Philly songwriter Ron Gallo goes viral with ‘If Only Zelenskyy Had a Nice Suit’ and ‘ICE at Jersey Kebab’

Where have all the protest singers gone?

They’re on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook. At least that’s where Philly indie-rock songwriter Ron Gallo is, most every morning in these early days of the second Donald Trump administration.

“I wake up, usually around 7 a.m., and sit down and assess the latest in current events or thoughts I’m having about them and recklessly put them into song form in about 5 minutes then just post it on social media,” Gallo said, explaining his routine to The Inquirer in an email.

That quick-strike approach has won Gallo a worldwide audience, with the one minute “If Only Zelenskyy Had a Nice Suit,” being viewed over 7 million times on Instagram. It was uploaded March 3, three days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s contentious meeting with President Trump and Vice President JD Vance at the White House.

Gallo’s song is a response to Brian Glenn, a correspondent for the right-wing cable channel Real America’s Voice, who asked Zelensky, “Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit. … do you own a suit?”

“I found a lot of absurdity, even humor in that part specifically,” Gallo said. “I couldn’t help but imagine how furious and defeated I would feel if I was him based on the way he was treated and talked to,” Gallo said in the email.

In the song, whose torn-from-the-headlines approach is reminiscent of early 1960s topical folk songs by Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs, Gallo sings:

“If only Zelenskyy had a nice suit and didn’t wear all black to match with his troops/ While they get ravaged by a tin of poo …./ Oval Office packed with a bunch of f— squares/ Saying: “We understand you’re in despair, but was there nothing nicer that you could wear? …/ Maybe a 10K Brioni in navy blue, a white shirt and red tie/ No one else would have to die”

In February, Gallo also wrote and posted “ICE at Jersey Kebab,” after Celal and Emine Emanet, the Turkish couple who own the popular Haddon Township eatery Jersey Kebab, were taken into custody by immigration police.

Emine Emanet, 47, has been imprisoned since she and her husband were arrested Feb. 25. Celal Emanet, 51, her spouse, was fitted with an electronic ankle monitor. Emine Emanet will go before an immigration judge on Tuesday who has the option of setting bond, which could be posted to free her, or keeping her in detention while deportation proceedings go forward. Friends and supporters of the family have raised more than $320,000 to help the couple and their children.

In “ICE at Jersey Kebab,” which is delivered in a more sarcastic, sardonic tone, Gallo sings:

“ICE shows up at Jersey Kebab, 4.8 stars, 600 reviews/ Machine guns in hand, maybe something to prove/ Oh no, I don’t think they’re here for the food/ People love these people, people love this place/ But it doesn’t matter, cuss the 9 year delay in their green card case”

Gallo, who formerly recorded with Philly folk-rock band Toy Soldiers, has had a prolific decade-long career as a solo artist. His most recent album, Foreground Music, was released by the storied punk-rock label Kill Rock Stars.

Eight of his newly penned early morning protests are available for purchase on Gallo’s Bandcamp page, titled 7AM Songs of Resistance for the Internet, with a portion of proceeds going to Ukrainian aid organizations.

» READ MORE: Ron Gallo left Philly to make a name for himself. Now he’s back, with a new album and a new musical direction.

But it’s “If Only Zelenskyy Had a Nice Suit” — which can also be streamed on Spotify — that has caught fire, especially among music fans in Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia since Vladimir Putin’s invasion in 2022. 1980s British pop star Boy George is among the commenters on Gallo’s Instagram post, simply writing: “You rock!”

”Completely unexpectedly I started getting flooded with messages from actual Ukrainian people who saw the video thanking me for my support of their country, many said it brought them to tears,” Gallos said. “It’s just been a crazy experiment and [I] never could have foreseen that kind of impact.”