The world feels so divisive these days. Was it always this way but it wasn’t so obvious because it wasn’t so in your face before the existence of social media?
Perhaps people felt just as strongly about many issues but either kept their opinions to themselves or shared them only within their intimate circles rather than blast them out for everyone to hear.
Whatever the case, it’s really draining.
This week’s song is from fall 2020 and is about a desire for everyone to get along, despite our differences.
Maybe I’ve never felt your pain, never known your sorrow
I’m still dreamin’ of a better tomorrow
I’ve never walked a mile in your shoes
Yet I know the world has lots of healing to do
Although I don’t claim to know how you feel because I haven’t had your experiences, I want the world to be a better place and realize that there’s work that needs to be done.
Let me walk beside you, let me lighten your load
Let me lend you a sweater when you’re feeling cold
The future looks better when you don’t face it alone
Let me walk beside you, you don’t need to fight this on your own
I may not know what you are going through but I hope you know that you are not alone.
I’m tryin’ to understand, maybe I never will
This path of good intentions keeps heading uphill
History left its debris, hindering our way
Now it’s up to us to make a change
As I mentioned earlier, I know I can’t completely understand what you are going through, but I’m trying. I think a lot of people feel this way and have good intentions, but then say or do things that they don’t realize are insensitive. It becomes more and difficult to put these thoughts into words because of this sensitivity and it’s difficult to know what will offend people these days.
Some of it has to do with how things were done in the past, many times by people we don’t even know yet we are collectively held responsible for others’ actions. “History left its debris,” refers to the the repercussions we feel today by what happened in the past. Years and decades and centuries of fighting, discrimination, torture between people whose descendants were born into the current situation. All of this history hinders the decisions we make today. Yet it’s up to us who are here today who can change the way things are because we are here. Are we able to move past the past to view what we have now and try to heal?
We are one, we are one, we’re all connected
All our broken pieces fit together in the end
We are one, we are one, without exception
No more knocking down, let’s help each other up instead
Different people have different strengths and weaknesses. Some people have what others don’t. Somehow everything fits together in the end.
I realize this song is idealistic and possibly naïve. After all, it’s human nature to make current judgments based on what happened in the past and some things may be so atrocious that it’s not possible to forgive, especially if others were hurt by someone’s actions. However, I think we can all take small steps to move things in the right direction. For instance, we can have a little more patience in certain situations when others may be facing their own struggles or simply having a bad day. We can be a little kinder to the people we come into contact with throughout the day. We can try to not make assumptions about people based on their appearance and try to give people the benefit of the doubt.
This is meant to be a positive, group-sing type of song, perfect for an occasion where people are gathered together for a cause that has a goal to improve the lives of everyone. Not sure if I succeeded, but imagine a large group of people singing it together when you listen to this week’s song. This version has vocals and guitar and it was recorded on my phone in fall 2020.
My Songwriting Journey 