That's just the way it is.... But don't you believe that DU
Years ago I was listening to John Tesh on the radio. I was on a road trip and was on some remote dirt road near Prescott, AZ. Tesh was always a safe bet for some decent music and sometimes interesting backstories about the artists. Decent for a road trip. That day he was talking about Bruce Hornsby's song 'The Way it is' and some of the back story. If I remember correctly what he said, Hornsby was trying to write something meaningful that stood for his values. He played the song for his wife and she started laughing and thought the song was funny for some reason. According to John Tesh, Hornsby was really hurt and put the song on the back burner because of his wife's reaction. Years later he played it for her again and she listened more closely and realized it wasn't funny at all and was a very profound and powerful song. Hornsby then recorded the song and it became a huge hit. It has also been adopted by Black Lives Matter as sort of their "sound track". (see link below)
I decided to post about this tonight because I was just on a walk, listening to music and 'The Way It Is' came on and as usual the words and music moved me to tears and I immediately thought of everyone at DU and the millions of like minded people to us who have worked much of our lives to make positive change for minorities, women's rights, equality, environmental issues etc. etc. Sometimes it feels like "Some things will never change.." especially the last few years and last couple of months as it feels like many things are going backwards. But we can't give up and we can't let ourselves fall into the "Somethings will never change, that's just the way it is" mindset. I picked the handle Quixote because fighting the good fight often feels fruitless and even crazy but I won't ever let the difficulty deter me from continuing the good fight and I know everyone here feels the same way since we are all politically active. You all inspire me for caring and having kind and heartfelt values and for looking out for the little guy or gal. So if you are ever starting to lose hope and think maybe some things will never change, I hope you play this song and continue the good fight.
Snip: One of the songs on that first demo was “The Way It Is,” an earnest paean to marginalized Black Americans who face racism and poverty. “I wrote the song based on having grown up in a small Southern town where certain narrow-minded attitudes were fairly common and impactful on local events,” he said. Indeed, “The Way It Is” wasn’t just about bigotry — it was about the callous behavior that those in power exhibit to those less fortunate. In the song, a woman in a welfare line is sneered at by a passerby: “Just for fun, he says, ‘Get a job.’” The epochal Civil Rights Act and Economic Opportunity Act are referenced — both of which sought to help provide more opportunity for struggling Black Americans — but Hornsby acknowledges, “It only goes so far / ‘Cause the law don’t change another’s mind.”
Snip: It was easy at the time to be touched by the song’s sentiment but also roll your eyes. “The Way It Is” is an anthem of white liberal guilt, reducing systemic racism and economic inequality to a jazzy, peppy melody. And the chorus — “That’s just the way it is / Some things’ll never change / That’s just the way it is / Ha, but don’t you believe them” — suggests that, hey everybody, we can make a difference if we just put our minds to it. A simplistic sentiment, to be sure, but what saved “The Way It Is” was its genuineness, decency and modesty. Hornsby’s plainspoken, melancholy observations were the furthest thing from being proud of themselves — he was just some guy speaking out about what was bothering him.
https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/how-the-way-it-is-became-the-unlikely-soundtrack-to-the-black-lives-matter-movement
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