Michael Penn has said he started writing songs again during the pandemic, particularly as film/TV scoring work dried up, and this is the first of those songs to be recorded. It was released as a single just prior to the 2020 presidential election, with proceeds going to the Poor People’s Campaign.

Penn told American Songwriter:

“It’s not only about [Donald] Trump. It’s about the stuff that’s unfortunately in the DNA of the country and has been. This certainly all was coalesced in Trump.”