Today I was thinking about the huge gap that now exists in the U.S. between the very very rich, the .01 percent, and everyone else, when I came across the beautiful rendition of “The Times They Are A-Changing” that Bruce Springsteen performed on December 7, 1997 when Bob Dylan was honored by President Bill Clinton at the Kennedy Center.
The last election in the U.S. was between a .01-percenter, Mitt Romney, and a man of the people, President Barack Obama.
The majority of Americans who voted, voted for President Obama despite attempts by Republicans to limit voting, in particular, to make it more difficult for people of color to vote. We’ve all seen the video of the long, long lines at the polls. Old people waiting for many hours to exercise their right.
And yet nothing really has changed since President Obama was reelected. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has stopped pretty much any meaningful legislation from getting passed.
The gap between the super rich and everyone else has only widened.
It is with the heavy weight of that knowledge upon us, that I listened to this song of hope and change today.
Sometimes it seems that the “darkness at the edge of town” that Springsteen sings about is covering everything.
Music is such a powerful force. We all know how one song can completely change our mood, turn a bad day to good. The corporate world we now live in wants to co-opt everything. They take music that meant something and turn it into a soundtrack for selling yogurt, or cars. It’s like they want to drain the meaning from the songs.
Yet songs remain powerful.
“The Times They Are A-Changing” is a song that gives us hope. Perhaps it’s a fool’s hope, but I’ll take it where I can get it.
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Thanks…Michael.
So an income in the top 1% makes President Obama a man of the people? According to Forbes magazine, Bruce Springsteen’s income is in the top 0.1%. I can see why you’re depressed about the darkness at the edge of town; the super-rich heroes of the downtrodden victims of the income gap are doing their part to make the gap wider and wider. Self-interest tops ideology. Darkness, indeed when those people are the ones who help you hold on to hope.
Thanks for your comment.
Whatever Obama’s income, he has tried his best to make things more equal. He’s not perfect. It would seem that the system is rigged so that no one makes it as a politician without making compromises. My take on Obama is that he has done his best to make things better. Bruce Springsteen (and Dylan) aren’t perfect either. In this case, it was the song and the performance of the song that moved me as I heard it. I believe that the person who makes the art is one thing, and art is something else. In this case, the art transcends.
This was from the great Kennedy Center honors. Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen have changed America and the world for the better.