For one of my extra-credit blog posts, I have decided to quote my most favorite song concerning modern-day, global and environmental issues. The song is called Good to be Alive Today by Michael Franti & Spearhead. The lyrics are powerful and to the point – and pretty much throw the problems of the world into your face for an entire 4 minutes and 11 seconds. But it’s a good thing because we all need to become more aware of the world’s problems instead of living inside our own little bubbles. One music critic commented on Franti’s push for us to become aware, “The danger with politicising music is that too easily it can become a turn off when you’re forever harping on about what’s wrong with the world. In Franti’s case though his eternal optimism and predilection towards writing music that makes you want to get up and dance have proven to be an infectious formula in getting the message across” (Jackson, 2016). At first the lyrics turned me off too because the truth upset me, but as I grew to appreciate the song for its optimism, I also grew to love it. I hope you will too. I recommend the acoustic remix version that you can find on Spotify. Here is a link to the music video which is also the acoustic remix version: https://youtu.be/FVztZI-OMUg

Check out the music video, read the lyrics, think about how the song makes you feel and let me know in the comments! I’m curious to know what y’all think, thanks!

References:

Jackson, Trevor. “Good To Be Alive Today – Michael Franti & Spearhead.” Sound Distractions, 16 Aug. 2016, www.sounddistractions.com/good-alive-michael-franti-spearhead/.

Michael Franti & Spearhead. “Good to Be Alive Today.” Soulrocker.

LYRICS:

It’s a long road, oh
Everyday I wake up and turn my phone on
I read the news of the day, just as it’s coming down
I do my best not to let it get me down
I try to keep my head up, but is Babylon
This world’s in crisis, we try to fight it, this changing climate
With scientists and politicians divided by it
So many ways we could solve it but they would never sign it
This mountains tumbling down, but still we try to climb it
It’s in the Torah, Quran and in the Bible
Love is the message for some how we turn to rivals
It’s come to people always picking up their rifles
Another school getting shot up homicidal
Some people tryna look fly, some people tryna get high
Some people losing their mind, some people tryna get by
And when you look in my eyes, you see the sign of the times
We all looking for the same thing
But what if this song’s number one
Would it mean that love had won?
Would it mean that the world was saved?
And no guns are being drawn today?
What if everybody had a job?
And nobody had to break a law?
What if everyone could say
That it’s good to be alive today (oh, oh, oh, oh)
Is it good to be alive today (oh, oh, oh, oh)
Is it good to be alive today (oh, oh, oh, oh)
Is it good to be alive today (oh, oh, oh, oh)
No matter what nobody say
People used to feel safer when they would hear a siren
Like help is on its way but now they only think of violence
Another youth in the streets and police is in a conflict
And now they hear the guns click, yo
Ebola crisis and ISIS is taking heads off
A drone is bombing a village and now the kids all
Signing up to be soldiers, but they all willing now
To do the killing now, now are you willing now?
Some politicians out there making up some problems
And tryna tell the people that they can solve them
With TV shows and soundbites and quotes
But everybody knows that it’s all about the cash flow
They telling you and me, they’re making progress
But tell it to the millions of jobless
It’s like a players club with billions of dollars
To get the votes you got to make it rain in congress
Some people tryna look fly, some people tryna get high
Some people losing their mind, some people tryna get by
And when you look in my eyes, you see the sign of the times
We all looking for the same thing
But what if this song’s number one
Would it mean that love had won?
Would it mean that the world was saved?
And no guns are being drawn today?
What if everybody had a job?
And nobody had to break a law?
What if everyone could say
That it’s good to be alive today (oh, oh, oh, oh)
Is it good to be alive today (oh, oh, oh, oh)
Is it good to be alive today (oh, oh, oh, oh)
Is it good to be alive today (oh, oh, oh, oh)
And we all say
One day, one day
One day, one day
One day, we all will say
That it’s good to be alive today
One day, one day
One day, one day
One day, we all will say
That it’s good to be alive today