--- title: Here Are the Lyrics to Childish Gambino's "This Is America" description: Here are the words to "This Is America," Donald Glover's brand-new song as Childish Gambino. canonical: https://time.com/5267730/childish-gambino-this-is-america-words/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-07T14:28:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:08:51.690Z og:title: Here Are the Lyrics to Childish Gambino's "This Is America" og:description: The new song from Donald Glover is a searing indictment of American ignorance og:url: https://time.com/5267730/childish-gambino-this-is-america-words/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28d55a494b6852e6/69892fb18fd2ee65e835b895/screen-shot-2018-05-07-at-10-14-13-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1621 og:image:height: 912 og:image:alt: childish-gambino-this-is-america og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are the Lyrics to Childish Gambino's "This Is America" twitter:description: The new song from Donald Glover is a searing indictment of American ignorance twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28d55a494b6852e6/69892fb18fd2ee65e835b895/screen-shot-2018-05-07-at-10-14-13-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are the Lyrics to the Childish Gambino's Searing New Song 'This Is America' > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: An Expert's Take on the Symbolism in Childish Gambino’s Viral ‘This Is America’ Video [Watch (HLS stream): An Expert's Take on the Symbolism in Childish Gambino’s Viral ‘This Is America’ Video](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EXmrGBb2.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2018-05-08. Donald Glover released a new song and music video “This Is America” under his musical moniker Childish Gambino on Saturday Night Live this weekend — and single-take music video is laden with metaphors about race and gun violence in America_  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 7, 2018 2:28 PM UTC Donald Glover released a new song and music video “This Is America” under his musical moniker Childish Gambino on Saturday Night Live this weekend — and single-take music video is laden with metaphors about race and gun violence in America  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 7, 2018 2:28 PM UTC On the latest _Saturday Night Live_, [Childish Gambino](http://time.com/4728291/new-music-containing-multitudes/item/childish-gambino/) — the musical pseudonym for actor and [_Atlanta_ creator](http://time.com/5251485/lena-waithe-on-donald-glover-atlanta/) Donald Glover — released [“This Is America,”](http://time.com/5267198/childish-gambino-donald-glover-this-is-america/) a searing social critique of pop culture and the experience of being black in America today. While the mesmerizing [single-take video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY) shows a theatrical Gambino dancing and singing enthusiastically while violence of all kinds takes place all around him, the lyrics act as an indictment of the very medium they’re in; music, after all, often serves as a respite and distraction from reality. The song opens with a light refrain from a gospel choir before Gambino begins in: “We just wanna party, party just for you.” But things quickly take a darker turn, both musically and lyrically, as he investigates just what that “party” really means, alluding to everything from [police violence](http://time.com/4542410/kerry-washington-deborah-danner-tweets/) to racial stereotypes and social media obsession as components of the modern American experience. Rappers Young Thug, Quavo, Blocboy JB, Slim Jxmmi and 21 Savage also take turns featuring. Glover’s last album was 2016’s [_Awaken, My Love!,_](http://time.com/5122250/grammys-2018-winners-list/) and he was nominated for three Grammys, including Album of the Year. He took one home for single “Redbone.” He has stated that his next musical project as Childish Gambino, his fourth album, [will be his last](https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8096875/donald-glover-confirms-final-childish-gambino-album-grammys-interview). Here are the full lyrics to “This Is America,” as documented by lyrics [website Genius](https://genius.com/14504098): --- > “” --- ## Transcript [00:44] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [00:54] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [01:00] [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5267730/childish-gambino-this-is-america-words/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5267730/childish-gambino-this-is-america-words/"},"headline":"Here Are the Lyrics to the Childish Gambino's Searing New Song 'This Is America'","datePublished":"2018-05-07T14:28:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T09:08:51.690Z","description":"\"This is America / Don't catch you slippin' up\"","url":"https://time.com/5267730/childish-gambino-this-is-america-words/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28d55a494b6852e6/69892fb18fd2ee65e835b895/screen-shot-2018-05-07-at-10-14-13-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt28d55a494b6852e6/69892fb18fd2ee65e835b895/screen-shot-2018-05-07-at-10-14-13-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"childish-gambino-this-is-america","caption":"","creditText":"YouTube","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5267730/childish-gambino-this-is-america-words/","name":"Here Are the Lyrics to the Childish Gambino's Searing New Song 'This Is America'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"An Expert's Take on the Symbolism in Childish Gambino’s Viral ‘This Is America’ Video","description":"Donald Glover released a new song and music video “This Is America” under his musical moniker Childish Gambino on Saturday Night Live this weekend — and single-take music video is laden with metaphors about race and gun violence in America","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EXmrGBb2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-05-08T16:38:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EXmrGBb2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5267730/childish-gambino-this-is-america-words/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5267730/childish-gambino-this-is-america-words/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```