Even though I was born in the late 90's (1997) I grew up listening to music from the 80's, hip hop, and rap music. I can't say that I remember the first time my mom played her Bruce Hornsby and the Range CD, but I remember 'The Way It Is' vividly. This song, which is perfect for the purpose of this blog post since it tells a story of social ills, and injustices, specifically regarding the Civil Rights Movement in 1964. However, I will actually be discussing a "remade" version of the song; 'Changes' by Tupac. As I mentioned before, I was raised on a lot of rap music, my mom would either put in the 80's greatest hits album or put on Tupac, or The Notorious B.I.G. There was really no in-between. Being a white female I can't say that I relate to what is rapped in this version of the song, but it definitely resonates with me.
The song tells a story of how many struggles african american people have to go through just to make ends meet, and how often they are judged and discriminated against in all settings. It addresses themes of oppression, discrimination, depression, and rebellion in my opinion. Throughout the whole song the chorus is repeated; "that's just the way it is, things will never be the same," Which is such a harsh and defeated way to look at the world, it'e heartbreaking. In the first verse of the song he talks about the unfair treatment by police officers, and he mentions the death of 'Huey' which is referring to Huey Newton, who was a political activist and co founder of the Black Panthers. Throughout the song it is mentioned that they will only commit the crimes that they have to, to support themselves and their families.
This song was originally recorded in 1992, but was later remixed in 1997-1998, and reuses lines from "I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto," which was recorded in the same year. It's hard to accept but this song reflects on our current lives, and things that are happening all over the United States, which is heartbreaking.
What I really love about this song is that at the end he raps about wanting to change the world and change the way we are and not accept things for how it is. The whole interlude right before verse 3 is really important;
"We gotta make a change
It's time for us as a people to start making' some changes
Let's change the way we eat
Let's change the way we live
And let's change the way we treat each other
You see the old way wasn't working'
So it's on us to do what we gotta do to survive"
I could really feel that Tupac didn't want to live his life just accepting everything as it is, and we have to start making changes. I think that more people need to feel this way, and that racism, prejudices and discrimination need to end. As sad as it is, I think that Tupac wouldn't want to live in the world we do today, because I'm sure that he thought that all these years later, that these things wouldn't be issues, but unfortunately they still are.
lyrics from:https://genius.com/2pac-changes-lyrics
I like how you chose this song because hip hop and rap most of the times seems to have a bad rep. A lot of people seem to think that this genre of music never really has a story or meaning to it. It's the total opposite and mostly every rap song does have a meaning just that not everyone can relate to it. But this song is one that anybody can listen to and can relate to or feel some type of way about it. It's one of those beautiful rap songs and it's a classic everybody still remembers this song.
ReplyDeleteWhen this song came out, everyone was so proud they had a spokesperson to serve as a megaphone. Minorities felt like their voice was going somewhere to be heard. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as planned, and I think you're right. Not many people like living in the world we're in today. We don't like the discrimination, the prejudice, the injustice... the hate. There's so much hate for everything and anything; so much greed and jealousy. I think the song you chose does a perfect job in highlighting not only what was going on back then, but what goes on now. That song can be taken as a sort of anthem for non-conformity. To push past differences and build, but for some reason, we keep repeating history.
ReplyDeleteI also grew up listening to Tupac. This song is one of my favorites from him. I appreciate how you really understood what he was saying about we must change ourselves before we change the world. I also agree how the song is based on oppression and discrimination. During his time Tupac knew what the world was and was ready to take it on and make a difference. I think you did very well at explaining and understanding what Tupac was trying to say in his music and it is nice to see fellow Tupac and Biggie Fans.
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