“It’s a sad one to share during the holidays, but the world is hurting and we shouldn’t look away,” the collaborators said in a statement
This holiday season, collaborators Gracie Abrams, Aaron Dessner, and Bon Iver are honoring victims of gun violence with the charity single “Sold Out.” The record arrives in the wake of the recent shooting at Brown University, which left two students dead and nine others injured. But the trio recorded the song last year following a different mass shooting.
“We made this song last year in the wake of a school shooting,” the musicians said in a collaborative statement. “We were reminded of it this week as our hearts were broken yet again. It’s a sad one to share during the holidays, but the world is hurting and we shouldn’t look away.”
On the opening verse of “Sold Out,” Abrams sings, “Hiding from a gun inside your high school/Just another Tuesday, normal, old news/Someone spilled their blood on Molly’s white shoes/Someone called their mother from the bathroom.”
The pre-chorus calls out those in positions of power who perpetuate the prevalence of gun violence in the U.S. “All the men in suit and ties/And their empty words/In their thoughts and prayers tonight/While the country burns/They collect a check in pride/And the system works/And we all stay terrified.”
There were four active shooter incidents at educational facilities in the U.S. in 2024, according to a year-end report from the FBI, with one classified as a mass killing. In 2025, according to the organization Everytown, “there were at least 159 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 53 deaths and 148 injuries nationally.”
Proceeds from “Sold Out,” which is available to purchase on Bandcamp, will benefit Everytown, the gun control advocacy group. “We are releasing this song to raise awareness of their mission of reducing gun violence,” Abrams, Dessner, and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon said. “Please visit their website for more information on the unbelievable work they do. Sending so much love to you all.”
