Friday Tunes: The Way It Is

This week’s installment of labour issues in popular culture features The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby. Hornsby identifies many of the themes covered in Linda Tirado’s book Hand to Mouth that I wrote about on Tuesday. He tackles poverty and the demonizing of the poor (“The man in the silk suit hurries by/As he catches the poor old ladies' eyes/Just for fun he says ‘Get a job’”).

He also comments on racism (“They say hey little boy you can't go/Where the others go/'Cause you don't look like they do”). Yet this song ends on a more upbeat note, identifying the (imperfect) changes that flowed from the US civil rights movement and questions whether indeed “That's just the way it is/Some things will never change”.



Standing in line marking time
Waiting for the welfare dime
'Cause they can't buy a job
The man in the silk suit hurries by
As he catches the poor old ladies' eyes
Just for fun he says "Get a job"

That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
But don't you believe them

They say hey little boy you can't go
Where the others go
'Cause you don't look like they do
Said hey old man how can you stand
To think that way
Did you really think about it
Before you made the rules
He said, Son

That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
But don't you believe them

Well they passed a law in '64
To give those who ain't got a little more
But it only goes so far
There's a the law that don't change another's mind
When all it sees at the hiring time
Is the line on the color bar

That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
But don't you believe them

-- Bob Barnetson