Thursday, December 23, 2021

AM I THE ONLY ONE

On the way home today I heard the close-out song (lyrics below) of a talk-radio host…this was his last show of the year that he would be hosting; no, he’s not going anywhere just yet, guest hosts will fill in for him until after the New Year holiday. Personally, I think he’s one of the best and most knowledgeable talk-show host on the radio…his arguments cannot be broken (And I’ll attest to that; no one has done it yet!).  The song has a certain patriotic beat and I’ve heard parts of it before but never did I listen to the entire song until today.  It made me think, “Am I the only one?”

Our country is divided today…more than it ever has been since 1860.  Oh, I could have said, “Since the Civil War.”  But what difference would it make when almost half the country has no idea what the Civil War was or when it started.  They don’t teach history today, the powers to be change history…and they’re being pretty successful at it. And if you don’t believe that, you might be the only one. So we are divided, and not just by political parties (Democrat and Republican) but by association. By association, yes!  A much better system than the two-party domineering power seekers we have today.  Two quotes that back up my philosophy follow:

            There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution. – John Adams (2nd President of the United States)

Among the laws that rule human societies there is one that seems more precise and clearer than all the others. In order that men remain civilized or become so, the art of associating must be developed and perfected among them in the same ratio as equality of conditions increases. - Democracy in America (1835) by Alexis de Tocqueville

While we’re on deTocqueville let me add this:

Tocqueville fell out of fashion during the late nineteenth century, perhaps because Germany, not America, seemed to have caught the wave of the future. German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck embraced socialism and established the first modern welfare state, and people everywhere looked to Germany for leadership.

But socialism triggered communism, fascism, Nazism, and other brutal tyrannies that slaughtered tens of millions during the twentieth century. The welfare state shackled hundreds of millions more with taxes and regulations.  Then after World War II, America emerged as the world’s brightest hope. Tocqueville predicted it all.

Less I stray too far off my topic let’s get back to the song; Am I The Only One.  Yes, that’s the title, “Am I The Only One.”  Because we are so divided I have often felt like I am the only one wanting to do something about it but obviously I’m not…the words are in the lyrics and they’re being sung over the radio.  And without too many calculations I could come up with at least seventy million more people to answer the question, “Am I the only one?”  But right now I am the only one who has stated, “I’m willing to fight this division, but I’m damn sure not going to do it alone,” – Norman Hooben

P.S. Does the above commentary and the lyrics below sound like a prelude to something unimaginable?  Yeah! And it’s called war.  This division cannot go on without one!

 

Am I The Only One

Aaron Lewis

Am I the only one here tonight
Shakin' my head and thinkin' somethin' ain't right
Is it just me? Am I losin' my mind?
Am I standin' on the edge of the end of time?
Am I the only one? Tell me I'm not
Who thinks they're takin' all the good we got
And turnin' it bad, hell, I'll be damned
I think I'm turnin' into my old man

Am I the only one, willin' to bleed
Or take a bullet for bein' free
Screamin', "What the fuck" at my TV
For tellin' me, yeah, are you tellin' me?
That I'm the only one, willin' to fight
For my love of the red and white
And the blue, burnin' on the ground
Another statue comin' down in a town near you
Watchin' the threads of Old Glory come undone

Am I the only one not brainwashed?
Makin' my way through the land of the lost
Who still gives a shit and worries 'bout his kids
As they try to undo all the things he did?

Am I the only one who can't take no more
Screamin', "If you don't like it, there's the fuckin' door"
This ain't the freedom we've been fightin' for
It was somethin' more, yeah, it was somethin' more
Am I the only one, willin' to fight
For my love of the red and white
And the blue, burnin' on the ground
Another statue comin' down in a town near you
Watchin' the threads of Old Glory come undone

I'm not the only one
I can't be the only one

Am I the only one who quits singin' along
Every time they play a Springsteen song?

Am I the only one sittin' here
Still holdin' on, holdin' back my tears
For the ones who paid with the lives they gave
God bless the U.S.A
I'm not the only one, willin' to fight
For my love of the red and white
And the blue, burnin' on the ground
Another statue comin' down in a town near you
Watchin' the threads of Old Glory come undone

I'm not the only one
I can't be the only one

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Aaron Lewis / Ira Dean / Jeffrey Steele

Am I The Only One lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, 3 Ring Circus Music LLC

 

https://youtu.be/SDx59j2yck0