Independence Day

[jenk]

Last night I turned on the CD player. I'd forgotten what CDs were on it, and when I heard "Ain't Goin Down" I certainly wasn't thinking of July 4th celebrations.

But partway through this song I started hearing the words - "When we're free to love anyone we choose [or] to worship from our own kind of pew" - I realized why songs like "Comin' to America" or "Proud to be An American" or the other songs played during fireworks are really only so-so: those songs assume that we're free now. We're not. And this song isn't afraid to say we're not.

I may not agree with everything this song has to say. But I'm glad it says it.

This ain't comin' from no prophet
Just an ordinary man
When I close my eyes I see
The way this world shall be
When we all walk hand in hand

When the last child cries for a crust of bread
When the last man dies for just words that he said
When there's shelter over the poorest head
We shall be free

When the last thing we notice is the color of skin
And the first thing we look for is the beauty within
When the skies and the oceans are clean again
Then we shall be free

We shall be free
We shall be free
Stand straight, walk proud
'Cause we shall be free

When we're free to love anyone we choose
When this world's big enough for all different views
When we all can worship from our own kind of pew
Then we shall be free
We shall be free

We shall be free
Have a little faith
Hold out
'Cause we shall be free

And when money talks for the very last time
And nobody walks a step behind
When there's only one race and that's mankind
Then we shall be free

We shall be free
We shall be free
Stand straight, walk proud, have a little faith, hold out
We shall be free

We shall be free
We shall be free
Stand straight, have a little faith

We shall be free - Written by: Garth Brooks, Stephanie Davis