One of my favorite songs since it was released. It is sad that it is still relevant today and that we haven't grown past these problems. Humans are the broken link in the chain of nature.
Wasn’t that a time, indeed. Yet as one who was born exactly five months before the Enola Gay opened her bomb bay doors over Hiroshima and changed the world forever, I sometimes feel I’ve lived my whole life in one storm or another. Other generations have surely felt the like - our capacity for creating storms goes back to the dawn of what we call civilization. But as a plank owner in the first generation to grow up knowing that one of those storms could end us, the storms that didn’t but could have took on an added dimension of madness. And we’re still at it. We know what’s going on - we always have. We just can’t seem to stop it.
I think we could if the people in position to change the situation cared enough. But, sadly this is not the case. All the wrong people have the power, aka, money.
But we are the people in a position to change the situation. That's why it's called a democracy (or a Republic if you want political precision). We change nothing if we blame the problem on someone else.
Does the fact that there are large amounts of money floating around make it easier for some to influence the situation, the larger picture? Of course. But in the end, each of us votes alone based on our own version of the facts and the issues. It is the one power we hold, and it also is the ultimate one.
If that were not the case, discussions like this one and thousands of others like it would be meaningless.
Thank you for your comment. I respect and appreciate it. Blaming never solved anything so that is not the intention here. I am just stating a fact that money can buy more than a product on a shelf. You are right we do have voting and I agree it does give us power. However, In 2016 that was not the case. 2016 was a slap in our collective faces. It created a distrust in the system and until that situation is fixed, can we really trust in the system? I love America, but I cannot stand what is happening to it.
I appreciate your response, and as one who taught its history at the elementary level for over 40 years, I share your love for the country we could and should be. But as that teacher, I also know that what is happening now is not a new thing, but rather part of a continuing expression of the differing visions of this country that have existed in one form or another since our inception.
Democracy, even at its best is a messy business. Those of us who understand that and are at least willing to deal with it (if not thrive on it) are those for whom the nation was created. But there are and always will be those who don't like that messiness - who want a greater homogeneity, a greater simplicity of answers and a set of easy solutions to problems that are often anything but easy to define or solve. Those yearnings are the bread and butter of demagogues, and we have always had our share of them.
We are and always will be in a state of tension between the two.
Thank you. You're right it is a messy business and there are no simple answers, except one. Money should never take precedence over what the people vote for. Love America and these conversations at Steady too. Have a lovely rest of the Memorial day weekend.
Thank you Dan Rather for another great reminder of this very powerful song that feels just as relevant today as it did when it first hit the airways. And we all have to keep asking WHAT’S GOING ON and find ways to make positive and permanent changes so that our grand children and great grandchildren don’t have to keep asking “what’s going on”…
Right on the feels, Dan. I'm sitting here bawling not only because of the song's message and its relevance when it was originally released, but how relevant it is now.
Thanks for the reminder, Dan Rather. First things first: Happy Memorial weekend to everyone in Steady. “” What’s going On”.
A sure reminder of the mistakes and malaise in the past.
A subtle reminder and the question we all should beg to ask each other “” What will go on in the immediate future “” if this morally bankrupt Orange head is elected again.
About a year ago, I had occasion to see a newspaper front page from 1972 or '73. It was a shocking reminder to see that the same issues---war, pollution, poverty, rights issues---haven't changed in all this time. I remember those times, but when it's there in black and white that we've made so little progress....
I guess the only difference now is that over-population has become a third-rail topic, when it should still be front and center of our concerns, considering the crisis of climate change.
I’ve always been touched by the line “father father, we don’t have to escalate” in light of the fact that his enraged father killed him. I imagine there was plenty of personal history behind that song.
What a poignant and timely piece, Mr. Rather. It is dumbfounding that we continue to repeat past mistakes over and over again. My best to you all on this meaningful Memorial Day weekend. I am placing the lyrics to this tune to remind your readers of their profound impact. Most of us know these by heart, but here they are anyway:
Dunno if I can post, but your recitation of the song was so poignant: during that time, I worked at the Stanford Coffeehouse, where during the pitched battles, we had bowls of water for the teargassed: one door for demonstrators, and one for law enforcement. I remember armed riot police on the roof of The Old Union next door to Tressider. Such a marvel for a little white girl who just came to learn to be a teacher & enjoyed Branner Hall, the first co-ed form on campus...
Enjoy your Memorial Day, Dan and everyone. I hold these words in my heart in hopes that we all heed the message.
"The Lord did not people the earth with a vibrant orchestra of personalities only to value the piccolos of the world. Every instrument is precious and adds to the complex beauty of the symphony. All of Heavenly Father’s children are different in some degree, yet each has his own beautiful sound that adds depth and richness to the whole. (Wirthlin, Joseph B. (2008, April 2)."
It is with sadness that I recall Marvin Gay lived in Europe most of his adult life. Discrimination/prejudice drove this supremely talented artist over the pond.
Ahead of his time talent whose life ended too soon. I loved this song from the moment I first heard it in the radio “back then”. As heartbreaking today as it was then. We really have not learned much, have we? But, it does make me smile for my lost youth ❤️
As a teenager many years ago I worked one summer at a golf course in New Jersey. This very handsome man came in to play. After their cart ran out of power on the first hole his partner (and agent) came to get a new one and asked the cart girl if she knew who that was. He told her he was there to play the Latin Casino night club. We were all awe struck and embarrassed in equal measure. That Christmas I received several Marvin Gaye 45’s. Loved them all.
His voice and those words! I was fifteen and we all were listening to this song. It still resonates today because we haven’t learnt a bloody since then.
One of my favorite songs since it was released. It is sad that it is still relevant today and that we haven't grown past these problems. Humans are the broken link in the chain of nature.
Now that’s a songwriter to live up to. I wish I had taken that direction earlier during my high school daze. But a beautiful song.
Wasn’t that a time, indeed. Yet as one who was born exactly five months before the Enola Gay opened her bomb bay doors over Hiroshima and changed the world forever, I sometimes feel I’ve lived my whole life in one storm or another. Other generations have surely felt the like - our capacity for creating storms goes back to the dawn of what we call civilization. But as a plank owner in the first generation to grow up knowing that one of those storms could end us, the storms that didn’t but could have took on an added dimension of madness. And we’re still at it. We know what’s going on - we always have. We just can’t seem to stop it.
I think we could if the people in position to change the situation cared enough. But, sadly this is not the case. All the wrong people have the power, aka, money.
But we are the people in a position to change the situation. That's why it's called a democracy (or a Republic if you want political precision). We change nothing if we blame the problem on someone else.
Does the fact that there are large amounts of money floating around make it easier for some to influence the situation, the larger picture? Of course. But in the end, each of us votes alone based on our own version of the facts and the issues. It is the one power we hold, and it also is the ultimate one.
If that were not the case, discussions like this one and thousands of others like it would be meaningless.
Thank you for your comment. I respect and appreciate it. Blaming never solved anything so that is not the intention here. I am just stating a fact that money can buy more than a product on a shelf. You are right we do have voting and I agree it does give us power. However, In 2016 that was not the case. 2016 was a slap in our collective faces. It created a distrust in the system and until that situation is fixed, can we really trust in the system? I love America, but I cannot stand what is happening to it.
I appreciate your response, and as one who taught its history at the elementary level for over 40 years, I share your love for the country we could and should be. But as that teacher, I also know that what is happening now is not a new thing, but rather part of a continuing expression of the differing visions of this country that have existed in one form or another since our inception.
Democracy, even at its best is a messy business. Those of us who understand that and are at least willing to deal with it (if not thrive on it) are those for whom the nation was created. But there are and always will be those who don't like that messiness - who want a greater homogeneity, a greater simplicity of answers and a set of easy solutions to problems that are often anything but easy to define or solve. Those yearnings are the bread and butter of demagogues, and we have always had our share of them.
We are and always will be in a state of tension between the two.
Thank you. You're right it is a messy business and there are no simple answers, except one. Money should never take precedence over what the people vote for. Love America and these conversations at Steady too. Have a lovely rest of the Memorial day weekend.
Well said.
Thank you Dan Rather for another great reminder of this very powerful song that feels just as relevant today as it did when it first hit the airways. And we all have to keep asking WHAT’S GOING ON and find ways to make positive and permanent changes so that our grand children and great grandchildren don’t have to keep asking “what’s going on”…
"Won't"...
thank you
Something’s happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear. there’s a man with a gun over there telling me, I got to beware.
For What It’s Worth - Buffalo Springfield 1966
Thanks. I'd also suggest Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire". "What else do I have to say?"
Buffalo Springfield thank you for the reminder
Anne Murray: sure could use a little good news today…..
Right on the feels, Dan. I'm sitting here bawling not only because of the song's message and its relevance when it was originally released, but how relevant it is now.
Same Lou, same.
Thanks for the reminder, Dan Rather. First things first: Happy Memorial weekend to everyone in Steady. “” What’s going On”.
A sure reminder of the mistakes and malaise in the past.
A subtle reminder and the question we all should beg to ask each other “” What will go on in the immediate future “” if this morally bankrupt Orange head is elected again.
My two cents, Dan Rather
Thank you
....except the mistakes and malaise aren't in the past; they're ongoing.
Yes, thank you, very true. It’s always the poor impoverished class getting the shaft, not only in USA but all over the world.
Thank you
About a year ago, I had occasion to see a newspaper front page from 1972 or '73. It was a shocking reminder to see that the same issues---war, pollution, poverty, rights issues---haven't changed in all this time. I remember those times, but when it's there in black and white that we've made so little progress....
I guess the only difference now is that over-population has become a third-rail topic, when it should still be front and center of our concerns, considering the crisis of climate change.
As unforgettable now as it was then! And, no, we haven’t learned from our mistakes. Thanks for the reminder.
I’ve always been touched by the line “father father, we don’t have to escalate” in light of the fact that his enraged father killed him. I imagine there was plenty of personal history behind that song.
Cynthia, it was later found his father was suffering from a brain tumor, Such tragedy all round.
Historically, "they" will almost always "pull the trigger"...
What a poignant and timely piece, Mr. Rather. It is dumbfounding that we continue to repeat past mistakes over and over again. My best to you all on this meaningful Memorial Day weekend. I am placing the lyrics to this tune to remind your readers of their profound impact. Most of us know these by heart, but here they are anyway:
🌻💙🙏
Whats Going On -by Marvin Gaye
Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, yeah
Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
Oh, what's going on (What's going on)
What's going on (What's going on)
What's going on (What's going on)
What's going on (What's going on)
Right on, baby
Right on, baby
Right on
Mother, mother
Everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply 'cause our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Come on talk to me
So you can see
What's going on (What's going on)
Yeah, what's going on (What's going on)
Tell me what's going on (What's going on)
I'll tell you, what's going on (What's going on)
Right on, baby, right on
Right on, baby
Right on, baby, right on
Dunno if I can post, but your recitation of the song was so poignant: during that time, I worked at the Stanford Coffeehouse, where during the pitched battles, we had bowls of water for the teargassed: one door for demonstrators, and one for law enforcement. I remember armed riot police on the roof of The Old Union next door to Tressider. Such a marvel for a little white girl who just came to learn to be a teacher & enjoyed Branner Hall, the first co-ed form on campus...
Enjoy your Memorial Day, Dan and everyone. I hold these words in my heart in hopes that we all heed the message.
"The Lord did not people the earth with a vibrant orchestra of personalities only to value the piccolos of the world. Every instrument is precious and adds to the complex beauty of the symphony. All of Heavenly Father’s children are different in some degree, yet each has his own beautiful sound that adds depth and richness to the whole. (Wirthlin, Joseph B. (2008, April 2)."
Fabulous quote—thank you!
Thank you.
This is truly a reason to smile.
Marvin Gaye built bridges among people with his music.
💙
It is with sadness that I recall Marvin Gay lived in Europe most of his adult life. Discrimination/prejudice drove this supremely talented artist over the pond.
Ahead of his time talent whose life ended too soon. I loved this song from the moment I first heard it in the radio “back then”. As heartbreaking today as it was then. We really have not learned much, have we? But, it does make me smile for my lost youth ❤️
A timeless classic that continues to speak its truth today. Thank you very much Dan Rather🙏✨🌻
As a teenager many years ago I worked one summer at a golf course in New Jersey. This very handsome man came in to play. After their cart ran out of power on the first hole his partner (and agent) came to get a new one and asked the cart girl if she knew who that was. He told her he was there to play the Latin Casino night club. We were all awe struck and embarrassed in equal measure. That Christmas I received several Marvin Gaye 45’s. Loved them all.
His voice and those words! I was fifteen and we all were listening to this song. It still resonates today because we haven’t learnt a bloody since then.
Beautiful and sad
Life’s a struggle- keep up the fight