Inspired by the folk tradition of speaking truth
Facts and ethics take a backseat to greed, power, willful ignorance and denial

Acclaimed Grammy-nominated artist, activist, and musician Aaron Lee Tasjan addresses the tensions between science and society, fact and fraud and progress and peril with his new track “Science Friction,” out today. Written in the spirit of his truth telling folk forbearers, Tasjan hits us right where we are in our current society and offers some sobering answers as to how we may have gotten here. “Science Friction” was co-written with Denny Lloyd.

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Throughout his celebrated five-album career, Aaron Lee Tasjan has never been one to shy away from controversial subjects or standing up for what’s right, and “Science Friction” falls right in line. Broken down into three separate vignettes, the song opens with the statement, “Man control the weather / Man control the women / Man made the system we all have to live in,” thus establishing human dominance and the need for control. Yet this control comes at a cost as the song serves as a cautionary tale.

“’Science Friction’ is one story of where we are today in modern day America,” says Tasjan. “The song starts with man and his desire to rule over all. Man is perhaps the ultimate underdog. He probably shouldn't have survived let alone triumphed over so many adversities to end up at the top of the food chain. Verse two is a snapshot of a wayward explorer's supposed discovery of America which should have lead worldly people of the time to disprove the flat earth theory and yet, there are people still believing in that today. Outliers they may be, but living in America in 2026 makes me wonder if we can really be so dismissive of people championing fringe ideas? The final verse taps into the time-honored tradition of the use of wealth and power as a means of control and exclusion.” 

He concludes, “The subject matter of each of these lyrical vignettes continue to play out in modern society where they are rubbing together and causing the process of friction to occur within ourselves, amongst each other and in the natural world. ‘Science Friction’ is a song that thinks about how it feels to live in these times when you're a person who believes in the inherent good of humanity.”