Earlier this year, Kevin Morby released the excellent album Little Wide Open and the one-off single "PBJ," and he also became a dad. If I had to guess, I'd say that Morby's new fatherhood has something to do with his decision to release the raw, angry protest song "Nursery Rhyme," a six-minute bromide about living in a society where your kids can just be killed at anytime because we're not willing to get rid of the guns that constantly surround us. Morby says that he recorded "Nursery Rhyme" last year and that it's his "darkest and most violent song," which is why he has released it as a Bandcamp exclusive.
It's a swirling march that ends with an appearance from the Alabama visual artist and musician Lonnie Holley. The way Morby puts it, the song stands as an angrier decade-later sequel to his 2016 protest song "Beautiful Strangers." The single release is a pay-what-you-want download, with all proceeds going to Everytown for Gun Safety. Here's what Morby says about it: In light of recent events, I’ve decided to release a new song called "Nursery Rhyme" — a song I've had in my back pocket that I’ve been hesitant to release ever since recording it in summer of 2025.
It is far and away the darkest and most violent song I’ve ever written and because of that, I am releasing it on my Bandcamp only — a corner of the internet that one has to willingly go to, as I did not want to run the risk of the song popping up in any sort of algorithm or entering someone’s psyche without permission. So, trigger warning: "Nursery Rhyme" contains themes of gun violence against children. Themes, of course, that we are inundated with on our screens on a daily basis.
Themes that, as a new father, make my heart break for the parents and their children in a way that was not possible before. But writing "Nursery Rhyme" has provided a space for my anger to temporarily live. Maybe you can put some of your collective anger into listening to the song and maybe it can also provide you with a bit of catharsis.
It’s hard to know what else to do in a country where the powers-that-be worship inside the church of weapons of mass destruction and value profits over the lives of our children. Sometimes you just gotta scream. It is also not lost on me that, as we approach the tenth anniversary of "Beautiful Strangers," I have once again found myself writing another topical protest song surrounding gun violence in America.
A decade on, though, this new song is much less optimistic than its predecessor. With that being the case, I thought it important to bring in the mighty Lonnie Holley to come cleanse the air after my singing cuts out. Once the dust settles, Lonnie blesses the song with his wisdom and hope.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
