Ears prickled across the country last week as Ziggy Alberts Newest Single ‘Don’t Get Caught Up’ hit the airwaves. For once, it wasn’t Alberts silky smooth vocals which caught listeners attention, but rather the lyrics behind them. ‘Don’t Get Caught Up’ sounds suspiciously like the anti-vax, anti 5g anthem that nobody wanted.
Alberts first dabbled in political lyricism earlier this year amidst the bushfire crisis, when he released the single ‘Together’. One part protest song, one part tribute. The track spoke to a country hurting from unimaginable devastation. It received mass praise in it’s reception, and was generally considered the epitome of how many Australians felt.
“And I will write for this country I adore
And we can come together now/
…
And I wonder why
We seem to be
More concerned with selling water to private companies
Oh then we are
With the health of
The rivers where we’re drinking from
The land that’s free and young”
But it seems that Alberts got a taste for political commentary. Instead of spending quarantine with his feet up, he put pen to paper; and now we have ‘Don’t Get Caught Up’. And while ‘Together’ was an anthem for the whole country, this new track has left many on the internet feeling alienated and albeit pretty uncomfortable.
That’s because ‘Don’t Get Caught Up’ is clearly an anti-vax, anti-5g anthem. Two dangerous conspiracy theories which have been percolating the atmosphere for awhile now.
“And now they sell immunity too
In pills and pearls and tax
All our freedoms subdued
Can you believe that we are here still arguing
About the right to choose what we put in our bodies”
Yikes! And that’s just the first verse.
“What’s the cost
For faster connection
What’s exactly the rush?
If it’s safe it’s easy to prove
Just get tests done by someone else
And show us the truth”
Alberts is a resident of Byron Bay, a town in the Far North Coast. For those who don’t know, the region is considered the anti-vax capital of Australia. It is also my hometown. In April, during the most intense period of social distancing, the area held 5g protest outside of the Mullumbimby post office. So his conspiracy inclinations aren’t actually that surprising, though they are disappointing.
In the recent months, Alberts has also been pretty vocal about his aversion to vaccinations and 5g on Instagram, which has a following of 205K. Many of which I dare say are young, impressionable girls.
— Jessy (@HoltfreterJessy) June 26, 2020
One Instagram story including links to a petition to “stop coercion of Australians to be medicated with influenza vaccinations”. Another to “remove COVID-19 extreme restrictions”. And while music should be an outlet for all people, regardless of beliefs; the fact that Alberts already has such a cult-like following is certainly cause for concern.
Forgotten in all of this is the fact that the song is still decidedly a banger. Alberts vocals and masterful guitar, as always, hit the spot.
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