David Byrne and Spike Lee have shared their fears over the forthcoming US presidential election.
The pair, who recently teamed up for a film version of Byrne’s show ‘American Utopia’, have said they fear Donald Trump could get a second term despite Joe Biden being ahead in the polls.
Byrne said: “Iām scared about the election. Just the other day, I started reaching out to some voting organisations, because I want to see if it makes sense for me to go to, say, Pennsylvania to get people in a swing state to vote, and to make sure that everybody who wants a mail-in ballot gets one. I think Iāll do it.”
Lee added: “This guy [Trump] is going to do anything to win. Itās going to be skullduggery, shenanigans, subterfuge. And also, I feel that if we donāt come out to vote in the numbers we need for a landslide thatās not in his favour, heās going to contest the election. I donāt think heās going to want to leave the White House. This thing is not a lock. I donāt care what the polls say.”
They also praised Janelle MonĆ”e‘s protest song ‘Hell You Talmbout’ in Byrne’s production. The track, which Byrne has covered since the beginning of his ‘American Utopia’ concert tour, names some of the Black victims of police brutality, and racial violence, including Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Sharonda Singleton, and Freddie Gray.
Byrne and Lee, who have teamed for the film version of the Broadway production of the show entitled David Byrneās American Utopia, gave their opinion on the track and said they ensured that the film showed the faces of the victims.
Lee told Esquire: “You know, I was just listening to the lyrics: ‘Say their names, say their names’. And there was an opportunity to show their faces, too. But hereās the sad thing. Every time I went to the show, weād say, ‘Well, hereās another name that we need to add next week. And hereās another.’ After we finished shooting, we added Breonna Taylor, we added George Floyd.”
Byrne added: “I loved the song when I first heard it, because it reminds you of the humanity of these people whoāve been murdered. You know, they are not just numbers or something you read in the newspaper. This person had a name. And that takes it out of being some kind of political football. Itās something where you go, ‘This is not the way we should be with one another’.”
The film will debut on HBO at 8pm in the US on October 17.
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