‘MISTER PEEPERS’

Ben Folds Writes Song About Rod Rosenstein, Satirizing Trump

As part of a Washington Post project on telling stories through unconventional forms.

Piano-rock musician Ben Folds on Monday released a song about U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, satirizing Trump in the process. The song, entitled “Mister Peepers”—a reference to the president’s reported nickname for Rosenstein—was released as part of The Washington Post Magazine’s project on telling stories through unconventional formats. The lyrics draw directly from Rosenstein’s heated June exchange with GOP Rep. Jim Jordan during a House Judiciary Committee hearing. In the process of lyrically retelling that political scene, Folds also takes on President Trump and the bullying tactics he often employs: “So they call him ‘Mister Peepers’ as the thugs all smash his glasses / Going full Lord of the Flies, burning this island down to ashes,” he sings in the chorus. “What’s the rule of law if we can’t agree on what a fact is?/ There ain’t nothing here to see, folks/ Move along, move along.” Folds most recently waded into politics when he performed at a campaign rally for Tennessee Democratic senatorial candidate Phil Bredesen, which prompted the Senate Republicans to bash the singer-songwriter as being part of the “unhinged left.”