Song of the Day: Jack Johnson "Good People"
The radio today (today's alt-rock, 95.5 WBRU) announced they were playing Jack Johnson, but, disappointingly, they forsook his eminently singable breakthrough "Flake" for some new song called "Good People." I know we have to learn these tunes somehow, but there's nothing worse than really wanting to sing along with the radio, and then they go and play something you've never even heard of.
Oddly enough, I initially thought this song was really good, almost to the point of concern. See, unless a song is clearly and blatantly the most beautiful hook you've ever heard, it usually takes me a few listens (and at least a few days) to find any good in it. Now, if I try really really hard, I can sometimes see what's so charming about a song the very first time I hear it, but then I'll only ever like it about 75% as much as I would have had I let the whole process happen naturally. And in my desperation to sing along on the drive home today, I started scraping for melody in Jack Johnson's new chorus here, thus running the risk that, should there be anything to appreciate here, I'd never hear it. Listening to the radio is a struggle sometimes.
But I needn't have worried: this song is awesome. You can see the lyrics for yourself, and I'll copy the chorus:
Where'd all the good people go?
I've been changin channels
I dont see them on the tv shows
Where'd all the good people go
We got heaps and heaps of what we sow
Good question. Very good question. The people who can succeed today on reality TV (and in politics, journalism, acting, the music industry, the abortion industry, competitive eating, and probably your job too) are more likely than not good-looking, aggressive, and not so easily distracted by the constant question of whether they're doing the right thing. Where did all those good people go?
In my earlier essay on Jim Wallis' God's Politics I neglected to note one of his more powerful ideas: politicians and those in power, as a rule, will not do what's right when it's unpopular. So, since we can't make them run against the wind, what we have to do is change the wind. I think he and Jack Johnson are onto something here: stop encouraging bad behavior, and where that's difficult to define, we can instead encourage good people. That kind of thing won't save the world today or tomorrow, but just as we somehow drove good people out of public life over the course of decades, someday they'll come back.
P.S.: I would be remiss in not mentioning that "Good People" does, in fact, have a really awesome melody too. I was singing along with the chorus the first time I heard it today, and I've been singing it ever since.