Oh, let us turn our thoughts today
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women living on the Earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women living on the Earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood
That we are bound together
In our desire to see the world
Become a place in which our children
Can grow free and strong
In our desire to see the world
Become a place in which our children
Can grow free and strong
We are bound together by the task
That stands before us
And the road that lies ahead
We are bound, and we are bound
That stands before us
And the road that lies ahead
We are bound, and we are bound
There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist
There is a hunger in the center of the chest
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist
And though the body sleeps
The heart will never rest
There is a hunger in the center of the chest
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist
And though the body sleeps
The heart will never rest
Shed a little light, oh Lord (shed a little light, oh Lord)
So that we can see, oh yeah
Just a little light, oh Lord. (just a little light, oh Lord)
Want to stand it on up
Stand it on up, oh Lord (stand it on up, Lord)
Want to walk it on down
Gonna shed a little light, oh Lord (shed a little light, oh Lord)
So that we can see, oh yeah
Just a little light, oh Lord. (just a little light, oh Lord)
Want to stand it on up
Stand it on up, oh Lord (stand it on up, Lord)
Want to walk it on down
Gonna shed a little light, oh Lord (shed a little light, oh Lord)
Can’t get no light from a dollar bill
(Don’t see me no light from a dollar bill)
Don’t give me no light from a TV screen, oh no, no
When I open my eyes, I want to drink my fill
From the well on the hill
I know you know what I mean
(Don’t see me no light from a dollar bill)
Don’t give me no light from a TV screen, oh no, no
When I open my eyes, I want to drink my fill
From the well on the hill
I know you know what I mean
Shed a little light, oh Lord (shed a little light, oh Lord)
So that we can see, oh yeah
Just a little light, oh Lord (just a little light, oh Lord)
Want to stand it on up
Stand it on up, oh Lord (stand it on up, oh Lord)
Stand on up, Lord
Want to walk it on down
Gonna shed a little light, oh Lord (shed a little light, oh Lord)
Shed a little light, Lord
So that we can see, oh yeah
Just a little light, oh Lord (just a little light, oh Lord)
Want to stand it on up
Stand it on up, oh Lord (stand it on up, oh Lord)
Stand on up, Lord
Want to walk it on down
Gonna shed a little light, oh Lord (shed a little light, oh Lord)
Shed a little light, Lord
There’s a feeling like the clenching of a fist
There is a hunger in the center of the chest, oh yes
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist
And though the body sleeps
The heart will never rest
There is a hunger in the center of the chest, oh yes
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist
And though the body sleeps
The heart will never rest
Oh, Let us turn our thoughts today
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women living on the Earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women living on the Earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood
(Shed A Little Light, James Taylor)
James Taylor at his best and a perfect message for today. Thanks for this Denis, I needed some uplift in these discouraging times.
I’ve been a fan of his music since back in the 1960s. One of my sisters was always playing his tunes and so even before I was a teenager I was hooked. I’ve only got one beef with him. Despite the bitter cold I intended to head back over to DC (I’d moved to the eastern panhandle of WV) for the concert on the Mall to celebrate Obama’s impending inauguration. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (a place I’ve been to many times) an astonishing collection of speakers and performing artists were scheduled to appear and the Obamas were going to be in attendance. As fate would have it the moment coincided with the annual marking of MLK day too! Alas, I was unable to make it over to DC (I had cold weather gear and was going to camp out overnight so I’d have a spot along the Reflecting Pool and hopefully close to the stage) but was all set at home and watching on my TV.
Knowing James Taylor would be performing I knew, I KNEW that he’d perform this. How could he not? Yet he got up and sang a different song. Oh well I thought, he’ll get another chance as most of the artists would get to perform two songs. Yet when he second turn on the stage came up Taylor again sang something else! WTF? In that unique moment in history, one that can never be repeated (there will only be ONE “first black President” AND with it being time for MLK Day AND on the steps of the Memorial with Lincoln’s visage in the background I will never, ever understand why Taylor didn’t perform this song.
The chances of my ever meeting to to ask why the hell not are about as good as me getting close enough to Trump to crotch-punt him but one day I hope someone doing an interview with him will flat-out ask him about this. It could have been a priceless moment in history and Taylor pissed it away. Still, the song and the sentiment endures and I think about it, and even call it up on YouTube throughout the year. The hate that fills me for Trump, MAGA and the GOP needs calming down and it’s those like Dr. King and the late John Lewis that I turn to in order to focus less on the hate and more what I can do to ensure the wrong people don’t get their grubby hands on the levers of power.
WE cannot let MLK die in vein…….VOTE, keep America free from hate & violence! Keep the EXTREME RW, from turning our Country into a Dictatorship & the Domination of all “others” who don’t believe in White Supremacy!
I went to school at UNC-CH 71-75…he became famous as I started school. He spent years in chapel hill as his dad worked for the school. He and Joni Mitchell caroled in his parent’s neighborhood. His brother played music around town. I’ve lived in Florida, California, Oregon and Massachusetts. I came home in 1988 and lived in Durham for years then moved to Chapel Hill for 10 years before moving to Carrboro 12 years ago. They named a bridge headed south of town after James, and I walk under it daily at Morgan creek/Merritt pasture park. His presence never left this area to this day. We’ve all seen Fire and Rain. Time for the sun!
Maybe Dr. King’s dream will come true someday, as long as we don’t give up fighting for it. After all, he was arrested 29 times, and shot in the face, in the country that claims to honor him. With a virulent racist running for president, running free, after his trail of evil and crime, it says we are liars. America will either stop being the monument to hypocrisy or we will march ourselves straight to HELL. The choice is clear as it was for Dr. King. VOTE!
A warning to everyone: in his speech against the war in Vietnam given one year to the day prior to receiving a 30/30 to the face, he quoted John F. Kennedy, “A nation that makes peaceful revolution impossible, makes a violent revolution inevitable.” VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!