Hey, I'm Brian Hyatt, and this is Rolling Stone, music now.

Although things are slightly unsettled in some people's minds, let's face it, it is time to take a look back at the era of the last four years, the Trump era because it is over. We thought we would look at what happened with

music in the Trump era and perhaps look ahead to what music might be like in the great unknown of a Biden era that is laid out before us.

And I have with me to discuss it, Rob Sheffield and Brittany Spannas.

And I thought we'd start off. Rob wrote a great piece about a classic

protest anthem, YMCA. And it's great and freighted significance in this moment.

Maybe we should start there with the songs of this very moment,

the songs of the celebration over the weekend, the songs that are in the air, and we'll start with YMCA.

What's the deal with YMCA, Rob?

Who would have predicted that in 2020 one of the most politically charged and culturally

divisive songs that sort of a flashpoint for this crisis point in democracy would be a song about how it's fun to stay at the

YMCA. The song about that. And yet something about YMCA, eternal song that has stuck around for so many years in festive

celebrational modes and so many parts of life

that it became a really fraught issue during the campaign

because of the incumbent president whose name I'm still in the habit of avoiding using whenever possible.

But number 45 was using it on his campaign rallies,

much to the displeasure of certain members of the village people.

But the fact that YMCA, this gayest and most outrageous of disco

anthems, would be something that would be used by such an avowedly homophobic president in his campaign

rallies made it really an amazing thing to see YMCA reclaimed as a victory song after the election.

I want to take a little bit more specifically into YMCA, but you bring up the rallies

and yes, the current president was dancing triumphantly to that song

...