Bootleg Betty
The Song Bette Midler Sang in No Kings Video
By Mister D
March 25, 2026
From Bette Midler: When the occasion calls you, SING OUT! The great Woody Guthrie wrote the original, and I re-wrote some of the words to reflect our current times. I hope you will learn it and sing along on any and all occasions… protest poster-making parties, marches, rallies, phone banking, gardening, etc.
“All You Fascists Bound to Lose” (often shortened to “All You Fascists”) is a classic American protest song written by folk legend Woody Guthrie in the early 1940s during World War II.
Guthrie, known for his Dust Bowl ballads, union songs, and the famous inscription “This Machine Kills Fascists” on his guitar, penned it as a defiant, upbeat fight song against fascism abroad (Hitler, Mussolini) and oppression at home, including racism, union-busting, and authoritarianism. He recorded a lively version in 1944 during a radio broadcast with blues harmonica player Sonny Terry, featuring a raw, sing-along folk style with call-and-response energy.
Guthrie wrote it amid WWII, shortly after publishing his memoir Bound for Glory. He saw fascism not just as foreign dictators but as any system of hate, division, and exploitation. The song has been revived in later eras of social tension, such as after Charlottesville in 2017, and adapted with new verses for contemporary causes.
In March 2026, Bette Midler released a modern remake (sometimes called a “derivative” or updated rendition) of the song. She shared a video of her performance on social media, captioned with hashtags like #nokings, and it quickly went viral in protest circles.
Midler adapts some lyrics to reference current events and political figures, making it more pointed for today’s audience while keeping the core anti-fascist message and sing-along spirit. It’s presented as a call to organize and resist, with Midler (a longtime outspoken progressive activist and Trump critic) urging action ahead of midterms or in broader resistance contexts. The version has a theatrical, passionate delivery fitting her style—bold, expressive, and crowd-rousing—while honoring Guthrie’s folk roots.
Fans and outlets describe it as a powerful protest anthem, often shared alongside calls for unity against authoritarianism. It fits Midler’s history of blending entertainment with social commentary, much like Guthrie did in his era.
The song endures because of its timeless simplicity: fascism (broadly defined as oppressive, divisive authoritarianism) will lose when ordinary people organize. Guthrie’s original and Midler’s update both serve as motivational tools for activism, whether in wartime or domestic political battles
All You Fascists
By Woody Guthrie, Bette Midler, and Eric Kornfeld
You know I’ve been around a long time but I have never lived through what we’re living through now. The great Woody Guthrie wrote this song many years ago. I changed some of the words to fit our times and I hope you’ll sing it when you’re marching. Because sometimes people, sometimes you just gotta sing out!
All you fascists bound to lose
All you fascists bound to lose
I said all you fascists bound to lose
You’re bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose
Hey there all you fascists, let me put you straight
When you come for the r?st of we’ll fight you at the gate
And you will los?, you fascists bound to lose
We’ll battle ICE together until they cut and run
Just like in Minneapolis and when the midterms come
You’re bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose
All you fascists bound to lose
All you fascists bound to lose
I said all you fascists bound to lose
You’re bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose
To hell with all the cowards who hide behind their masks
We’re gonna win the midterms, we’re coming for his ass!
He knows it too, that bastard’s bound to lose
Trying to distract us from the Epstein files
You gas and beat and murder us, protectin’ pedophiles
Let’s turn the screws, you perverts bound to lose
All you fascists bound to lose
All you fascists bound to lose
I said all you fascists bound to lose
You’re bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose
America, get ready, midterms are at hand
We got to stick together folks and vote to save this land
It’s time to choose, those fascists bound to lose
All you fascists bound to lose (Hear that!)
All you fascists bound to lose (Yes sir!)
All you fascists bound to lose
You’re bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose
(Say what? Everybody say)
All you fascists bound to lose (Hear that!)
I said, all you fascists bound to lose (Yes sir!)
Yes sir, all you fascists bound to lose
You’re bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose lose.
