Even audiences in deep red states are cheering on rocker Bryan Adams’ songs protesting President Donald Trump’s administration.
Adams’ new album, How’s It Goin’, drops Nov. 6, and the Canadian musician’s website describes the collection as “a deeply personal musical love letter to Canada.” The songs directly target Trump, 80, and his treatment of America’s northern neighbors. Trump “changed” the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America and has slapped the country with drastic, damaging tariffs.
Adams’ songs are overtly political, with “Lake Ontario” trolling Trump for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and “51st State” pushing back at Trump’s chaotic claim that he’ll annex Canada. Adams said he was surprised at responses to his performances of “51st State” in Missouri and Texas; audiences deep in Trumpland gave Adams “standing ovations” last summer, he told The Hollywood Reporter.
“We weren’t sure how it was going to go down in America,” Adams said. “But the first night we did it, standing ovation. Second night we did it, standing ovation. Got into Texas, into the red states, standing ovation.”
The positive reactions to Adams’ songs in MAGA territory mirror polling trends for the upcoming midterm election cycle. Data gurus have released statistics showing that GOP candidates are now struggling in former Republican strongholds.
“I suddenly thought to myself, I’m not sure that the people in this country, in America—I’m in Las Vegas at the moment—I’m not sure everybody agrees with what’s going down,” the “Summer of ‘69” singer continued. “And that was the way of testing the temperature in the room, because if you play it live, you can see automatically what people think. We were getting just full-on cheers.”
The lyrics to “51st State” criticize Trump without using his name. The chorus begins with an address to the president, “Let me give it to you straight/ When you’re talking ‘bout my home/ You better show some respect/ ’Cause up here we take care of our own.”
The chorus then veers into specific actions Trump has taken against Canada, like his tariffs: “So let me give you some advice, mister/ You might have too much on your plate/ Go on load us up with tariffs/ But we’ll never be the 51st State.”
“The thing I really wanted to say is that if you have that much power, why would you not want to channel it for good?” Adams said. “You could do so much good in the world with that much power, and it’s just not happening. So I think that’s the thing that perplexes me more than anything. Put Canada aside for one second and just look at the global situation. It’s baffling.”
