Photo Credit: Lisa Gansky (Tsyp9), Wikimedia Commons
“Gilded Walls” is a brand new soulful country tune from veteran Nashville singer-songwriter Will Hoge. The poignant socially conscious song is off of his upcoming album My American Dream, slated for a October 5, 2018 release.
The album has a whole is heavily influenced by the current political landscape. In a statement made to American Songwriter, Hoge describes the album as a critique on “border police, political corruption, poverty, gun control, a broken education system, [and] indifference to others’ suffering.”
The potent tune is a scathing indictment on the indifference of corrupt politicians who hide inside their “Gilded Walls” while the people who they are supposed to represent continue to suffer. The lyrics addresses a broad range of issues including the Flint, Michigan water crisis, climate change and school shootings.
This isn’t Hoge’s first foray into social commentary. In late 2017 he released the anti-NRA tune “Thoughts and Prayer”, which was one of the top protest songs of 2017. In 2012 he also released the seven track EP, Modern American Protest Music.
Hoge is an artist who is not afraid to speak out within a genre that is often considered apolitical. Hopefully the current climate will provide a change in landscape which will allow fringe Nashville artists like Hoge to be provided with the wider exposure that they deserve.