Doobie Brothers singer/keyboard player and yacht rock kingpin Michael McDonald has joined the chorus of musicians criticising the current US government.
The title track of the Doobie Brothers’ brand new studio album, Walk This Road, is a thinly condemnation of the Donald Trump-led administration. In a brand new interview in the current issue of Classic Rock, McDonald – who co-wrote the song with Doobies producer John Shanks – reveals that the track was inspired by his worries that the nation could be heading towards “totalitarianism” at the hands of Trump and associates.
“I think it’s important that all of us stand up and say our piece,” McDonald says of the track, which features an appearance from legendary US singer Mavis Staples. “Here in the US these are perilous times, I’m afraid. We are staring down a dark channel that could lead to totalitarianism.
“We’ve got a guy who doesn’t want to be President Of The Unites States as much as he wants to be one of the points of light – the whole axis of everything. He wants the world.
“We have to be very careful of that, and we should speak out against it while we still can. I have no doubt that should they get their own way, this administration would shut down the press completely.”
McDonald isn’t the first musician to criticise Trump in recent days. On May 14, Bruce Springsteen launched an attack on the president onstage at a show in Manchester, England, stating that the US "is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration” and calling for “all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against the authoritarianism, and let freedom ring.”
After Trump responded by calling Springsteen a “dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker” and said he is “not a talented guy” on his Truth Social network, the likes of Neil Young, Pearl Jam and Robert Plant stepped up to defend The Boss.
“Stop thinking about what rockers are saying,” wrote Young on his website. “Think about saving America from the mess you made.”
Read the full interview with the Doobie Brothers in the brand new issue of Classic Rock, onsale now. Order it online and have it delivered straight to your door.
