INNER CITY BLUES THEN IS ALL AMERICA’S BLUES NOW
MARVIN GAYE WROTE IT DECADES AGO & IT’S STILL TRUE
As this next election draws closer a host of different issues surround it and the candidates running for office. For all my young readers, this whole current mess regarding the ‘war’ (invasion), the recession (Yes, Virginia, there is a recession going on, thanks to greedy oil men and the ‘war’), local things [like the fatal shooting by a (off duty) cop against an unarmed citizen], and tax relief, may seem very contemporary. However, like Obama said in his landmark speech on race, delivered today (I believe), things have become stagnant in this country, and they’ve been that way for a long time. As if to backup this point, just the other day I was listening to some Marvin Gaye and one song in particular hit me. It hit me because I remembered when I first heard it, and what was going on then, which is remarkably similar to what is going on now. Presented here are the prophetic words penned by that genius singer/songwriter:
INNER CITY BLUES (MAKE ME WANNA HOLLER)
Rockets, moon shots
Spend it on the have-nots
Money, we make it
‘Fore we see it, you’ll take it
Inflation, no chance
To increase finance
Bills pile up, sky high
Send that boy off to die
Hang ups, let downs
Bad breaks, set backs
Natural fact is
Honey, that I can’t pay my taxes
Crime is increasing
Trigger happy policing
Panic is spreading
God knows where, where we’re heading
Oh make me wanna holler
The way they do my life, oh baby.
It was the ‘inner city’ blues then but now, thanks to past administrations, and particularly the Bush Administration, the above refrain has become the ‘all American’ blues, sung in chorus to Bush’s ‘haves’ and ‘have-mores’. The coming election is the most critical in this nation’s history and gives ample reason why, around here we say, ‘the only bush we trust is hers, ‘cause a vote for McCain means more of the same’.