Joan Baez and Maggie Rogers joined Neil Young at the “Fighting Oligarchy” rally in Downtown Los Angeles. As the three sang “Rockin’ in the Free World,” Baez chanted, “Power to the people!” as Young yelled, “Take America back!”
The politically charged anthem was written by Young while on tour with his band The Restless in February 1989. He learned that a planned concert tour to the Soviet Union was not going to happen and his guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedrosaid “we’ll have to keep on rockin’ in the free world”. The phrase struck Young, who thought it could be the hook in a song about “stuff going on with the Ayatollah and all this turmoil in the world.”
Led by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the “Fighting Oligarchy” rally also featured performances by Indigo De Souza, The Red Pears, Jeff Rosenstock, Dirty Projectors, and Raise Gospel Choir.
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