“Be the change you hope to see in the world.” In 2008, I recorded Promise. The title track was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s call to action. I’m not really a professional musician and I had no business putting out an album. But it was something I’d always wanted to do, so what the hell!
That was twelve years ago (I can hardly believe it’s been that long). Shortly after we finished the album, the United States had a meltdown. It felt like another Great Depression knocking on our door. Many many people lost a great deal. Prospects were bleak. And yet, one day at a time, we moved forward. Markets recovered. People went back to work. Little by little things got better.
Today we face a much more profound crisis, one that will likely challenge us for years to come. Coronavirus doesn’t care about your race, nationality, gender, religion, party, bank account or sexual preference. It demands that we reconsider how we treat all of our neighbors on this planet—local and distant. That’s a tall order. I mean, come on, who knew that toilet paper was going to turn out to be our achilles heel? I have relatives driving all over New Jersey looking for a roll. This crisis feels even more serious because it comes after years of ugly politics and a looming global environmental disaster.
By now most of us (if we’re lucky) are homebound, sheltering with loved ones. We’ve been reaching out to family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors with phone calls, texts, FaceTime, Zoom and whatever social media platforms are our cup of tea. All that reaching out feels like a silver lining, reminding us of what’s important. We’ve been masking and gloving ourselves for needed trips to the grocery store. We’ve been taking our temperatures, watching the daily briefings, checking the global tallies, and plowing through all the junk food. It all feels like a bad sci-fi movie.
And now I find myself revisiting Promise, a song about the love that two people share when they commit themselves to each other, a song about the obligations we share as members of a community—to stick by one another through thick and thin, and to treat each fairly with honesty, generosity, kindness and, maybe once in a while, a little humor.
We will come out on the other side of this coronavirus crisis. I’d like to believe that the experience will inspire our better natures, maybe not forever but at least for a time. Maybe the human race that comes out on the other side will be a little more thoughtful, a little more egalitarian, a little more tolerant, a little more compassionate, and yes, still occasionally hilarious. Why not? Be the change that you hope to see in the world … and wash your hands!
Promise
All through the trials and tribulations
All through the hours of despair
All through the fires and confabulations
All through all the pondering
I’ll be there for you.
She saw him standing on the corner
He was waiting for the light to change
He saw her waiting on a train
Standing on a elevated platform in the shade
She heard him wince in fear and pain
He watched her trying to make him believe again.
All through the years getting by just to pay the bills
All through the worries what if one of us gets sick
All through the years nurturing our kids, hoping they’ll have a better life
All through all the pondering
I’ll be there for you.
He’s the one who lost his job and can’t remember who he always hoped he’d be.
She’s the one who lost her son and can’t remember what the hell this war was supposed to be.
When we get out in the night, don’t you worry if the way seems dim and cold.
If we step out of the light, don’t you worry if we stumble from the road.
We can change the world.
If we stick together, hand in hand, we can change the world.
All through the trials and tribulations
All through the hours of despair
All through the fires…
All through all the bullshit baby
I’ll be there for you, and you’ll be there for me too.
All through all the bullshit baby
I’ll be there for you, and you’ll be there for me too.
