well-received ‘The Lesser of Two Evils’. Enjoy.
