THE GREAT DIVIDE
Singing together in harmony is an act of rebellion today
I’ve been feeling more and more disconnected from the world of late. The more I try to engage and interact, the less I want to see and feel. This is not a new thing. It’s been slowly building for some time. The world has changed a LOT since I started singing for a living 37 years ago and not necessarily for the better, but I keep looking for good things to sing about. As a songwriter, I’ve always tried to make sense of what’s happening in the world around me, especially when the path forward looks scary and dark … like right now. Today I have to admit that I have never been more confused and disillusioned.
But perhaps that’s exactly how the billionaires want us to feel ?
A frightened and divided population is far less capable of meaningful resistance than a people united. Fear and hatred are the enemies of HOPE and they seem to have free reign for now … but not forever. History teaches every empire will eventually fall and that is what I hope we are witnessing now. While our collective future has never appeared more precarious, I still believe we have more in common than the sum of our differences so I wrote this song to remind me of the simple things we all still share:
Humanity has reached a crossroads and we all now have a simple choice to make : SINK OR SWIM. Will we choose love and life or war and death ? I don’t know yet but I’m tired of waiting passively around to find out how this game will end. We have to remember that we are not powerless. We are still capable of active and effective RESISTANCE against those who seek power through division and submission. The emperor wannabes would keep us afraid and shivering alone in the dark. They want us feeling helpless and hopeless but TOGETHER we are not alone and as long as we have songs wrung from human hearts and good people willing to sing them there will always be HOPE.
So if you are looking for some way to fight back against the growing darkness that surrounds us, come out and SING your hearts out with me. Show the would be despots that you are not afraid to go out and ENJOY yourself in spite of all the ugly deeds they are doing to this planet. I can think of no sweeter act of rebellion than to turn off your phone, fill your lungs with a deep breath of fresh air, and release it safely into room full of neighbours and friends in a shared harmony of positive and peaceful intentions.
Trump would hate that.
We, of the West and other countries not entirely crushed under the boot of despots and oligarchs, have enjoyed peace since the end of Korea. In that period, we got a tense but stable-ish security and wars were smaller, so life for most of the people in our countries could enjoy a society that was humane, kindly, and concerned for their fellow citizens.
Along comes the greed mongers and those who are vastly rich and who have done things (enough of them anyway) to be suspicious us and they are scared now so they are trying to get every dollar in the world while fewer people will be able to afford food, let alone shelter. Already, 90%+ of all wealth on the planet are owned by less than 1% of the population.
Education as it was came from the need for the Industry needing workers that could be cranked out very fast and with a standard of conformity.
Now, the top 1% have figured out they may actually be able to almost every dollar. They literally want to be God-Kings with no accountability. And it is possible that the rest of us could simply be serfs just as feudalism worked centuries back.
So for us, the task is how to survive in a world with fewer jobs, for kids who feel bent down from the weight of thinking they won't ever get a job, and maybe we could be invaded for our resources.
So how do we survive?
Learn every skill you can so that you could trade some money or food for a day's work. A lot of that happened during the Great Depression in the US (and thus in Canada). Men road the rails to get to the next place where they might find a days work. People were lean. People worked for whatever they could to survive.
And organize, where possible, to help each other. My mother came from WWII Scottish stock and she had German bombs dropping on her neighbourhood. She didn't stop. She kept doing what she could do and to be aware that others have already fought and helped the good people of the West and the like. Even up to her last breathe, she tried to make the world a better place because she saw the death in WWII and felt, like many of her generation, that they had to be better, do more, and push themselves harder because so many others weren't there (lost in the War). It was the only thing you could do to honour them - get up, put your pack on, settle it even if it is hard, and start walking. And keep walking until you find your community.
Community is something that helps groups survive the worst times. My mother was once sent by her mother to go down to her dad at the coal mine - working his THIRD successive shift because there had been a collapse at the mine. The payment? The mine boss send my mother home to her mother with cabbage - for the the two 'unpaid' shifts - and her mom was HAPPY to have the cabbage. And when kids in the neighborhood were running amok because some of them were at the mine so the other parents on the street got policed by the other parents that were around and sometimes one of someones kid stayed at your place and another day you might stay at another's place. No kids starved or were left alone.
We may have to fight - first with heart, humanity, and courage. The Finns have word SISU - it means 'finding a way when placed in a situation so extreme that there is nothing to do but find a way, whatever it takes, to keep going'. We need that here in Canada.
Hang in there, don't let our differences break our nation. Acknowledge those differences and look to bridge those differences or at least to try to see what the other side really feels.
I'd rather go down trying than just giving up. Be nice to your neighbours. Coordinate. Understand that you not putting up a great voice means the ones who want to make us impotent will be able to. We need to organize, rally at times, and send strong messages to those who thing we are too weak to stand.
We can stand for a lot more before we are done. It might teach us what sparsity means and what 'things we want or wish for' isn't but the necessary things are just that.
Good luck on the tour! And don't accept that we are broken and helpless for that is only that IF WE ALLOW IT. Don't.
Sisu (pronounced see-su) is a unique Finnish word and cultural concept that describes a specific brand of extraordinary determination, grit, and resilience. It is widely considered untranslatable, as no single English word captures its full depth, but it is often described as "having guts" or "intestinal fortitude".
Core Meaning and Philosophy
The Second Wind: Sisu is not just momentary courage; it is the ability to sustain that courage when success seems unlikely or all hope appears lost. It is the "inner fire" you tap into when you have reached the end of your mental or physical capacity.
Action Mindset: It involves a quiet, stoic commitment to taking action against the odds and finishing what you start, regardless of the cost or lack of a "silver lining".
Etymology: The word stems from the Finnish root sisus, meaning "interior," "inside," or "guts". Historically, it referred to the literal insides of a person where strong feelings and spirit were thought to reside.
Historical and Cultural Significance
National Identity: Sisu is a cornerstone of Finnish national character. It gained international fame during the Winter War (1939–1940), when heavily outnumbered Finnish forces successfully held off the Soviet invasion against overwhelming odds.
I was listening to this track earlier today and I'll admit it caught me at a moment in time that I just had to stop and cry, for what this world has become, what this world could be, and for that glimmer of hope that, if we hold on and help each other, we can make it together.