Only a few days ago I posted on NMC socials a plea for some protest songs and especially any that are relevant to the coup d’état that seems to be planned for Greenland, irrespective of whatever the Davos crowd thinks or says after being lectured by a bloke who’s spent too much time under a sunlamp.
And hey-ho, here we go. Not quite what I was expecting but welcome all the same.
The Danish singer and songwriter Allan Simonsen (not to be confused with the footballer or racing driver) releases the single ‘Fire Slemme Drenge’ (‘Four Bad Boys’) on January 23rd, what is billed as “a sharp, satirical protest song aimed at the world’s most powerful leaders who are currently creating widespread insecurity.”
Those ‘leaders’, doubling as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (I know there were only three, but grant me some poetic licence!) are of course Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping.
But wait a minute. You could argue there should be five. Or more. We seem to be missing an ayatollah or two, not to mention Steve Witkoff, Elon Musk and anyone else that is driving this sweet Earth around the bend right now.
The song is in Danish so I’ve had to guess some of the meaning (and incidentally the video would go viral if there were Danish and English subtitles). In the lyrics those four protagonists are reduced to four mischievous, childlike rascals — stealing apples and causing trouble.
They come across like Beavis & Butthead or South Park characters; humourous and even likeable on the surface but nasty pieces of work underneath, pouring over a wall map which is marked “not mine” in sections, thus inviting speculation that they soon will be.
Then bullying a little girl (representing Ukraine?) and later stealing a bulldozer and endeavouring to build a rocket (boys) like they were parodying Guy Garvey and Elbow, which they fly to the sun, prompting a desire that 3I/Atlas might suddenly appear on behalf of ratkind and zap them.
All this, along with pointed references to Greenland, Crimea, Taiwan and Panama, is delivered charmingly by Allan Simonsen as he casually plays a game of Danish pin billiards and knocks back some whisky in what might otherwise be a bar on Main Street, Dodge City or Tombstone.
A slightly grizzled guy with a gritty voice who’s probably been around the block a few times and knows the score, his demeanour is perfect to put into their place a gang of bad lads that simply never grew up, like a sergeant in a boot camp.
Seriously timely from a Danish perspective, I hope this makes it to the White House at least. It might even give the orange blob and his acolytes a laugh.
Allan has had music accompanying his journey throughout his life, but it was only at the end of 2025 that he released his debut album ‘Sidste Generation’ (‘Last Generation’).
This song also echoes his early involvement in the protest culture of the 1980s, when art and music openly took political stands. At the time, Allan was an active demonstrator for disarmament — a commitment that still resonates clearly in his songwriting today.
Find him on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571838282968&locale=en_GB#
