Five on Friday: Playlist for Parkland

Mighty Parkland warriors, you don't know me but I've been thinking of your community all day. I'm starting to write this list on the day when you are headed back into your school. Today my kids had a half day--I'm not sure why but it worked out well as it turned out to be an unseasonably warm February day in New Jersey. They're all outside playing with kids from the neighborhood. My kids went to school today and then they came home again, safe. All of them. All of the neighborhood kids, too. Apparently that's something I shouldn't take for granted anymore.

All week I've been hearing songs that seem to lend themselves to the powerful movement you've created.  My daughter will be headed to a March for Our Lives in a large city in a few weeks, we'll be seeing what other protests are happening locally.  Walk-Outs and protests are planned here in our schools and my children of varying ages will be participating in various ways. I'll be supporting them and still thinking of you . . . and listening to my Playlist for Parkland. (There are more that keep occurring to me to be included but these were the first five.)

1.  Tori Amos' God. This is for all those "thoughts and prayers" from previous shootings that did nothing to protect you.  

                                             God, sometimes you just don't come through

Do you need a woman Parkland Teenager to look after you?

 


2. Tom Petty & the Heartbreaker's I Won't Back Down 

You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down . . .  

                                                and pretty much every lyric in this song.


3.  Tears for Fears' Sewing the Seeds of Love  Lots of good stuff  in here, too, like:

High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man

and

Sowing the seeds of love . . . sowing the seeds, and end to need the politics of greed 

4. Vampire Weekend's Giving Up the Gun Not sure what they're actually referring to with these lyrics, but I generally think that lyrics are open to interpretation to how they apply to the listener's life. This one's for all the 2nd amendment defenders turning in their weapons.

 And though it's been a long time, you're right back where you started from.

I see it in your eyes, that now you're giving up the gun

5. David Bowie's Heroes 

I, I can remember
(I remember)
Standing by the wall
(By the wall)
And the guns, shot above our heads
(Over our heads)
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall
(Nothing could fall)

And the shame, was on the other side
Oh, we can beat them, forever and ever
Then we could be heroes just for one day

Except, of course, your heroism endures. History has its eyes on you.* Thank you for your bravery.

If this playlist was a CD, I'd want my daughter's original artwork to be the cover.

*Bonus Hamil-Track, natch.