If you’ ve never listened to Sam Cooke sing the above song, you haven’t lived or experienced life and living, in my humble opinion. Whenever I listen to that song, it affects me deeply, down to my tuch, the Mayan word for bellybutton. It’s a song of hope and optimism and heartbreak and disappointment, and then again, of hope! In these unpredictable times we live in, we need to find that hope, that silver lining, even if it seems farfetched!
I’ve always read that the worst part of any century is the beginning and the end. The 21st century is no different, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 911, Covid and Ukraine and worldwide inflation and instability! The 20th century began with WWI, then the plague 1917-1919, and on and on. There was no respite from war and suffering in that century. Technological advances helped us overcome some of what ailed us, but it was a rough century nevertheless!
For those of us who have lived, I mean truly lived, not existed, through all these rapidly changing times, it has been very sobering. We can’t take anything for granted; at times it seems ridiculous, taking one step forward and two steps back, almost Sisyphean! The more things change, the more they remain the same! Women rights are being taken away, minority rights are being taken away by legislation and with the approval of a fascist Supreme Court! Education now is being tailored to match the views of a right-wing minority; up is down and down is up. I mean, WTF? Strange times indeed!
Imagine, Sam Cooke wrote this song in 1962, 60 years ago, when the rights of many of us were curtailed to suit the dominance of a hostile majority! I wish I could tell Sam, show him, that instead of progress, we are rapidly regressing, to a time we’d rather not even think about! We live in an apartheid United States, and I mean that literally! Sure, we’ve had a black president, but that only brought out the worse in those inclined to that feeling and belief, of superiority! Go to any city in America, red or blue, and you can witness the difference, the separation of the haves, and those scraping the bottom of the barrel, just to survive! The inequality and injustice are so shockingly obvious, so barefaced, that it’s almost unbearable, almost unbelievable! Almost!
So, a change is gonna come, but will it be for the better or worse? Thanks, Sam, for giving us hope! Thanks for lifting us up, even if it’s just through your music! Oh! And Happy Fourth of July!
Glen