My Dear Country — Song Snippets

Today I’m starting a new feature on my blog called Song Snippets. I often find myself thinking about something while listening to music, so from time to time I’d like to share that with you.

It’s a day late, but in honor of Halloween, I’d like to share a song that Norah Jones — a songwriter with an incredibly beautiful voice — seemingly wrote just for the occasion. However, she looks forward to something scarier. Some of you may be aware of what happens just three days later.

’Twas Halloween and the ghosts were out
And everywhere they’d go they’d shout
And though I covered my eyes I knew
They’d go away

But fear’s the only thing I saw
And three days later was clear to all
That nothing is as scary as election day

But the day after is darker
And darker and darker it goes
Who knows maybe the plans will change
Who knows maybe he’s not deranged

Photo courtesy of Coventry City Council

She goes on to talk about how the days after election day grow darker. With her dose of skepticism, it’s not hard to see that, while the days do literally grow darker, she also views them as growing darker metaphorically. She doesn’t trust the politicians to bring about a brighter future. She just hopes that, “maybe he’s not deranged.” However, the politicians are not the only ones in Jones’s crosshairs.

The news men know what they know
But they know even less than what they say
And I don’t know who I can trust
For the come what may

’Cause we believed in our candidate
But even more it’s the one we hate
I needed someone I could shake
On election day

But the day after is darker
And deeper and deeper we go
Who knows maybe it’s all a dream
Who knows if I’ll wake up and scream

The news reporters come under fire next. She views them as people who purport to know more than they do. This isn’t necessarily a surprise. In a world flooded by fast pace news and even faster information, ignorance has no place in a news story. Still, this makes it hard to find anyone trustworthy when trying to understand complex issues, election related or not. Still, maybe it’s easier to have a politician we don’t like in office so that we at least have someone to blame for the state of affairs. Maybe one day we’ll wake up from the “nightmare” we seem to be in. There she goes with her optimism again.

I love the things that you’ve given me
I cherish you my dear country
But sometimes I don’t understand
The way we play

I love the things that you’ve given me
And most of all that I am free
To have a song that I can sing
On election day

Still, maybe we can be thankful for what we have been provided. We may never understand why politics work the way we do, and we may find it hard to find a politician or anyone else worth trusting, but at least we can be thankful that we’re able to have this discussion. In the meantime, maybe I can at least take pleasure in introducing you to a song for your November third, which may, truly, be the scariest day of the year.

You can find the full lyrics to Norah Jones — My Dear Country here, and be sure to hit the video below to actually hear the song. My Dear Country appears on her 2007 album, Not Too Late.