What It's Like

What It’s Like (Censored Music Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCZ1YteCv5M

What It’s Like (Uncensored Lyric Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPoEA43cqKc

This week, depending on how I feel about this Blog…may be my last, but I’ve chosen a great song to end this with. The song is What It’s Like by Everlast from the album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues (1998). This song was the top hit from the album, and was hailed as a genre-crossing lead single. It will make you really think, and has very powerful lyrics. WARNING: CONTAINS SOME EXPLICIT LANGUAGE. The explicit language is meaningful however, making the song more powerful.

                The song itself doesn’t follow a story like some of the others I’ve talked about, but rather gives three examples of situations you’ve heard insulted time and time again and makes you see them in another perspective. The first is about a beggar, the second is about a teen pregnancy, and the third is about the family of a drug dealer. Everlast sings how you could never understand what they’ve been through, yet we still shun them. If we “God forbid…ever had to walk a mile in her shoes,” or “had to wake up to hear the news,” then maybe we “might know what it’s like” to sing the blues, to choose, or to lose. The song struck a chord with me because I’ve thought badly of people in these situations before, and I assumed I knew their situation. This song showed me that I was wrong.

                The Interlude is equally as important. Everybody falls down in life, and we’ve all seen “the good side of bad, the down side of up, and everything in between.” Bad things happen to every one of us, and Everlast wants us to understand that through this song. We can be against abortion, but until our life and future hang in the balance of a choice, we can’t understand what the right thing to do is.

                I love this song, its message, and its power, and I hope this song hit you hard too. And who knows, you might see another post sometime soon…until next time!

What It’s Like Lyrics:

We've all seen the man at the liquor store beggin' for your change 
The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange 
He asks a man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes 
"Get a job you f****n' slob," is all he replies 
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes 
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues 

Then you really might know what it's like 
Then you really might know what it's like 
Then you really might know what it's like 
Then you really might know what it's like 

Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom that said he was in love 
He said, "Don't worry about a thing, baby doll 
I'm the man you've been dreaming of." 
But 3 months later he say he won't date her or return her calls 
And she swear, "God d**n, if I find that man I'm cuttin' off his balls." 
And then she heads for the clinic and 
She gets some static walking through the door 
They call her a killer, and they call her a sinner 
And they call her a whore 
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes 
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to choose 

Then you really might know what it's like 
Then you really might know what it's like 
Then you really might know what it's like 
Then you really might know what it's like 

I've seen a rich man beg 
I've seen a good man sin 
I've seen a tough man cry 
I've seen a loser win 
And a sad man grin 
I heard an honest man lie 
I've seen the good side of bad 
And the downside of up 
And everything between 
I licked the silver spoon 
Drank from the golden cup 
And smoked the finest green 
I stroked the fattest dimes at least a couple of times 
Before I broke their heart 
You know where it ends, yo, it usually depends on where you start 

I knew this kid named Max 
Who used to get fat stacks out on the corner with drugs 
He liked to hang out late 
He liked to get s**t-faced and keep the pace with thugs 
Until late one night there was a big gun fight and Max lost his head 
He pulled out his chrome 45, talked some shit, and wound up dead 
Now his wife and his kids are caught in the midst of all of this pain 
You know it crumbles that way 
At least that's what they say when you play the game 
God forbid you ever had to wake up to hear the news 
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to lose 

Then you really might know what it's like 
Then you really might know what it's like 
Yeah then you really might know what it's like 
To have to lose

Travelin' Soldier

Travelin’ Soldier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wRbo9FJ-yM

This week I’m going to talk about a song a bit out of the norm for me. It’s by the Dixie Chicks, one of the few country bands I like, and this and their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide are my favorite two songs by them. The Song is called Travelin’ Soldier, from their 6^th album Home (2002).

I’ve heard this song since it came out, but then it seemed to disappear for years…until I heard it again this week.  The song’s lyrics tell a powerful story of the love that grows between two strangers waiting to be reunited. The story begins when a boy and a girl sitting on a pier right before he leaves for the army. He tells her “I got no one to send a letter to. Would you mind if I sent one back to you.” The unnamed boy is reaching out to this girl he doesn’t even know in hopes for a connection, and the chorus shows that the connection quickly turned into love.

The chorus is my favorite part of the song because of the emotion and personality the Dixie Chicks put into their singing. I can almost feel the sadness the “pretty little girl with a bow in her hair,” which a girl as young as her should never be burdened with. Her commitment to him is evident, and though she is fictional, she’s a reminder of how important our relationships with others, especially those we love, are. The majority of us will never understand the hope, pain, sadness, and power of men and women that are “waitin’ for the love of a travelin’ soldier,” but the song gives me a glimpse into their emotions. The last part of the chorus changes the sadness and pain to happiness though when the girl receives the letter saying her love is coming home.

I hope everyone who has a loved one in the military receives that letter too, and I thank everyone who has served for the dedication to us and our country. I could go on and on about this song, but the rest is for you all to discover and appreciate. Until next week.

Travelin Soldier Lyrics:

Two days past eighteen 
He was waiting for the bus in his army green 
Sat down in a booth at a cafe there 
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair 
He's a little shy so she gives him a smile 
And he said would you mind sittin' down for a while 
And talking to me, 
I'm feeling a little low 
She said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go 

So they went down and they sat on the pier 
He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care 
I got no one to send a letter to 
Would you mind if I sent one back here to you 

Chorus: I cried 
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy 
Too young for him they told her 
Waitin' for the love of the travelin' soldier 
Our love will never end 
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again 
Never born to be alone when the letter said 
Soldier's coming home 

So the letters came from an army camp 

From California then Vietnam 
And he told her of his heart 
It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of 
He said when it's getting kinda rough over here 
I think of that day sittin' down at the pier 
And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile 
Don't worry but I won't be able to write for awhile 

[Chorus] 

One friday night at a football game 
The lord's prayer said and the anthem sang 
A man said folks would you bow your heads 
For a list of local vietnam dead 
Crying all alone under the stands 
Was a piccolo player in the marching band 
And one name read and nobody really cared 
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair 

I cried never gonna hold the hand of another guy too young for him they told her waitin' for the love of the travelin' soldier our love will never end waitin' for the soldier to come back again never more to be alone when the letter said soldier's coming, {repeat chorus}