Saturday, November 05, 2011

Legislative impasse

I love today's song. The first time I heard it, I thought the lyrics expressed a man's frustration with a woman, but after listening to it in regular rotation on my iTunes list, I began to hear it in a different way. Viewed in that new light (heard through a different ear?), the lyrics seemed to apply to a number of different situations, including the frustration legislators on one side of the aisle must feel when those on the other side refuse to budge.

For the record, I don't intend to turn this into a political blog, so please don't write me off forever just because your opinions differ from mine. It's just that today seems like a good time to feature this song since I already ventured into political territory earlier in the week.   What's more, the song is neutral, even if my opinion is not.

The title of the song is "Blue to a Blind Man." Here are the lyrics:

Blue to a Blind Man
by Ken Block

You think we're broken,
What if we're just a little cracked?
I know we're choking on the little things
That seem to come with time.

One word and watch our armies brawl.
No one will bend until one falls.
We used to fight, you for me and me for you,
Tied up without the words that might cut through.

It's like trying to teach blue to a blind man,
Rude to a kind man, or walking on the sun.
You try, and I do all that I can,
But teaching blue to a blind man can't be done.

We used our soldiers,
And it was us against the world.
The toll was taken, now we're buried under life
That comes with time.

One word and watch our eagles (egos?) brawl, 
No one will bend until one falls.
We used to fight, but you for me and me for you.

It's like trying to teach blue to a blind man,
Truth to a lie, and walking on the sun.
I try and I do all that I can,
But teaching blue to a blind man can't be done.

We can go home, 
You can sleep,
And I can think for a while.
We can't go on and on,
On empty, or endless oceans dry.

It's like trying to teach blue to a blind man,
Rude to a kind man, and screaming at the sun.
You try, and I, I do all that I can,
But teaching blue to a blind man can't be done.

It can't be done.
I'm teaching blue to a blind man.

And here's the music video:


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(Thanks to scottymo2009 for posting this video on YouTube.)

7 comments:

  1. I love the song. You could be right about our legislators.

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  2. Andy Rooney died today. He would never say if he was a Democrat or a Republican. I found out today that he was a Democrat and I liked him even more.

    One time on 60 minutes, he had a segment about how we Americans are SO much more powerful than we realize.

    "Let's pick one stray week in January and just agree not to fly anywhere," he said. "I think the airlines would get the message that they need to change some of their ridiculous rules."

    I thought we should do that, I really did.

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  3. Nan16, they're not getting much done for some reason.

    Maria, I like that story about Andy Rooney. Thanks for telling it.

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  4. Very nice song, Linda. Without me getting too political, just let me say one thing... IF you will check all through the years at our Congresses, you will find that when they bog down and totally disagree and won't even compromise, the cause is always NO LEADERSHIP from the top. And --we certainly don't have one bit of partison leadership at the top now.... (Just my opinion--but it goes along with history)...
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  5. Betsy, I'll admit that President Obama hasn't led as forcefully as I'd hoped he would to bring about the changes the majority of voters wanted when we elected him, but I think that might change in a second term in office. After reading your comment, I looked online for a while last night and again early this morning and couldn't find anything that specifically addresses the relationship between leadership (or lack thereof) and bogged-down Congresses. Can you recommend a book or other compilation of historical research on this particular subject? I'd like to know more.

    Thanks for your comment. I've missed your posts at Joyful Reflections and am so glad you're feeling well enough to post again.

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  6. I love the song and now I can't get it out of my head. Had to download from iTunes. As for our legislators...I've almost given up hope that they will be able for work for the American people rather than working to get re-elected.

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  7. Annette, I'm glad you like the song. It's great that we can download songs we like from iTunes, but wouldn't it be that good or better if there were a website where we could upload and get rid of the songs that get stuck in our heads?

    ReplyDelete

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