Is Sam Hunt 's "This Land Is Your Land" A Political Statement?

I checked my release radar on Spotify yesterday night and I saw that Sam Hunt had recorded a cover of, "This Land Is Your Land," for Will Smith's new Netflix movie "Bright." I was excited immediately because I love the message of this song. American Song Writer, describes the song as, "Both an eloquent description of our nation’s beauty and, as originally written, an expression of scorn for those who don’t see fit to share it." The lyrics, "This land is your land, this land is my land," portray those emotions.

I think it is so cool that a country artist would cover this song - especially in 2017! Country fans tend to be more conservative and I'm sure many of them voted for Trump in the 2016 election. Donald Trump was elected president after a racist and xenophobic platform. The exact opposite of this song. Some examples:

• In a speech he said, "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." 
• When he tried to enact a Muslim Ban by banning Muslim countries.
• He wants to build a ridiculously expensive wall between the United States and Mexico.

These examples show a man who does not believe in "This Land is Your Land."  I am happy that Sam Hunt put this song on the Country Fan Radar. I hope conservative, country fans hear this patriotic song about inclusion and take a moment to think about what it means.

This song is about accepting all races and religions into this country and treating them with respect. It's against White Nationalism which says that America should predominately be White and Christian. This song is against building an unnecessary, expensive wall between our brown neighbors. This song is even about helping the poor instead of cutting taxes for the wealthy. (There are some discarded verses that talk about the poor masses.  Some discarded verses even talk about a wall. LINK).


Lady Gaga sang this song at the Super Bowl and people discussed if it was a political statement (Link). I know the movie, Bright, is supposed to tackle social issues like racism and police brutality so I can see why they put this song in the soundtrack.  I don't know if Sam Hunt thought about the implications of singing this song. I like to think he did; Sam Hunt's a smart guy and writes meaningful lyrics. I like to think he analyzed the lyrics before agreeing to do it. It's a very subtle way of standing against Trump, but I am glad Sam Hunt (maybe) chose to do it. It gives me more respect for the guy and I am more excited about supporting his future music.

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