In response to the 2016 shooting at Orlando nightclub Pulse, Kevin Morby shared a single called “Beautiful Strangers,” a song about gun violence. Sales of the song benefited Everytown For Gun Safety, which pushes for stronger gun laws. Now, Morby has revisited the song, presumably as a response to the recent Uvalde school shooting, by performing it on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night.
On the song, Morby sings, “If you ever hear that gunshot, you may think ’bout what you do but you don’t got / Say a prayer, think of mother, I am a rock / If you ever hear that sound now / If the door gets kicked in here, they come now / Think of others, be their cover / I am what they’re not.”
Morby previously said of the song upon its release, “This release is dedicated to and written for all the people I have never met but have only read about. The innocent people who were out living their lives and one day, without warning, had them taken away from them. People who liked to laugh, dance, and love in the way that we all do, but can’t anymore. All those names and faces, all those beautiful strangers…”
The YouTube upload of the “Beautiful Strangers” performance has also been set as a fundraiser, featuring a button to donate to the Everytown For Gun Safety Support Fund.
“Beautiful Strangers” was Morby’s second Kimmel performance of the night, following the This Is A Photograph title track.
Watch Morby’s performance of “Beautiful Strangers” above and “This Is A Photograph” below.