In an effort to fight Donald Trump’s “ignorant, divisive, and hateful” campaign for presidency, an independent website launched by Dave Eggers will be releasing original tracks every day until the election in November. The project, titled "30 Days, 30 Artists," kicked off on October 8th with the release of Death Cab for Cutie’s new single “Million Dollar Loan” and has since followed with songs by artists including Franz Ferdinand and R.E.M. Each song released with this campaign will focus on Trump’s inadequacies and disqualifying characteristics in order to motivate voters to rally against the Republican nominee.
Death Cab for Cutie’s contribution to the project, “Million Dollar Loan,” was inspired by an NBC-sponsored event where Trump infamously described the start of his career by saying, “It has not been easy for me, it has not been easy for me. And you know I started off in Brooklyn. My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars.”
After hearing Trump's careless remarks, frontman Ben Gibbard wrote the song in order to express to the middle class that a man who thinks $1 million is a small amount--a man who expects you to relate to his perspective of wealth--is not someone who can truly understand the struggles of the working class or who will ever be a champion for their needs.
In an interview with Billboard, Gibbard explained his reasoning for focusing on this specific incident. The song was written before the leak of tapes from Trump’s interview with Billy Bush and the candidate’s horrendous remarks about the women who have accused him of sexual assault. Gibbard reflected on the events that have occurred since he wrote the single and stated, “If I’d have known I was gonna get so much more material in the last two weeks alone… I would have had such a large selection of topics to choose from. I wish I didn’t have that swath of topics; I wish I didn’t have to write this song in the first place.”
This is the first time in Gibbard’s career that he has chosen to write for a political cause or engaged in protest performance. DCFC’s music typically revolves around common, everyday moments--focusing on more personal topics rather than cultural issues. With this track, however, Gibbard powerfully paints a portrait of Donald Trump, with all his greed and hypocrisy:
“From a great height, he’s looking down on his city at night
From gilded room of gold, marble, and soft perfume
And he’s proud to say he’s built his fortune the old-fashioned way
Because to succeed, there’s only one thing you need
A million dollar loan”
Gibbard wishes for everyone to know that, although he is definitely voting for Secretary Clinton in the upcoming election, he is “not a Hillary Clinton supporter.” During the presidential primaries, Gibbard expressed admiration for Senator Bernie Sanders but had a pessimistic view of the race, knowing that the DNC had been prepping Hillary Clinton for a long time to win the candidacy. Gibbard claims that he is “not super excited about voting for Clinton” but because of his views on “authoritarianism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, and misogyny,” he feels that she is the only option in this election. In fact, the entire project is much less “pro-Hillary” and far more “anti-Trump.”
This project isn’t asking people to fall in love with Hillary Clinton or to start believing in everything she says. Is she the perfect candidate for the Democratic Party? No. She has a questionable and curious past; she is the quintessence of a politician; and she is widely viewed as untrustworthy by voters. However, the people involved with "30 Days, 30 Songs" believe that it is of paramount importance that she is elected.
When asked about the importance of this issue, Gibbard stated:
“I’m not naive enough to think writing a song is going to change an election, but I do think this is a particular crossroads in our nation’s history where everybody needs to do what small part they can to try to help us avoid this potential catastrophe of a Trump presidency. It is the most pivotal and dangerous moment in our nation’s history.”
Check out Death Cab for Cutie’s first ever political protest single “Million Dollar Loan” here, or on Spotify.
