Commander in Chief

"Commander in Chief" is a song by American singer Demi Lovato. She co-wrote the track with Justin Tranter, Julia Michaels, and its producers Finneas and Eren Cannata. The song was released as a single by Island Records on October 14, 2020. Its lyrics are directed towards then U.S. President Donald Trump, and are a response to the 2020 United States presidential election. An accompanying video was released on the same day. Background and composition In an interview with CNN, Lovato asserts she wrote the song's lyrics to President Trump, specifically calling out his "mishandling of racial injustice, white supremacy, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the dismantling of LGBTQ rights." Lovato says the song began with a recurring desire for her to write the President a letter or set up a meeting with him to ask him the questions posed by the song, but that she ultimately decided to write a song instead and release it so that everyone would be able to share the confrontation and demand "answers" as well. In the song, Lovato asks, "Do you even know the truth? / We're in a state of crisis / People are dying / While you line your pockets deep / Commander in Chief / How does it feel / To still be able to breathe?" Moreover, Lovato says that she does not wish to divide the nation further politically with the song, but hopes it instead inspires conversation and increases voter turnout. Release The full song had leaked prior to release on October 11, 2020. A few days later, on October 13, Lovato began to tease the song by posting a few clips of the upcoming music video to her Instagram page, featuring a young black girl and an older white man mouthing the lyrics. The cover of the single also shows Lovato wearing a face mask that reads "VOTE". The singer, who has been outspoken about her political beliefs in the past, announced that the song had been released later that night on October 14, with a post captioned "I'm calling on all of you, please join me in voting for this years election. Find your voter information at iwillvote.com". Music videos The music video for the song was released on October 14, 2020, and was directed by Director X. It features diverse Americans of different genders, races, sexual orientations, and ability groups lip-syncing the song before Lovato appears and performs the final moments of the song.