“Florida Plates” was the lead single for the 2024 LP The Present, and it stemmed directly from an observation I made on a walk through Brooklyn one day: There were a disproportionately large number of cars with license plates from Florida. And the more I looked, the more of them I noticed—and not just in Brooklyn. They struck me as constant, creepy reminders of the spread of Florida’s MAGA-inflected politics across the country. In the words of the song: They’re everywhere now.

LYRICS:

What’s with these Florida plates?
They’re everywhere now
In every state
I’m sure you know what I’m talking about

They say, “In God We Trust”
But I want to know what happened
To “The Sunshine State”
Well, we know what happened…

What goes around
It comes around

Seems like just yesterday
Books were for reading
In every state
And not for confiscating
And to be sure, not for incinerating

They say “In God we trust”
But they oughta know what happens
To the reprobates
Who tell you how to pray
Or what to say
Who fill you up with hate
To get their way

What goes around
It’s all meant for them to get their way
It comes around
Seems like they always get their way
What goes around
Until they don’t one day
It comes around

One day

What’s with these Florida plates?
They’re everywhere
For now