By Communications Coordinator Amy Durr
You may have never heard of Jesse Welles, but his “wryly funny, politically engaged folk songs” are so popular that his “current tour of mid-sized clubs … sold out within two days of going on sale,” according to The New York Times.
I can attest he is both funny and witty, while also admitting that I only learned of him last month. I had somehow missed his riveting performance at Farm Aid 2025 and appearances on Jimmy Kimmel and The Late Show.
I began to explore his wide-ranging powerful repertoire, laughing all the way through many songs, but especially The Great Caucasian God. I immediately added it and many more to my favorites playlist, but we have chosen That Can’t Be Right as our Song of the Month because of his biting lyrics about the plight of hardworking Americans.
He blends humor, rage, sorrow and radical honesty — sometimes all in one verse. Could Jesse Welles be the first folk prophet of the Trump 2.0 era, or simply the voice we’ve been starving for?
Welles wears many hats – political pundit, environmental storyteller, cultural disruptor. And I, like many others today, am looking for voices of protest with which to scream or sing, as the case may be. Welles is frequently compared to Dylan, and whether or not you find the comparison fair, people are mentioning it for a reason.
The Supernova Music of Jesse Welles
At last year’s Farm Aid, Dave Matthews introduced Welles with, “I think he’s one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard in my life. … he gives me hope and he’s unbelievable,” reports Rolling Stone. I couldn’t agree more.
“Welles, 33, is a genuine phenomenon — an internet-era troubadour clearly in the tradition of Guthrie, Dylan, Prine, and Ochs (and Cobain, too), yet also very much of this moment,” declares Acoustic Guitar.
“He’s the voice of the poor and the working man. I don’t think there’s a better wordsmith in the music business right now. Jesse is from Ozark, Arkansas and he came out of nowhere in 2024,” professes Costa Petropoulos, a DJ with Harper Radio.
“He gathered quite the cult following almost overnight, singing songs of protest with a gritty, gravelly voice like no other. He posts his songs on various social media platforms singing about current events and trending issues almost immediately after they happen,” he continued.
“His ability to create such masterfully written songs on such short notice is a feat of lyrical strength,” adds Petropoulos.
From Disillusionment and a Father’s Heart Attack to Genius Bursting Forth
After attending local colleges Welles got a music theory degree. He spent his 20s in a couple of bands, playing at Bonnaroo in 2017, releasing a few EPs and a full album in 2018, and touring a bunch, but the world wasn’t especially interested in grunge-metal thrashings. He became deeply disillusioned and went back home when COVID hit, seeking to regroup.
In early 2024, his father had a heart attack, and everything changed.
“I was sitting there next to him in the hospital, and he was hooked up to all this stuff and unconscious,” Welles recalls. “We didn’t really know what the outcome was going to be. And I thought, he was barely here a minute. He was here a blink of an eye. I didn’t even get to know him but for a little bit. How short is life? I’ve got so much work to do,” Welles told Acoustic Guitar.
“So I started writing like mad. I opened up,” he continued. “Really, from that moment onward, it was just like, I’m going to write and sing tunes until I’m all hooked up on a bed like that. We don’t have much time.”
Acoustic Guitar points out, “Welles initially went viral with fearless takes on such topics as war in Gaza (War Isn’t Murder), fentanyl, whistleblowers (Whistle Boeing), Ozempic, and the killing of an insurance CEO (United Health).”
They add, “At the same time, he sings charming ditties on his favorite things (Bugs, Books, Guitars) and creates poetic, personal folk rock, captured in both homegrown solo recordings like Patchwork and in the full-band studio production Middle. Even more remarkable than the sheer volume of music he’s produced is how great so much of it is — evocative, empathetic, and above all, raw and real.”
That Can’t Be Right: Personal Ennui and an Anthem of Despair for Every Person
While many of Welles’ songs are political, others are more personal and unguarded, giving a clever birds-eye-view of American life that at once reflect his own struggle and those of the working poor, and probably most of us.
That Can’t Be Right explores Welles’ “existential reckoning — a mix of longing, disillusionment, regret, and raw honesty,” says Demo Magazine. I feel he’s also speaking about a deep sadness and false hopefulness that most of our dreams will never come to be.
Through vivid imagery and a sense of confusion, he grapples with life’s unpredictability, ultimately finding that some things just don’t add up,” explains LyricsBull.
“The arrangement features more folk-influenced instrumentation…including a harmonica, giving it a kind of raw, rootsy vibe,” according to KCOU.
I think to myself That can’t be right 100 times each day right now, and Welles’ bewilderment strikes a chord deep inside me. Life is strange and baffling, and I’ve shared his sensation of sinking from wearing “two cinder blocks for shoes.” His answer, “I′m a practitioner of practice,” sometimes feels like the best we can do.
Fear Not: Welles’ Radical Nonviolence and Humanization Even of the Right
“Although Welles’ lyrics skew pro-working class and anti-violence, fans trying to neatly categorize his political affiliations might run into trouble. In August, he raised some eyebrows when he appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience,” according to NPR. I like the fact that he doesn’t want to be put in a box, seeks humanization and calls out everyone and anyone who others people.
“A month later, he released a song condemning the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It sparked both praise and backlash,” NPR continues. “On TikTok and Instagram, some people questioned how Welles could mourn a man who often made bigoted statements about minorities and helped elect the same politicians the singer criticizes in his lyrics.”
“Welles says that for him, there’s no use in trying to control how people perceive him or how they attempt to project partisan lines onto his music. His bottom line, he says, is radical nonviolence.”
“When we talk about folk music, we’re talking about the music that developed out of the everyday experiences of people. It was part of their ritual,” she explains to NPR. “Within those repertoires, there’s always been songs that have been about articulating people’s frustration.”
Rolling Stone Wonders if Welles Can Revive the Protest Song. I Hope He Can.
“Every era needs its voice of the people, and through timing, luck, and talent, that person may be Welles,” proclaims Rolling Stone.
“There’s a lot of people protesting different things in their own way, which is a beautiful thing about America, and something we can’t forget — that we have the great gift to be able to sing these songs, and I don’t have to worry about my life. No one will come and kill me,” Welles tells Rolling Stone.
“In a world awash in content, few should have noticed [Welles]. But in a shift that indicates a desire to hear someone, anyone, sing truth to power during the disruptive Trump 2.0 era, Welles turned out to be the right man at the right time,” notes Rolling Stone.
“His songs — most barely two minutes long, perfect for memes and viral moments — have accrued millions of views and largely supportive comments.”
Rolling Stone continues, “Nathaniel Rateliff also began waving the Welles flag. After meeting Welles at Farm Aid last year, the singer, who curated this year’s Newport Folk Festival, invited him to join the lineup.”
“‘It’s nice to hear somebody talk about anything that’s going on and calling things out as he sees it,’ says Rateliff. ‘I don’t hear anybody in the media on TV talk about what’s happening in Washington. So, it’s nice for somebody to be literal about what’s happening and do it in the form of a song. He’s got a real Bernie Sanders approach to a song.’”
Build Your Own Jesse Welles Playlist with Some of Our Favorites
War Isn’t Murder Let’s hear which is your favorite. That Can’t Be Right
Verse
We both got some hard-knocks
We might have earned
Some folks go to school
Others have to learn
That most of life is wishing
Tryin′ to get back
To a memory of a memory
You never might’ve had
My heart′s a locomotive
Runs on blackened coal
And cigarettes and coffee
I could never roll my own
I’m borrowing matches from the padre
Hearing church bells toll
Wondering what the hell’s the difference
Between dying and gettin′ old
Chorus
That can′t be right
What year is it this year tonight?
If I die, I’ll die of fright
That can′t be right
Verse
That acid flashback really
Really cracked my ice
Do the right drug once
You’ll get to do it twice
And now I′m crowin’ about places
And things I′ve never been
You know I’m never gonna whore it out
And take that gig again
I believe the light is cracklin’
′Round the edge of anesthesia
Lying on a table
With the whole world reachin′ in ya
Hope to Jesus Buddha Bob
That they washed their hands
There’s no class action passage
To break all my shitty bands
Chorus
That can′t be right
What year is it this year tonight?
If I die, I’ll die of fright
That can′t be right
Bridge
When I was younger
It confused me
Now I think I get it
My old man he don’t like pictures
′Specially if he’s in ’em
Time is not a mirror
It′s some distorted view
Of the way you thought you was
And what you thought they thought of you
And all that trash that I tossed out
It weren′t by no means good
But just ’cause someone tells ya
Don′t really mean you should
Verse
My friends would try and cheer me up
The best they knew to do
There’s no rescuing a diver
With two cinder blocks for shoes
Chorus
That can′t be right
What year is it this year tonight?
If I die, I’ll die of fright
That can′t be right
Verse
I’m still agog with mortal dogs
And skills I don’t possess
I′m a practitioner of practice
I′m-a givin’ it my best
I′m left and I’m still leaving
I got several miles to go
I ain′t ready to do something
‘Till there′s something I’m ready for
There’s a pillar in the desert
And it′s all a-lit with flames
It′s been burning there for eons
It’s the end of all the games
We owe apologies
And ass-whoopins
It seems to even out
You can′t never know you’re happy
If you′ve never lived without
Chorus
And that’s alright
What year is it this year tonight?
If I die, I′ll die of fright
That can’t be right
Outro
That can’t be right
What year is it this year tonight?
Four white horses towards the light
That can′t be right
The Whales
Bugs
Fear Is the Mind Killer
The Great Caucasian God
Red (Live at Farm Aid 2025)
Join ICE (LIVE on The Late Show)
The Poor (Jimmy Kimmel Live)
Lyrics by Jesse Welles