Kim Gordon unveiled a new version of her 2024 single”Bye Bye” on Friday (June 13) aimed squarely at the right-wing culture wars created by President Donald Trump.
Rechristened “Bye Bye 25!,” the protest song now features the Sonic Youth alum listing off a litany of cultural terms the Trump administration has not only gotten worked up over, but attempted to erase from official government records altogether since returning to office in January.
“Mental health, electric vehicle, Gulf of Mexico/ Energy conversion, gay, bird flu, advocate, pregnant person,” Gordon intones over skittering, apocalyptic production, before later adding words like “immigrants,” “diversity,” “victims,” “transgender,” “Hispanic,” “fluoride” and “female” to the stanzas.
“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,’” the singer explained of the song’s reinvention in a statement. “I guess Trump does believe in cancel culture, because he is literally trying to cancel culture.”
To coincide with the release, Gordon has also designed a limited-edition T-shirt, with proceeds from both the tee and the song going to benefit Noise for Now, a New Mexico-based nonprofit organization dedicated to abortion access and reproductive rights justice.
The alt-rocker released the original iteration of “Bye Bye” as the lead single from her sophomore solo album, The Collective, which bowed at No. No 40 on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart and peaked in the top 20 of the Indie Store Album Sales tally back when it was released in March 2024.
Watch the stark music video for Gordon’s “Bye Bye 25!” below.
