As you may know if you follow this blog regularly, my favorite kinds of music are rock/metal & classical.  However, I do still listen to country music from time to time.  In fact, I can honestly say there isn’t a single genre of music that I don’t like at least occasionally, the reason being that good lyrics can transcend any & all genre lines.

In any case, while running some errands this morning I was listening to In This Moment’s steller 2014 album Black Widow.  When the eleventh song Natural Born Sinner came on, I was struck by how the song is so relevant to our world today with all of the polarization that is so rampant in light of recent world events.  I wrote a post a while ago about that song & how I feel it is so meaningful for those of us who support gay rights.  But as is the case with any truly great song, the lyrics can be applied to many different situations.  

Anyhow, as I thought about how important it is for each of us to not get caught up in the polarization that makes us view the world with an “us vs them” mentality, I was reminded of one of my favorite country songs, Bleed Red by Ronnie Dunn.

As my thoughts revolved around current world it events, it occurred to me, as it often has before, that while religion was theoretically created to inspire love & peace, quite often it is used for just the opposite purpose.  One can plainly see this in our world today.  Just to be clear, I’m not one of these naive social justice warriors who thinks everyone should just hold hands & sing Kum Ba Yah & that there aren’t some truly evil people in this world.  Of course there are.  We can see this quite plainly with the recent terrorist attacks in Paris & California & various other places across the globe.  

However, I see nothing worthwhile to be gained from continuing with the “us vs them” mentality that so often rises up after such tragic events.  As much as I feel that these acts of terrorism can never be justified, I am also smart enough to realize that many of the actions the US has taken in the Middle East over the past few decades have done nothing but feed the fires of hate that fuel such attacks . . .

It’s also occurred to me recently that the US was quite literally founded on the basis of terrorism . . . or at the very least genocide.  Hello, what else can we rightly call the widespread destruction of the Native American people?  I’m by no means saying that their cultures were all 100% peaceful & perfect before the Europeans entered the continent. But the manner in which these people were treated for hundreds of years cannot possibly be considered humane in any way, shape, or form.  I don’t see how we can overlook the similarity between the systematic destruction of the Native Americans, fueled largely by racism & religion, & current terrorist events which are likewise fueled largely by racism & religion.

Anyhow, allow me to return to the song which inspired this post.  I think it would behoove each of us to read these lyrics & take them to heart.

Let's say we're sorry

Before it's too late

Give forgiveness a chance

Let the anger turn to water

Let it slip through our hands

We all bleed red

We all taste rain

We all fall down

Lose our way

We all say words we regret

We all cry tears

We all bleed red

If we're fighting

We're both losing

We're just wasting our time

Because my scars

They are your scars

And your world is mine

You & I . . .

We all bleed red

We all taste rain

All fall down

Lose our way

We all say words we regret

We all cry tears

We all bleed red

Sometimes we're strong

Sometimes we're weak

Sometimes we're hurt

And it cuts deep

We live this life 

Breath to breath

We're all the same

We all bleed red

Let's say we're sorry

Before it's too late

We all bleed red

All taste rain

All fall down

Lose our way

We all say words we regret

We all cry tears

We all bleed red

Sometimes we're strong

Sometimes we're weak

Sometimes we're hurt

And it cuts deep

We live this life 

Breath to breath

We're all the same

We all bleed red

 

This song was released 4 years ago but the power of the lyrics is timeless, which of course is the mark of a truly great song.  To many people, music is just disposable, something to listen to to make them feel good for a few minutes & then to throw away the minute the next mindless hit comes along.  Such a mentality towards music angers me to no end because to me music is my religion, my way of life.  It’s the very force that empowers me to face an often chaotic & seemingly uncaring world.

 

Anyhow, the next time you’re tempted to allow fear to overcome you & thus hate to enter your heart, I hope you’ll remember we all bleed red.