Not one to let Skillet’s John Cooper, Trapt’s Chris Taylor Brown, or Falling In Reverse’s Ronnie Radke be outdone, Staind’s Aaron Lewis has made sure to kick off 2024 with yet another WTF-level political rant. To be fair, it’s almost a surprise that Lewis’s appearance on a recent far-right podcast didn’t include any uses of the word “woke” (John Cooper appears to have trademarked that word so far away from the rest of the pack in recent years), but instead, Lewis complained about computers, cell phones, people being “brainwashed”, and social media for whatever reason.
Aaron Lewis recently appeared on the Devin Nunes Podcast, and if you’re not familiar with the podcast, famous guests that have appeared on there include far-right conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza and election denier Tom Fitton. Certainly quality people to be associated with and definitely not at all liars and purveyors of misinformation.
Helpfully transcribed by Blabbermouth (and also available in video format below, should you want to listen to it for some reason), Lewis had this to say about social media, technology, and his journey from becoming a liberal to his right-wing ideologies that he espouses today:
“I can’t say that I was always a conservative. I mean, when you’re younger, it’s more about… There’s an old saying that when you’re young, if you’re not a liberal, you don’t have a heart. And then when you’re older, if you’re still a liberal, you don’t have a brain. Or something to that effect. But what happened was is that I got older and responsibilities came into play and having a family and having a home that I had to take care of. And I think another key thing was I’m gonna be 52 years old. I’ve been around for the entire metamorphosis of this country. I’ve seen it all happen. I’ve watched [smartphones] have done to our society. I’ve watched what computers have done to our society. I’ve seen it all happen. And I never even had a MySpace [account]. Truth Social is the first actual official my own page, my own account that I’ve ever had. So, I guess, sitting back and not being so engulfed in all of the social media phenomenon, I guess I didn’t get brainwashed as badly. I don’t know. It’s so clear to me. I don’t understand how so many people can be so brainwashed when it is so crystal clear. It’s never been so crystal clear. The veil has never been pulled away to the extent that it is right now. And it blows my mind that people are so brainwashed that they call it… Everything’s flip flopped. Truth, lies and propaganda, and the propaganda is hailed as truth. The narrative is hailed as truth, and it’s societal insanity. We have a serious mental health issue in this country.”
While it’s certainly no Tupac Shakur-level poetry, there’s a certain irony about “Open Your Eyes”, the opening track on Staind’s 2001 breakout album Break The Cycle. That irony presents itself in the lyrics to the song, which describe and decry everything from the overpopulations of jail to people homeless on the streets – and then comparing the lyrics to the far-right wing “values” to which Aaron Lewis now attaches himself to. Instead of some sort of productive social commentary lamenting the plight of the less fortunate, Aaron Lewis now aligns himself with those that demonize the poor and homeless, blaming them for the nation’s problems.
The biggest issue is that Aaron Lewis used to write introspective songs that drew attention to the aforementioned issues above, as well as cycles of familial abuse, emotional turmoil, and even Attention Deficit Disorder. Now he writes solo country songs that pander to every Fox News and OANN buzzword imaginable, and the results – while occasionally successful – draw seriously intense criticism. It’s also probably that Lewis’s country career is a lot more profitable than nu-metal now, too. Because while Staind still draws sizable audiences, pandering to the USA’s right-wing reactionaries continues to put him in the spotlight. After all, Staind’s newest album Confessions Of The Fallen, suffered its lowest first-week debut since 1999 (at #64 on the Billboard 200), so it’s likely all a business ploy for Aaron. What a wild turn of events, though, in any case.
