Daily Dose: Rachel Baiman – “Shame”

Sometimes the softest songs carry the toughest sentiments. Take the title track from singer-songwriter Rachel Baiman recently released album Shame. The music is a gentle country/folk ramble, anchored by a prickly banjo line and rich bottom end. But Baiman’s lyrics are defiant and pointed, calling out the old white men of the world who “look happily onto others from above in the name of sweet religion.”

It’s a potent message from an especially powerful messenger. The former Chicagoan is the child of a social worker and a “radical economist” who has, according to her bio, been “surrounded by social issues her whole life.” While she put those concerns on the back burner for a stretch to focus on her music career, now that she’s established herself, her concerns are back at the fore, and her art is all the better for it. Baiman’s also walking it like she talks it as the co-founder of Folk Fights Back, an organization that helps put together benefit concerts and events to raise awareness for social and political justice.

Of course, that doesn’t mean she can’t have a little fun. Just check out this video for “Shame” and enjoy her giddy dancing, boozing with friends and some healthy smashing of dishes to go along with it. That’s one way to drive your antipatriarchial point home.