Bad Religion explore enlightenment in “Emancipation Of The Mind”—listen

Bad Religion are celebrating the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris with their new song “Emancipation Of The Mind.”

The new song is an outtake from their 2019 album Age Of Unreason

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From sharing reactions to creating memes, the internet and music community reacted to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris being sworn in in a number of ways. For Bad Religion, they decided Inauguration Day 2021 was the perfect time to drop some new music.

Their new song “Emancipation Of The Mind” will remind listeners of their 2019 album Age Of Unreason because it was recorded during those sessions. However, the track has a particularly timely meaning for Americans. “Emancipation Of The Mind” has an upbeat message that calls for reason and open-mindedness as the Biden administration moves into the White House.

“I think the song really is a celebration of enlightenment values that can be cultivated through enthusiastic learning and open-mindedness,” Greg Graffin says. “We’re [often] told what to think. But learning how to think (as opposed to learning what to think) is a true feeling of emancipation from the constraints of indoctrination that are so commonplace in our society.”

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Bad Religion aren’t the only artists to release new music around Joe Biden’s inauguration. Last week, Bad Religion’s Epitaph Records labelmates Descendents bid farewell to Donald Trump with “That’s The Breaks.” In just 43 seconds, the band manage to say goodbye to the former president, his Twitter account and even his tiny hands in the Trump-trashing track.

Like so many other artists, 2020 didn’t exactly go as planned for Bad Religion. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the band spent most of the year not playing any shows. However, in November, Bad Religion finally came together to perform four sets at esteemed L.A. venue the Roxy for Decades, an online streaming series chronicling their 40-year career. 

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In December, bassist/founding member Jay Bentley opened up to Alternative Press about why Bad Religion decided to host the special livestream series.

“We did have a lot of plans, pre-pandemic,” he said. “Obviously, all that went away. The original Decades idea actually came from the promoter at Irving Plaza for our 30th anniversary. I was on the phone with our booking agent and him. He wanted to present this idea to do three nights at Irving Plaza. The first night is the ’80s. The second night is the ’90s and the next night is the 2000s. And I went, ‘OK, why not? That sounds like fun.’ And it was super-challenging. We had to learn a lot of weird songs.”

What are your reactions to Bad Religion’s new song? Do you wish it had been released on Age Of Unreason? Let us know in the comments below.