Song Review – Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit “Be Afraid”
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit have announced their sixth studio album to be released on May 15th called Reunions. Once again produced by Dave Cobb at Nashville’s Studio ‘A’, it immediately becomes one of the most anticipated releases in country, roots, and Americana in 2020 due to the prestige and respect Jason Isbell has minted for himself over the last few years of stellar, critically-acclaimed, and award-winning releases.
Ahead of the new album, Jason Isbell has released the blistering and politically-charged anthem “Be Afraid.” Far from roots or even notions of Americana, it’s only fair to label the track as a rock song, with a highly-charged political message that not only finds Isbell refusing to “shut up and sing,” and not only compells other artists to rise and resist as well, but takes the message even further by calling out artists who refuse to use their platform to espouse political ideologies parallel with Isbell’s with lines like, “If your words add up to nothing then you’re making a choice, to sing a cover when we need a battle cry.”
But as vogue as it is at the moment in Americana music to wax political (including recent albums and songs from the Drive-By Truckers, Will Hoge, and many others), “Be Afraid” takes the same severely shortsighted notion of how to effect change in culture, while completely misunderstanding why some people and performers—including the politically active, and including the politically active with views aligned with Jason Isbell—turn to music to divest from the politically-charged moments we live among, and shouldn’t be judged for doing so.
There is a big difference between telling an artist to “shut up and sing,” and wishing they would not polarize their music or public persona with terse, political messages that cast wide aspersions on people, and in this case, simply for not wanting to get political in music. “Be Afraid” is latest example of letting anger and ideology cloud judgement, while passing severe judgement upon others for inaction, telling them their “words add up to nothing,” and from a powerful voice in American music, rendering this song not just misguided, but potentially dangerous in it’s terse, closed-minded, and severe ideology.
Furthermore, the notions that “Be Afraid” assert that if you speak out against the current administration or social repression, then you risk retribution is just incorrect. Isbell tells Rolling Stone Country, “I’d like to be able to say, ‘I did what I could, I did part of what I could,’ or you know, something that’s not just, ‘Well, I had records to sell, so I kept my mouth shut.’ I’ll never lose sleep over not selling more records, but I’ll definitely lose sleep over keeping my mouth shut and letting things happen to people who are minorities for whatever reason, be it gender or their race or their sexual preference or the fact that they ‘like science.’”
Editor’s Note: The comments of Jason Isbell in Rolling Stone Country were taken from a previous interview in 2018, and applied to his new song. They were not about “Be Afraid” specifically.
But this is not 2003 when the Dixie Chicks faced a backlash. In fact numerous mainstream country stars have spoken out politically recently on things such as gun control, immigration, or even just having the right to speak out, including Maren Morris, Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line, and Kacey Musgraves, and have weathered it just fine, if not profiteered in favorable press coverage and awards.
The fear of speaking out these days is not being shouldered by the left. It’s being sowed by them, branding anyone who dares to step out of a very narrow, black and white dogmatic ideology as racist, sexist, homophobic, or any number of other scarlet letters in the rise of cancel culture which is very directly stifling speech, and disrupting the free flow of ideas not seen since the repressive family values era of the Reagan Administration. This is the reason comedians and free speech advocates are finding more traction than ever, and left-leaving performers and ideologues such as Dave Chappelle and Bill Maher, and even Barack Obama are speaking out about the trappings and misguidedness of “woke” culture, and how it’s fueling a backlash that is counter-productive to the ideals being pushed.
Jason Isbell also approaches this song with the same tunnel vision that so many who speak out for everyone to rise up and engage in political action have. Many people may feel empowered or emboldened by “Be Afraid” to speak up. But just as many who believe counter to the ideologies of Jason Isbell might be compelled to take action, and speak out for their own ideologies as well. In fact if history teaches us anything, the likelihood is the boomerang effect of a message will be greater. It was the Million Mom March in Washington after the massacre at Columbine High School that was the biggest one-day recruitment and fundraising effort for the NRA in history, and codified the organization as America’s most powerful lobbyist. It’s been the impeachment of President Trump that has filled his campaign coffers with record donations, buffered his approval numbers, and emboldened his base. It was Taylor Swift’s endorsement of a Democrat Senatorial candidate in Tennessee that swayed the electorate towards the Republican. It is the kind of “all or nothing” ideology found in Jason Isbell’s “Be Afraid” that got Donald J. Trump elected President in the first place, and why he is very likely to be elected again.
There is nothing wrong with expressing political beliefs in music. And if people don’t like it, they can just not listen. But calling other artists to action like a Mullah in a Madrasa while characterizing that another artist’s “words add up to nothing” if they don’t speak up is a step too far. Right now the Americana music scene is running a severe risk of being overrun by political ideologues, which ironically, repels the very people who possibly could benefit from more reasonable, cool-minded messages about equality and acceptance served in more subtle, nuanced, objective and wise manners. In the world of Jason Isbell’s “Be Afraid” you are not acceptable if you choose to not speak out. And as the current King of Americana, those words have a great impact. There is a lot of peer pressure to get political in Americana at the moment, or risk being ostracized. “Be Afraid” puts words and actions behind that fear.
Also, “Be Afraid” is just another symptom of the way culture is being indoctrinated and polarized by the media into believing we’re living through the worst of times, when the work of Harvard’s Steven Pinker, to one statistic after another proving that crime is down, wealth is up, inequality is shrinking, and minorities and women are receiving more opportunities than ever are undeniable. That’s not to say there still isn’t incredible work to be done towards true equality, or that some people still live in communities that present severe challenges. But this idea that life in the United States is so severe, everyone must speak up and take action is simply a symptom of the proliferation of social media into our daily lives, and the polarization the electorate due to the political and media industrial complex gaming the American mind, and everyone wanting to blame everyone but themselves for the problems of the world. The notion Jason Isbell forwards in the song that the “facts” are always in favor of one side underscores this. People are pissed off at Trump. But polarizing every aspect of society until there is change is what is assuring there won’t be any, as everyone just retreats to their corners, holds firmer to their ideology, and nuance is bled from discussion.
These opinions about “Be Afraid” will be cast off as redneck sophistry by many. But the truth is that to preserve the power of music to truly enact change in culture as one of the few things that can bring people together, the notions found in “Be Afraid” must be challenged. But the song is not a total loss either. As always, Isbell’s turn of phrase is smart, even if the message isn’t. And in the second verse when Isbell talks about growling at the guy who just tuned his guitar, and not recognizing your own kid in the wings, he speaks to the dichotomy and loss of perspective that comes with stardom. By centering more on that, and how we’re all flawed—even those that have public forums to speak out—and rolling off the notion that if you don’t speak out you’re basically part of the problem could have rendered “Be Afraid” as productive. But instead, the militant political messages far outweigh the positives which will assuredly receive great praise by the press, but do nothing to tilt the scales of power in the United States, or if anything, will tip them away from the ideology of Jason Isbell espouses.
February 15, 2020 @ 9:48 am
“And if your words add up to nothing then you’re making a choice to sing a cover when you need a battle cry”
This is a pretty disgusting line, if I’m understanding it right
February 15, 2020 @ 9:51 am
Trigger, did you read the recent ACL-Live interview with Jason that includes a track by track review of each song on Reunions? Gives a lot of insight into his thought process for the whole album and for this song, which differs a good bit than the RS 2018 interview soundbite, in my opinion. Worth reading.
February 15, 2020 @ 9:58 am
I have not, nor have I seen one, and don’t seem to be able to find it. Do you have a link? Thanks!
February 17, 2020 @ 12:00 pm
Politics has been a part of folk and Americana for decades. Same with rock. Just because you are uncomfortable with it doesn’t mean it doesn’t need said. I recommend you go back and listen to folk and rock from the 60’s. That stuff is by-in-large much more politically charged than anything from today.
February 17, 2020 @ 1:02 pm
There problem here is not specifically politics in music. The problem here is Jason Isbell is saying if you don’t engage in politics with your music, your music is worthless. He basically just doubled down on that assessment today on Twitter. This is an indictment of musical expression that crosses a red line, and from a voice with impact. Also, everyone is aware of the folk rock of the 60’s. Nobody needs a history lesson. But what today’s artists are missing is the artistry and nuance in their messages. We’re not talking about “Blowin’ In The Wind” or even “For What It’s Worth.” There is way more judgementalism inherent in this music.
February 18, 2020 @ 6:43 pm
Trigger – your article is a fine example in excellent music journalism. I’ve been dying for someone with some credibility to say exactly what you’ve said, and thank you for saying it it with such precision and clarity.
March 3, 2020 @ 1:04 pm
Ryan… did you intend such an ironic comment to be comical or did you miss the entirety of Trigger’s point?
February 17, 2020 @ 8:35 pm
I’ve sat with the song a little bit and re-read the review. It’s kind of been irritating me a little bit since the first time I read it. I think the first two verses of the song were really powerful and I feel like you kind of ignored them in order to focus on the 1/3 of the song that’s explicitly political. The verse about sobriety is really good, and the second one about kindness and fame is really good too. I enjoyed the song.
February 19, 2020 @ 7:22 am
I went and read the lyrics to this song. No where in this song does he say anything about being pro-left or pro-right. Instead, I see it as Jason saying that songwriters and artists have a responsibility to speak up for the truth, even if it scares the shit out you to do so. .
I see it as an anthem against playing it safe. Instead of more songs about pickup trucks, we need songs such as Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”, Edwin Starr’s “War, Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” , CSNY’s “Ohio” . Loretta Lynn’s “the Pill” or Kacey Musgrave’s “Follow Your Arrow”. or the Drive-By Truckers “What it Means”. Americana and Country Music has a history of playing it safe. “Lets not say anything that might negatively impact airplay or album sales”
Rock and Rap don’t seem to be as afraid of this as Country/Americana.
It’s a simple truth that people are afraid today. The right is afraid of the left, the left is afraid of the right, In fact people are probably more afraid than at anytime in our nations history, This is not the time to bury our heads in the sand and hope it all goes away. DON’T BE AFRAID TO SPEAK THE TRUTH. Don’t be afraid to shine a light upon the darkness>
Love Everybody and Don’t Be a Dick
February 19, 2020 @ 3:49 pm
Jeff accurately makes the point that Trigger almost willfully ignores in this review. It’s about having a point of view and using your art to express that. Isbell has his point of view, and wants his music to mean something aligned with that. When you compare what he’s done, or what Musgraves or Carlisle have done, to the pile of vapid pablum that is celebrated by the majority of the CMA crowd, then the song’s POV is understandable. But the song seemed to trigger Trigger, and I wasted 5 minutes of my life reading this rant of a review. (Also, I think he meant “profited” instead of “profiteered”, and “its” instead of “it’s”.)
Thanks again Jeff W. for really listening to the song and summarized it much more effectively that the reviewer.
February 19, 2020 @ 4:56 pm
To willfully ignore the context of how this song was released, and who released it would be a dereliction of my duty as a critic. Lyrics aren’t presented in a vacuum, of either current events, or the influences and motivations of the writer, and it is the job of a critic to offer context, and to frame motivations and narratives behind the song. Even if taken in a vacuum, any song with lines such as “shut up and sing” are signaling a very specific political alignment and ideology. I don’t discount that the song has themes that are beyond the political realm, or that can’t be interpreted differently. However the overall arc resolves into a perspective that I believe was accurately portrayed in this review.
And even though I have mentioned this many, many times (thought you may or may not have seen it), my assessment of the song’s political motivations are shared with multiple other critics and journalists, along with many, if not the majority of Jason Isbell’s own fans. Again, I’m not saying there can’t be different interpretations of the song. There is definitely a subjectivity to all of this. But to say my interpretation is incorrect is to also invalidate the same conclusions that many, many other people—including other people who are paid to cover music—also came to.
February 19, 2020 @ 9:16 am
Trigger, I think you do a nice job of framing a counter argument to Isbell’s lyrics in this song, assuming his mantra is specifically against the present political culture/administration. It is reasonable to hold such concern, and it’s not a platform that is specifically owned by the “Left”, it’s only that they are the group associated as adversaries due to the bi-party nature of the country (but I digress).
Using the artist’s own words to add context to the song is critical, and affording meaning based on artist intent is fair. However, Jason is an excellent lyricist and I think it’s also worth noting the politically agnostic nature of the words he uses. As others have noted, there is a specific call to speaking up during a time of crisis. There is a recognition that others, the young to follow the song, are looking for guidance and that music is a critical resource for educating and informing. In lieu of supplying actual quantitative data I think you’re dismissing the impact of music to influence culture as one means of doing it. Your specific criticism there seems far to generalized.
The problem, as citizens of this country, is that we appear to conflate the person with the politics.What I mean is that “we” can align with the “Right” and loathe its godhead. It’s this context of interpretation where I find the lyrics to have strength. There is a call to being virtuous without being virtue signaling. Where in the lyrics is that actually happening because I can’t find it. (And frankly the idea of virtue signaling has jumped the proverbial shark as has the term triggering…so misused that they’ve both lost meaning.)
I am probably being overly charitable to a degree, but I’ve listened to the song and read the lyrics over a dozen times to really let it settle in. I can see how folks would interpret it as you have done, and I don’t think it’s fair to be overly critical with that interpretation, specifically considering the artist’s leanings. Yet I still stand by the assertion that Jason has purposely made the song accessible to a wide variety of listeners and the problem is necessarily seeing meaning in the song as being tied to the artists politics. I would be interested in someone asking Jason if he feels the song is equally a call for those who disagree with him to be engaged and truthful in how they approach their music?
A place where you and I agree is in Jason as storyteller and appreciating that aspect of how he shares the world he sees. While “White Man’s World” was more overtly political, I thought it’s delivery was more narrative while also being one that would necessarily divide the audience. But I miss the likes of “Elephant”, “Speed Trap Town”, “Something More Than Free”, “Tupelo”, “Children of Children” (of course I could go on). His ability to ask questions about the decisions we make and how we treat others seems better served in his narratives than in his call to arms. But that’s a preference. It may be we, as fans, look to specific artists for specific messages. If I want politics I’ll go to Rage Against the Machine or Ted Nugent, but other times we want the escape you highlight.
I’m glad you wrote this opinion piece because it discloses an important reason why some of us go to music for escape and/or education. Either way it does put an onus on the artist to deliver creatively for the sake of those who listen. It doesn’t make sense to demonize someone who opts to use the bathroom during this song. Heck, as much as I like the Avett Brothers, one of their new songs “Bang, Bang” evokes the same sentiment you and others reflect about “Be Afraid”. In the end your article helps us understand why some find it undesirable, and reminds us artists are people with opinions and a stage. They are not obligated to agree with every fan. The sad thing is to dismiss the artist because they don’t fit into one’s echo chamber. Instead, it should give us the opportunity to explore our belief systems and question whether some growth can be achieved.
Keep up the good work!
February 19, 2020 @ 3:03 pm
Triggered: I think you were looking for an ax to grind…
March 14, 2020 @ 10:40 pm
You failed to mention how much this song sounds like 3 Doors Down.
May 26, 2021 @ 9:08 pm
Omg not enough dark alleys in this world. Its don’t be afraid don’t afraid its that simple you just a touchy bitch