Folk musician and singer-songwriter Pete Kronowitt has a new album featuring a protest anthem about the National Rifle Association and gun culture in the United States. It is dripping with irony.

The song, “Got Guns?”, has a playful vibe with catchy rhymes. It’s almost like owning a gun in America is a game, and every child wants a chance to be a part of it. (To the NRA, that is.)

“The NRA is here to stay. Go out and get some guns today. There’s a reason it rhymes with fun. Go out today and get gun,” Kronowitt says in the opening of the song. Later, he adds, “Don’t tell me you’re too young. If you have a hand, get a gun.”

Kronowitt rattles off, “Click click boom. You need a gun in every room. Click click boom, and then silence fills that room. Suicides and accidents and random acts of violence. That ringing in your ears is the eternal silence.”

He slows it down to deliver lyrics, which pack the most decisive punch in the song. “Guns kill people. Children too. Eight kids die every day. I guess they don’t got guns.”

It is irreverent social commentary, channeling the spirit of a depraved NRA pitchman. As he says, it highlights the “absurdity of extremism.”

Filmmaker Michael Moore created the NRA mascot, “Pistol Pete,” for his show, “The Awful Truth,” and Kronowitt’s song would make a great tune for the satirical mascot to sing at schools.

Kronowitt’s song is off his new album, “A Lone Voice.” He describes his music as a fusion of “acousitc pop and indie-folk” that hearkens back to days when musicians were more willing to tackle injustice through music and explore “themes ranging from family to sociopolitical struggles.” It is a kind of “Steve Earle-Elvis Costello hybrid.”

He has gone on multiple international tours and produced music for over 30 years.

Kronowitt shared his album with Shadowproof, and we are pleased to support his work by encouraging you to listen to his new song, “Got Guns?”:

*

Are you an independent artist who has written and/or produced a protest song that you would like featured? Or do you have a favorite protest song? Submit a song to protestmusic@Shadowproof.com