Find Another Way

how much longer can we go on?

Susie and her friends keep taunting Dorothy
Johnny spits on Otis just for fun
Dorothy cries and wonders why she feels so hurt
Soon Johnny wants his kicks and buys a gun.

Susie’s parents argue over dinner
Johnny’s prowling with his buddies on the street
Now Dorothy and Otis fear to go outside
While Johnny’s at a rally packing heat.

Gotta stop and see - This isn't how it should be
Turn around today - We've got to find another way.

Imagemakers sculpt a hero
Which admirers flock to see
Politicians “ponder” for a price
And the senseless chatter goes on endlessly.

Gotta stop and see - This isn't how it should be
Turn around today - We need to find another way.

Lets' chart a new path a different way
The time to start change is now
Get back to truth and honesty
We'll get there together somehow.

Where to find the truth around you?
It's hard to know what's right or wrong
Facts are often tainted red or blue
Staying colorblind is hard to do.

Gotta stop and see - This isn't how it should be
Turn around today - We must find another way.

Music, Lyrics, Vocals: Rich Coffey
Recorded at Mistura Productions

This tune is written about the serious divide now ripping apart our country. Partisanship has never been this entrenched in seemingly everything these days. What's lost is the inability to "see the other side of things" and compromise when necessary. Sadly hatred and bullying seems to have emerged as an acceptable norm now as well. Name calling, lying and even violent acts of reprisal are every day in the news and it blurs and dulls your sensibilities over time.

Sure maybe there's a simplistic "Pollyanna" fantasy to the sentiment of the lyrics—a gut reaction to the chaos around us—but nevertheless, I think the theme of the song holds value for all: "Red or blue, black or white we needed to come together and do what's right..."

Music
While out in Colorado this summer visiting my son, I heard a reggae band with a horn section of trombone and tenor sax. It was great to hear a trombone live in a street band setting and it inspired me to write this reggae-flavored tune.