Now it cuts like a knife
But it feels so right

They call it a movement. It’s not organized at first, not focused grouped, not marketed and nothing is sold. But events transpire, outliers take a stand, people challenge their preconceptions and change is made.

That’s how we stopped the Vietnam War.

Come on, this is America! We trust the government, we win all our wars!

And then we found ourselves mired in a conflict no amount of gunpowder and manpower could bring to a close.

First there were the academics and the cranks, people easily dismissed by the mainstream. Then came the artists, then came the youth, then change happened.

As it did with civil rights.

And then gay marriage.

Not everybody is on board at the advent, but when people they respect speak out, when they investigate all sides of the issue, they change their minds and they evangelize.

It started in Ferguson. And then spread throughout the land. Turns out black people were still being kept down.

But it wasn’t only them, but the proletariat, they protested against Wall Street, saying the game was rigged, that they’d suffered but the fat cats had not.

And there were two sides. One unquestioningly backing institutions, defending the police and the status quo, and another saying THIS AIN’T RIGHT!

But life has gotten so much harder. Everyone’s afraid of losing their spot on the ladder, if there is one at all. But the youth are the most disadvantaged, their opportunity has been stolen.

And it’s the youth who are not racist, who have no problem with gay or transgendered people. Of course I’m generalizing, but if you don’t think MTV liberalized the views of the public, you never watched, and everybody else did.

As for the conservatives… They always lose in the long run, because we live in a liberal nation. Unplanned pregnancies happen to those of all faiths and political views. Everybody’s got a gay relative. Everybody knows someone who O.D.’ed. We all just want to get along, can you respect our civil rights?

That’s what’s going on in North Carolina and Mississippi, an erosion of civil rights. And if you don’t think you’re threatened, you can’t see that whites will soon be a minority in this great nation of ours, how’s that gonna feel, when the tables are turned?

And then there are those in the middle, who don’t want to piss anybody off. Like Jimmy Buffett, refusing to cancel concerts in North Carolina, even though he won’t book any in the future. It’s not about your audience and it’s not about your wallet, it’s deeper than that, it’s your right to live freely. Some things are more important than music, Springsteen had that right.

And the only reason there’s a conflagration is because Bruce spoke out. Took action. Put gasoline on the fire. Those who said he should have just played and talked don’t know that actions speak louder than words. And that may be unfortunate, but if you think words are everything you’ve spent too much time on the internet.

This is a pushback.

And now the rank and file is paying attention. Because of the Boss and Bryan Adams. Because they both know they’re misfits at heart, were never captains of the football team, never the most popular people in their high school. They found an outlet, called music, where they could be themselves and speak to the rest of the alienated, who turned out to outnumber the theoretically straight and well-adjusted.

That’s what Woodstock was about, showing the so-called “silent majority” that their kids had left home mentally if not physically, and they were drawn to the truth and honesty in the music.

I don’t expect new acts to get on the bandwagon right away. Because they’re too young to have experienced the way it was. But they’ll come, when they find out being right is more important than being rich, and oftentimes being right makes you rich!

You don’t understand, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

First they came for your abortion.

Then they came for your right to be LGBT.

Meanwhile, they infiltrated the courts as a result of the Federalist Society they created years ago.

Don’t tell the musicians to shut up.

They were just living their lives whilst the evil demons were plotting.

But now those plots are evident.

I lived through 1968. There was no doubt that Nixon would be the Republican nominee, it was only the Democrats who were in disarray. But in 2016 both parties are fighting for their souls, with no nominees yet anointed.

Because it turns out people are mad as hell and aren’t gonna take it anymore.

They don’t trust their government or the institutions.

Who else is gonna speak out but the artists?

And you’ve got to hit ’em where they live, by taking something away, you’ve got to make it hurt.

This is only the beginning. We may no longer fight about the length of one’s hair, but our country is divided and needs to be brought back together.

We’ve got to get out of each other’s lives and let people be free. All the world over that’s the way it should be, people everywhere just want to be free. And when you take away our freedoms we push back.

Ignore the naysayers, the get-alongers, those who’ve got theirs.

This is a coalition of misfits and the disadvantaged.

And there are more of us than them.

Just you wait and see.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM BRYAN:
STOP BILL 1523 – bryanadams.com