Hear Tim Heidecker Slam Abortion Ban Politicians on New Song ‘To the Men’
Tim Heidecker unveiled a blunt and brutal new song, “To the Men,” addressed to the state legislators attempting to restrict or outright ban abortion. The song is available on Heidecker’s Bandcamp with all proceeds going to the Yellow Hammer Fund, which provides funding for people seeking care at Alabama’s three abortion clinics.
“To the Men” is a stark and simple folk tune with an upbeat melody that belies Heidecker’s lyrics. The song tells the story of a young, poor woman who winds up pregnant and is forced to seek out a dangerous underground abortion. The track closes with Heidecker addressing anti-abortion politicians directly, singing, “Have you seen a young girl dying/Have you seen em bleed to death/Have you seen a young girl dying/Have you seen em take their final breath.”
Heidecker’s song arrives one day after Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed a controversial bill that effectively bans abortion in the state. The law is the latest in a string of similarly reactionary measures in states like Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Georgia designed to challenge Roe v. Wade. The Alabama law has drawn fierce criticism from others in the music industry: Lady Gaga called it a “travesty” and Rihanna posted a photo on Instagram of the predominately male Alabama legislator alongside the caption, “These are the idiots making decisions for women in America.”
Over the past two years, Heidecker has released several highly political music projects, including his 2017 album of Trump protest songs, Too Dumb for Suicide, and his recent EP, Another Year in Hell, which collects songs from 2018 that similarly satirized the president, ICE agents, Alex Jones and QAon conspiracy theorists. On June 7th, he’ll release a new LP, What the Brokenhearted Do…, an album about a brutal divorce that was inspired by right wing trolls who started a rumor that Heidecker’s wife had left him.