In two days, Joe Biden will be POTUS.
I can’t wait.
I saw today that Garth Brooks will be performing at the inauguration, and that he says it’s a statement of unity. I hope the Trumplican country music fans pay heed to his words. I know some of them will be surprised — but if they really are his fans, they shouldn’t be. Garth has been on the liberal side of things for quite some time now.
(He’s not the only country music figure who is, but he’s arguably the most prominent.)
It matters more than the headlines show. Here is someone a lot of people (like myself) grew up listening to over very conservative airwaves, publicly taking a stand that disfavors the puny-handed orange overlord so many were groomed to follow.
Garth Brooks has never been afraid to take a stand for social justice. Don’t believe me? Look at the lyrics for “We Shall Be Free.”
“When the last child cries for a crust of bread,
When the last man dies for just words that he said,
When there’s shelter over the poorest head,
We shall be free.
When the last thing we notice is the color of the skin,
And the first thing we look for is the beauty within;
When the skies and the oceans are clean again,
We shall be free…”
There’s another Garth Brooks song I’d like to bring to your attention today. It’s my “anthem” of sorts, and ridiculously underrated. This one is called “The Change.”
“One hand reaches out
And pulls a lost soul from harm
While a thousand more go unspoken for
And they say what good have you done
By saving just this one?
It’s like whispering a prayer in the fury of a storm
And I hear them saying
You’ll never change things
And no matter what you do it’s still the same thing
But it’s not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world will know
That it will not change me
This heart still believes
That love and mercy still exist
While all the hatreds rage
And so many say
That love is all but pointless
In madness such as this
It’s like trying to stop a fire
With the moisture from a kiss
And I hear them saying
You’ll never change things
And no matter what you do it’s still the same thing
But it’s not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world will know
That it will not change me
As long as one heart still holds on
Then hope is never really gone
And I hear them saying
You’ll never change things
And no matter what you do it’s still the same thing
But it’s not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world we know
Never changes me
What I do is so
This world will know
That it will not change me…”
Powerful. And worth musing on as we head into what’s certain to be a charged transition. Who are we when nobody’s watching, when everything seems hopeless and nothing we do seems to change anything? What do we do in dark times?
It matters. No amount of good done is ever worthless or wasted.
Keep going, dear ones. Better days are ahead for all of us!
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