It’s the time of year when the mailbox is jammed with glossy mailers and the television screen is filled with politicians promising to do a lot of things.

But two Maine musicians are trying to get your attention in a different way.

They wrote a song urging you to vote No on Question 5, which proposes to change the Maine flag from the state seal featuring a farmer and a sailor to a pine tree and star design.

“Leave the Maine flag alone, it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” sings Scott Fish as his buddy Jason Carey accompanies him on a second guitar. “Servin’ us proud since 1909, it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Fish, a retired political operative for Republicans, says he actually doesn’t mind the pine tree and star design. He just thinks the state should focus on more important issues — potholes, schools, homelessness, substance use disorder.

“The song became more of a ‘quit wasting time and money on dumb bills’” message to the Legislature, Fish said.

He worked in state Republican offices at the State House and saw firsthand the onslaught of bills — sometimes numbering 2,000 — that come forward each legislative session.

“Really, I can’t think of that many ideas,” Fish said during an interview at his Turner home.

Carey, a musician who has worked on downtown revitalization projects, said it’s a matter of priorities.

“The things that need attention don’t always bubble to the top,” he said.

Fish said when he moved to Maine more than 30 years ago, he didn’t see the kinds of problems we face today from homelessness to drug abuse.

He urged lawmakers to remain focused on the big issues.

“Come on guys, get to the essentials, get out of there and let people go about their lives,” he said.

Carey said he doesn’t want to say our current times constitute a crisis — “I don’t want to be one of those doom and gloomers” — but said the state is going through a bit of a struggle with identity.

“Changing a flag, like changing a banner, is a pretty serious thing,” he said.

Their song begins with the call to leave the flag alone, then takes direct aim at legislators, saying that they “waste our time and money chasing bad ideas.”

But like all legislation, there are those on the other side.

During testimony on the bill, former Rep. Sean Paulhus (D-Bath) said Maine deserves a distinctive flag.

“The best flags tend to stand out and are usually a significant departure from flag-versions of official seals,” he said. “Our current flag is easily lost in a crowd of other states’ flags that are similarly marked by ornate, overcrowded seals.”

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows testified neither for nor against the bill, saying that the reason the state switched from the 1901 flag to the current flag just eight years later is lost to history.

She expressed hope that deciding the flag issue could serve to unite, rather than divide, Mainers. Recent polling puts that in doubt, with a 40-40 split and 20% undecided.

For Fish and Carey, the choice is clear.

“It’s a neat looking flag,” Fish said of the pine tree and star. “I own one. I fly it from the house from time to time. Just not as a state flag.”