Jesse Welles is a folk artist whose songs are known for their political messaging and controversial takes. He gained attention on social media from his songs “Cancer”, “The Olympics”, and his most famous song “War Isn’t Murder”.

  On Feb. 21, he dropped his newest album, Middle, focusing on themes such as self discovery, religion, the war in Gaza, and politics. 

The first track on the album, “Horse”, was pre-released Jan. 31 as a teaser for the rest of the album. In the article by “Jesse Welles, the Viral Protest Singer, Announces New Album ‘Middle’” by Joseph Hudak, Welles said, “Fear leads to hate. Hate leads to atrocities. You build up walls… If you love everyone, it’s a lot easier on you — and everybody else too.”  I think this message is extremely important, and I agree with the statement of love over hate.

In the song, he covers the danger of inaction in the face of violence, bringing up the teaching of  Lao Tzu which was one of the alternative names for philosopher Laozi. This is a reference to the Dào Dé Jīng, Verse 48, “when nothing is done, nothing is left undone.” In the Dào Dé Jīng, the phrase “無為” meaning “doing nothing” is repeated 11 times in its 81 verses. This is an interesting connection he added into his song by bringing up philosophy into his music. 

My favorite lyric is the chorus however, “So I’m singing this song about loving/ All the people that you’ve come to hate/ It’s true what they say/ I’m gonna diе someday/ Why am I holding on to all this weight?” Welles is known more for his critical protest songs, so the pro-love message thrown in throughout the song is a nice change of pace with a message I find especially important. I would rather die knowing I lived my life to its fullest rather than hating people for no reason other than the fact they aren’t like me.

My favorite song by far is Simple Gifts. Though it misses the political messaging that is prevalent in Welles music, I find the song’s messaging of self and complexity of emotion perfect. In the song he is asking, if he lives a simpler life, will he then be self-assured? 

This is prevalent in the chorus, “When true simplicity is gained/ How much then is lost/ I invested in them feelings/ I paid dearly for them thoughts.” He wants to cleanse himself of his bad feelings, but those feelings and experiences make up who he is. He describes situations where he is living a “simple life”, but still he will revert back to the course asking what he is losing in this lifestyle and how much emotion is he wasting. The theme along with the gentleness of the song accompanied with a simple guitar makes the song seem like a lullaby. This all equals it becoming my favorite off the album.

In War is God, Welles makes a controversial claim no matter what religion you are a part of that we are under the same God: war, violence and bloodshed. This is poking at the fact that often religions are by doctrine supposed to stand for nonviolence yet crusades, violence and war are still tangled not only in the past but the present. This is seen in the line, “Come ye winners, lose your souls/ Come ye losers, die in vain.” I interpret this as conversion through religious warfare because the winners lose their souls through committing violence and the losers die in vain due to the fact they didn’t win and now the survivors are forced to convert.

Another lyric that stands out is, “It don’t matter who was here first/ It don’t matter who was last/ All that matters is we’re here right now/ Could the past just be the past?” This song is a commentary on the war in Gaza, which, according to Welles’, imitates a talking point expressed by people who take Israel’s side in the war, “Could the past just be the past?” This discredits the pain the Palestinians are currently experiencing. Welles is advocating for peace and harmony over bloodshed. 

“They both got the same damn God/ They just don’t know how to read” is my favorite lyric. Here Welles is saying no matter if it’s the Torah, Bible, Quran or any other religious text, if what you “read” justifies war, you’re reading it wrong. I would say this is the most important song on the album, and my analysis does not do it justice. I highly suggest you listen to it.

Welles shows the power music can have in a political spear. The New York Times refers to him as “a Folk Musician Who ‘Sings the News,” and Saving Country Music lovingly calls him “The Voice of America’s Guilty Conscience.” Both go with the consensus Welles sings the news and the hard truths most people refuse to face. 

I only covered my three favorites off the album, but I recommend listening to the whole album. In all, I’d give it a 8.5/10.