100 days ago, Donald Trump was sworn in as the President of the United States. In the space between then and now, he has endangered the world and debased his new position in all the ways we expected. His policies have been racist; his contempt for women has been on full display; he has actively tried to take basic healthcare away from millions of people; he has pushed the earth closer to nuclear war; routine proclamations are overtly fascistic in tone. He is a disaster, an embarrassment, a buffoon, and above all, a threat to the health, livelihoods, and lives of millions of people here and around the world.
The Our First 100 Days project was set up to protect the rights that Trump threatened then and actively attacks now. One previously unreleased track would be released every day for a hundred days, with the profits going entirely to groups focusing on LGBTQ rights, immigration rights, reproductive rights, and climate protection.
What we've had since from the project has been kaleidoscopic in breadth, occasionally bizarre, often beautiful, and always interesting. Noisey has covered some standouts—John Darnielle taking The Mountain Goats back to its grainy roots, Mitski fuzzing up One Direction's "Fireproof," Strand Of Oaks descending into madness, Julien Baker making people cry—but even in the last two weeks, some stunning tracks have slipped through. On Day 88, indie rock phenoms Bully brilliantly thrashed through the essentials with "Right;" on Day 96, Kevin Morby got lonesome and bluesy with "Bag of Rats;" a day later, the ever-brilliant David Bazan covered Promartyr; just yesterday, Waxahatchee released a demo version of her latest single, "Silver," another example of Katie Crutchfield's pop songwriting prowess.
The impact of the money raised shouldn't be understated—backing organizations that defend the lives and rights of those threatened by Trump's grotesque administration is essential now and that's not going to change. You can still purchase all 100 songs for $30 on the project's Bandcamp page.
When confronted by a artless, ugly administration, it's also worth remembering that art and beauty are important. It's why we keep listening to and writing about artists who transcend protest music. At its best, Our First 100 Days has reinforced the importance of music as, well, music.
Which leads us to Day 100 and Phosphorescent's poignant cover of Woodie Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" with Matthew Houck's voice is delicate and hopeful over the high organ chords and gently-picked acoustic guitar. It's a distillation of everything that made the 100 Days project worthwhile. Listen to the track below.
Alex Robert Ross isn't from here. Follow him on Twitter.
