Station_8_The_Way_It_Is

//Station #8: The Way It Is // __CONTEXT __ //The Way It Is // was recorded by famed pianist Bruce Hornsby, with his band The Range, in 1986. The lyrics explicitly reference economic class struggles, such as welfare and unemployment, and implicitly ties them to racial division, specifically the American Civil Rights Movement. In the late 1990s, “The Way It Is” was sampled by rapper 2Pac (Tupac) Shakur in his song, “Changes.” (In that version, released during an economic boom and government surpluses, 2Pac asks modern questions as to why specific sectors of the lower class are still left behind..)


 * Next, cue the song below. (To accommodate different computers, the song may be listened to in any one of the following three, separate file formats: AAC/iTunes, .MP3, or .WAV. __If one doesn't play, try another!__) **As you listen, **__annotate the lyrics__,** making note of **__specific statements__** that strike you **__as having Marxist undertones__**.

//What story does the opening verse recount? What specific inferences are made regarding “the rich” and its division from “the poor”? //

//Using brief narrative anecdotes, Hornsby makes his argument: “That’s just the way it is.” What is “it”? Who thinks that “it” is just a fact of life? Would Marx agree or disagree, and why? //

//Marx claimed that all divisions in society come back commerce. But the second and third verses are not about “the almighty dollar.” Examining them through “a Marxist lens,” what argument is Hornsby making? //

//The last two verses address specific social problems and their “solutions.” Notice: The word “solutions” is “mockingly” in quotes. What is Hornsby inferring about these “solutions”? //

media type="file" key="The Way It Is.m4a" width="300" height="50"
 * AAC/iTunes File **

** .MP3 File ** media type="file" key="The Way It Is.mp3" width="240" height="20"

**.WAV File ** <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">media type="file" key="The Way It Is.wav" width="300" height="50" <span style="display: inline !important; font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">LYRICS: //<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">First Verse: // <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Standing in line, marking time, waiting for their welfare dime, <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">‘Cause they can’t //buy// a job. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">A man in the silk suit hurries by, as he catches the poor old lady’s eyes <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Just for fun he says, //“Get a job. . .//

//<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Refrain: // <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">[The man in the silk suit continues] <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">“That’s just the way it is. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Some things will never change.” <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">[Hornsby’s reply] //<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">That's just the way it is? // //<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Ah, //<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;"> but don’t you believe //them. . .//

//<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Second Verse: // <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">[The man in the silk suit] said “Hey, little boy, you can’t go where the others go, <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">‘Cause you don't //look// like they do” <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">[The little boy’s reply] <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">“Say, hey, old man, how can you //stand// to think that way? <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">And did you //really// think about it before //you// made the rules that said so?”

//<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Refrain: // <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">[The man in the silk suit replying] <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">“That’s just the way it is. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Some things will never change.” <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">[Hornsby’s reply] //<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">That's just the way it is? // //<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Ah, //<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;"> but don’t you believe //them. . .//

//<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Third Verse: // <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Well, they passed a law in ’64 to give those who “ain't got” a little more. . . <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">But it only goes //so// far. . . ‘Cause the law don’t change another’s mind <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">When all they see at hiring time is the line on a color bar. . . //<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">No! //

//<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">Revised Refrain: // <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">[In reference to third verse] //<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">That’s //<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;"> just the way it is. Some things may never change. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">That's just the way it is. . . <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 13pt;">That's just the way it is, it is, it is, it is. ..

<span style="display: block; font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 20px; text-align: center;">* * * * * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 20px;">Now take note of the still pictures below. Consider the **<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 20px;">__meaning__ **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 20px;"> of these images.







<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">Finally, **__engage in a small-group discussion__**. Each member of the group **__must contribute to the process by fulfilling an assigned role__**. Then, in a thoughtful, “MEL-style” short essay response, answer this question:

<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">What **__specific information__** should a Marxist critic consider in an analysis of this text? Using that information as **__evidence__**, what **__meaning__** can //we// make of this text, **__using Marxist tenets as our “lenses”__**?