Play Everyday People

What you have to understand
Is that everybody in this country
Hates everybody else in this country

And I'm not just talking about north and south
Or red state and blue state
Or political parties
Or any of that stuff

I'm talking about the guy down the street
I'm talking about the woman at the supermarket
I'm talking about people you see everyday

People say to me--

'Oh, you're a writer
You must love people.'

I friggin' hate people

I write to figure out why
I hate people so much

And the truth is
That what people say
That old tried and true saying
That we're all very similar
You know, what the dolls in Disney say
While you're on that boat ride
And everybody's wishing you farewell
In a million different languages

The idea that we're all the same?

It's true

And that's why we all hate each other

Because we all know what we want
And we're ashamed to say what we want
And we all know that we all want
The same things

Money, sex, power, and love

And actually, most of us would settle
For two out of four

Two out of four
Would actually get us
The other two out of four

But look, let's not get soap box-y or rant-y or philosophical-y

Let's just state the facts here
We're not all that different

And we don't listen to each other
Because we're scared if we do
We'll hear the truth
And the truth is scary
So instead we scream
We scream over the truth

And nobody's changing their mind
Nobody's even willing to change their mind
And people want to talk about the 50's and the 60's
Like it was so innocent
Like Korea was just a scuffle
And the civil rights movement was one big foxtrot

The truth is--

We're all pretty tough

We can handle each other

But if you want to make it a little easier on yourself

If you want to look at your fellow man
And actually feel the urge to hug him
Play 'Everyday People'

Play Sly and the Family Stone

Something about that song
Just renews my faith in humanity
And also, in music
But they're sort of the same thing

Play that song
Look at the guy or girl next to you
And say hi
Introduce yourself
Ask them how they're doing
And mean it

If we all start there

With a funky song
And an honest question

We may just make it
After all