Hope the High Road

Listen while you read: Hope the High Road

I used to think that this was my town
What a stupid thing to think
I hear you're fighting off a breakdown
I myself am on the brink
I used to want to be a real man
I don't even know what that means
Now I just want you in my arms again
And we can search each other's dreams

I know you're tired and you ain't sleeping well
Uninspired and likely mad as hell
But wherever you are,
I hope the high road leads you home again
To a world you want to live in

I've heard enough of the white man's blues
I've sang enough about myself
So if you're looking for some bad news
You can find it somewhere else
Last year was a son of a bitch
For nearly everyone we know
But I ain't fighting with you down in the ditch
I'll meet you up here on the road

~  Jason Isbell (for Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit)

Well, if you're looking for some bad news, you can pretty much find it 24/7. I am likely mad as hell with the daily shitshow of incompetency coming from this administration. While each episode of breaking news puts more and more fear into our need for national security, at the same time, the news seems to be getting us closer to ending this nightmare that we've been experiencing. It's not easy balancing that fear with anticipation of better days, so it's no wonder we ain't sleeping well.

This new song from Jason Isbell (formerly of Drive-By Truckers) will appear on the June 16 release of The Nashville Sound. I believe Isbell wrote the song earlier this spring, and clearly, it was his reaction to the new administration. "I try to document where I am in my life, and right now, one of my primary concerns is, 'What is my role as a white male in a society that really is in dire need of understanding and empathy for people who aren't white males?'" he told Entertainment Weekly.

The song is a prayer for sanity. I am reminded of Michelle Obama's advice: "When they go low, we go high." As hard as it is to take the high road in these difficult times, lowering ourselves to name-calling and lies only divides us more. "I want listeners to feel encouraged to be vigilant but to still stay classy, for Christ's sake. If you're doing too much yelling and too much screaming and acting out of frustration, you're not effecting change in any positive way," Isbell opines.

I'm attending a political fundraiser next week, and I've located a local Indivisible group that I am happy to join. I want to effect change in a positive way. But meanwhile, I cannot promise that I will not be bitching and moaning on this blog, because, hey, it's my blog. Read it if you want; ignore it if I piss you off.

We'll ride the ship down
Dumping buckets overboard
There can't be more of them than us
There can't be more

Keep the faith.