“I guess Trump does believe in cancel culture, because he is literally trying to cancel culture,” artist says of while she compiled a list of the words that trigger Trump most
Kim Gordon has re-recorded her single, “Bye Bye” — off her 2024 solo album, The Collective — especially for Donald Trump. On “Bye Bye 25!” she replaces her original lyrics with a list of all of the president’s favorite words: “intersex,” “Gulf of Mexico,” “climate change,” and “women,” among them.
And just in case Trump has trouble hearing any of his favorite words — words he’ll have the pleasure of hearing spoken and even chanted all over the country on his birthday— Gordon has made a “Subterranean Homesick Blues”–style video, co-directed by Gordon and Vice Cooler, with all of the words written on cue cards that she throws on the ground in between protest footage.
In a statement, Gordon credited her collaborator, producer Justin Raisen, with recutting “Bye Bye,” starting at the original song’s end. “When I was thinking of lyric ideas, it occurred to me to use words taken from a site that had all the words that Trump has essentially banned, meaning any grant or piece of a project or proposal for research that includes any of those words would be immediately disregarded or ‘cancelled,’” she said. “I guess Trump does believe in cancel culture, because he is literally trying to cancel culture.”
Gordon will donate proceeds she earns from “Bye Bye 25!” and an associated T-shirt, which contains all of Trump’s favorite words, to Noise for Now, a nonprofit organization that advocates for reproductive rights.
Best yet, there’s an infinitesimal chance that Trump might take note of Gordon’s song. In decades past, Trump frequently attended Neil Young concerts, and in 1991, Gordon’s band Sonic Youth opened up for Young. Then again, Young and Trump aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye these days either. In any case, “Bye Bye 25!” is a perfect song to take to the streets in honor of Trump’s birthday on Saturday.
