Social Action Assignment #1

Assignment: Write a poem or song responding to a specific social problem/issue. Be detailed and specific. Also, write 1-2 paragraphs describing your process in writing the poem and what problem/issue it is about.


"Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer 
Me and all my friendsWe're all misunderstoodThey say we stand for nothingAnd there's no way we ever could
Now we see everything that's going wrongWith the world and those who lead itWe just feel like we don't have the meansTo rise above and beat it
So we keep waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to changeWe keep on waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to change
It's hard to beat the systemWhen we're standing at a distanceSo we keep waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to change
Now if we had the powerTo bring our neighbors home from warThey would have never missed a ChristmasNo more ribbons on their door
And when you trust your televisionWhat you get is what you got‘Cause when they own the informationOh, they can bend it all they want
That's why we're waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to changeWe keep on waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to change
It's not that we don't careWe just know that the fight ain't fairSo we keep on waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to change
And we're still waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to changeWe keep on waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to change
One day our generationIs gonna rule the populationSo we keep on waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to change
No, we keep on waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to changeWe keep on waiting(Waiting)Waiting on the world to changeWaiting on the world to changeWaiting on the world to changeWaiting on the world to change
Lyrics Source: http://www.metrolyrics.com/waiting-on-the-world-to-change-lyrics-john-mayer.html
     The song I chose to analyze is called "Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer. John Mayer has always been one of my favorite artist. His lyrics are easy to connect to and they are simple enough so that people can understand them. The meaning behind this song is kind of hard to crack, but then again its pretty simple. John Mayer is simply saying that we're all waiting for the world to change until a certain generation steps up to the plate and "changes" the world. His song has to do with both war and our government.     In the song Mayer says, "We just feel like we don't have the means To rise above and beat it," which I think means that sometimes we don't have the power to rise up to the occasion and try to take down the problem that we're facing. Sometimes we doubt the power that we could have if we worked together as a whole. This led to me wondering about how people work together. I know it seems like a simple concept, but if you think about it, you can't really get the whole entire world to come together and work as one. There are always going to be people whose thoughts differ from what you think. He also says "It's hard to beat the system When we're standing at a distance," which means to me that it's hard to solve a problem when you stand in the shadows and do nothing.