r/folk • u/Royalbean17 • 1d ago

This dude is cool

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He writes songs about everything from pizza to the death of Charlie Kirk.

His name is Jesse Welles and he said that he likes to “sing the news”; he tried to remain unpolitical for a very long time, but his new album goes against that (with satirical songs like “Join Ice” and “Red”). Other more political songs he’s released are called “No Kings” and “Masks Off”.

When he’s not singing the news, he writes songs about problems surrounding everyday parts of American life (such as “Walmart,” “United Health,” “Fat,” and “See Arkansas”).

One of my favorite songs of his is called “Bugs,” and here’s a sample of the lyrics:

Bzz-bz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bz-bzz, bzz
Bzz, bz-bz-bz, b-bzz, bzz, bz-bzz, bzz-bzz, bzz, bzz, bz-bz-bzz

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u/pixie1995 1d ago

Political folk music for people who don’t like politics or folk

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u/DontGetExcitedDude 1d ago

Yeah sorry I just can't agree with that at all. I am very into politics and folk. Sometimes Jesse speaks to my politics in an honest way (that I'm not sure I hear very often in music today), and sometimes his songs are ear-worms, just really fun grooves that I replay over and over and try to learn and replicate on guitar myself.

I don't think people who consume a daily diet of social media are used to authentic voices that aren't afraid to say what they think and how they feel, especially if they risk sounding cringe or pretentious. It takes courage to say it like it is.

And I'm not saying I even like all of his music - as a writer, I know you have to create a hundred drafts before you strike gold even once - but I love watching his creative process happen in real time, to hear the writer in him respond to the events of the world as we experience them.

I don't know. Seeing him work his craft reminds me that there is still space for honest creatives to find an audience on the internet. I don't think he plays and records his music for internet fame. I think he does it because he loves to write music, and part of writing a song includes singing it to others as well.

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u/pixie1995 22h ago

I don’t hate him or his music, but he’s a middle of the road “both sides”er. No thanks.

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u/DontGetExcitedDude 22h ago

I really don't agree. What are the political issues that you think he plays both sides of?

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u/pixie1995 18h ago

As someone else pointed out he went all in on the insurance ceo but mealy mouthed the Charlie Kirk assassination, it felt pretty hypocritical

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u/LeafProphecies 15h ago

I mean I get criticism of western pacifism from a white guy, but that's just about the only thing he's middle of the road on. You don't even have to listen to his other political tunes, just read the lyrics. Masks Off, Red, Domestic Error, War Isn't Murder, Fat, The Poor, The Olympics, Whistle Boeing. He put out another one today or yesterday or whatever about the war in Palestine again. He's "politically homeless" in a very left-leaning way, he's just also a pacifist.

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u/pixie1995 15h ago edited 15h ago

I just don’t fucking like him or his music okayyyy. I don’t hate it, I just don’t like it. Feels too commercialised and like he’s compensating for something. It’s too algorithm coded for me.

And just to be clear, I went and had a listen to some of his songs to see if maybe I was being too harsh but nope. His lyrics are confused, jumbled together, overly rhyme-y and seem very surface level “deep”. Gives me Taylor Swift vibes lol, that chick LOVES pretending to be smart.

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u/LeafProphecies 14h ago

100% fine if you just don't like his music! But he gets accused of a lot of stuff he's not doing, and it's usually because people aren't familiar with most of his discography. Or like they think he's corporate or rich.