Tom Paxton Keeps up the Fight with “No Kings Here!”
At 87, Tom Paxton is keeping his fighting-folk-singer spirt alive. But “No Kings Here!,” with its electric-guitar solos and anthemic chorus, is closer to rock ‘n’ roll than folk music.
Co-written with Cathy Fink and set to a simple, sing-song melody, the trite-but-catchy standalone single is suited to soundtracking the types of No Kings protests depicted in the accompanying video.
The verses reference George Washington’s decision to leave after two terms, the absence of regal purple on the U.S. flag and the ousting of George II from the Colonies. The chorus, meanwhile, gets to the point with what seems a slyly subversive reference to gerrymandering and the Electoral College.
No kings here/not in my America/no kings here/got no need for royalty/not in my USA/we believe in loyalty/to what we call democracy/no kings here, Paxton and crew sing.
“No Kings Here!” is a right-time, right-place kind of song. It’s not something for the car or the home listening room, but it’s ideal for setting the mood as a protest gets underway.
9/5/25
