Compassionate Societies

Compassionate Song

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• Category: Other societal Compassion articles
• Published on Tuesday, 01 November 2011 02:42
• Written by Sohyun Park
• Hits: 312

I want to highlight one of the most controversial songs in the United States. American singer song writer Pink released her fourth album with a song called "Dear Mr. President" in 2006. (The lyrics are given below.) Pink dedicated this song to then President of the United States, George W. Bush. It was almost perceived as a publicity stunt, but still a lot of the populace enjoyed the song itself. And I think it is very important.

 

This song is one of the most compassionate songs i have ever listened to. The lyrics of this song are very touching and the melody compelling. In her song, she talks about homeless people on the street, homosexuals, and war victims. She expresses her emotional feelings in a straightforward way, and it swayed people. The power of compassion becomes greater when a popular celebrity sings it. Therefore, people can agree with her and easily feel similar compassion. To be honest, i am a fan and one of those people. I think it embraces lonely people like i was before.

 

The year when i first came to the United States from Korea was also 2006. I was introduced to YouTube and that's how i got to know this song. I was listening to a lot of American pop songs back then to learn the English language. In the process of searching, i found out about the singer Pink, and got attracted to her songs. When i heard this song for the first time, i was very shocked how freely American culture allows singers to release a song like this. If it were in Korea, the government and the President would have blocked it from people.

On YouTube, a lot of people argued about this song. Some people said this is inspirational, and other people said that she shouldn't have written this kind of political song since she is a well-known public person. They believe that the government does a lot more work than we can imagine, and we shouldn't criticize them by singing the song. I will leave it up to you to decide what side you are on about this controversial release, whether it be the current president or the previous one. Here is the song and the lyrics.

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Lyrics:

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you?