Rachel Garlin's Poetic & Powerful "Democracy Demands"

Article Contributed by Mixtape Media | Published on Friday, October 2, 2020

Singer, composer and activist, Rachel Garlin debuts the video for her latest single, “Democracy Demands” as a pointed and nuanced response to the current political crisis. The song will be available on all streaming platforms October 3rd. With gracefully sparse production and not a wasted word, Garlin sings a steady haunting melody while giving voice to the questions we're facing in the post-RBG, pre-election moments of this very day. “Who’s about to gamble with the commander out to sea?” Garlin asks while underlining concerns ranging from climate change to hate speech. 
 
“Democracy Demands” is musical activism from a working mother of three who knows that her vote in a blue state can only move the needle so far. The song emerged after days of hazy, wild-fire air in San Francisco finally yielded to a day of clean air, only to end with news of the passing of RBG. Garlin took her wife and kids to the Bolinas lagoon for an afternoon of shallow wading and reflection. Boats on the water appeared to her as politicians, circling each other—sharing a body of water but disconnected, solitary, drifting or stuck. A poignant performance and a recording that lacks any pretense, Garlin sings “Is the climate really changing? Go ask your Mother Earth” before leaving listeners swirling in their own reflections about what else we can do to stir the seas of change.

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