Ok, so first things first; yes, this is a cover of Bob Seger’s classic anti-war song, from Seger’s ‘Ramblin, Gamblin Man’ album in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam war and as anti-war sentiment in the US was growing. It’s interesting to see how much, and yet how little, has changed in the intervening 53 years – anti-war feelings still run high, race-related civil rights issues still grace the news seemingly every day, and LGBT rights are still abused and debated daily.
Into that mix comes HEwas, singer, songwriter, activist and LGBT campaigner. Already a ‘million stream’ artist with his first two releases, ‘Lemon’ and ‘WHOLEthing’, which featured Grammy nominee Afroman. Now, with ‘2 + 2 = ?’, HEwas has taken that old Seger classic, with updated instrumentation but no change to the feel and groove of the original, making a perfect homage meets timely update to a pertinent and completely relevant song, to produce an utterly modern take on a song that’s as relevant today as it was fifty years ago.
You can hear ‘2 + 2 = ?’, and the rest of HEwas’ releases, on Spotify, and follow on Instagram.
Review by Alex Holmes