New Obama Song: "Something's Gotta Give"

This is quite possibly the best Obama song I've heard from "professional" artists. After the Ludacris dust-up (which was blown completely out of proportion), I was a little nervous about what exactly it would say. However, I must say I love this song. It has a positive message and the video is basically free advertising for the Obama campaign. The title of the song is "Something's Gotta Give" and it's by Big Boi featuring Mary J. Blige.

Please jump for the lyrics and my thoughts

Something's Gotta Give

(Verse 1)

You can try to run the planet
Or watch it on the news
Somebody's getting shot
The weathermans looking confused
He's reporting to a nation full of zombies
Strung out on Starbucks and bitching Abercrombie
Don't get it mixed up, me too I have insomni-a, at times but don’t be walking around here blind, feeling all around trying to find a righteous path.

Its appealing when I rhyme so every time I hit the masses.
You know the common folk, blue collar,
day to day workers that squeeze a dollar, so maybe they can swallow,
a little, not a lot, just enough to fill that bottle
But it’s a million dollars a gallon for gas to get to work tomorrow.
That’s if you gotta get it, can’t swim and carpool,
you rob peter to pay paul to make due,
make you wanna write a note and take a pistol to that bank too,
then pass it on the teller
But you know better

(Chorus-Mary J Blige)

They try to tell us to stay strong,
but every day we losing jobs,
from College Park down to Beverly Hills,
Somethings Gonna Have to Give
Across the world they live in fear
but it’s the same thing over here.
If you can hear me on Capitol Hill,
Somethings gonna have to give.

(Verse 2)
The great debaters debate about who’s the greatest MC's,
subject matter don’t matter because the verse is empty.
No food for thought,
nothing for the brain to digest,
so I guess it be about who can jive talk the best,
but I give them light like the traffic I direct,
aspiring they life like they was actors on my set,
as if I was a politic,
I’m higher than a tent,
I'd be a liar if I wasn't sick and tired of this mess.
(Chorus)
(Mary J Blige verse)
Single mother in the swallows and it’s no fun,
but you don’t really understand until you are one,
a child is sick and he’s losing his endurance,
she wanna fix him but she ain’t got no insurance.

Now we don't even wanna talk about the man's plight
Out on parole with the promise that he'll do right,
but a felon has no chance for a new start,
so its back to doing hand to hand on his own life,
and black nights were all the same,
and I know you feel my pain,
and the only hope I have that help me deal with the drama,
is that maybe in November
I'll be cheering for Obama.

(Chorus)

(Deep Voice)
The world is too big
(Big Boi)
Free ya mind or be stuck like porcupine, left behind that’s the bottom line,
gotta find that grind, because the time won't come back around, get it now!

(Deep Voice)
The World is too big
(Big Boi)
Step on the stars, while your reaching for the sun,
but never burn a bridge, each one teach one
If you lend a helping hand, you may never need one

(Deep Voice)
The World is too big
(Mary J Blige-last verse of song)
And I heard him say that every man, women, child was gonna be okay
I heard him say that they would bring home our soldiers home in one piece today, hey!

(Deep Voice)
The World is too big
(back to Mary J Blige)
But it’s not that way
They been sellin' us a dream
Tellin us were on the same team
Now We all gotta deal with the lies.

(Chorus)

I really love this song. I've listened to it a couple of times now, and the lyrics and the video perfectly show what we are going through, especially in the poorer and African American communities. One part that really touched me was the part about the felons. No one really fights for their rights, but even when they do their time and get out they can't get legitimate jobs, and end up turning back to crime. Not to mention the fact that jail is largely a place to become a better criminal instead of being rehabilitated and prepared to return to society (maybe I'll write a diary on that one day).

I turn on the news sometimes, and every day they they seem to be trying to find another reason why Obama is losing his base of either the far left, or African Americans, or anyone. To me, this song shows that the hecklers are not the majority. The song/video addresses a lot of issue that concern the average voter, regardless of color. Most of us are dealing with the same problems. The thing that stuck out the most to me was the quote they used at the beginning of the video:

If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.

~Barack Obama

Now, because this video doesn't mention Clinton or McCain, it will probably be ignored by the masses, but videos like THIS are what's going to win the election for Obama. There is a concentrated effort in the African American community to drive turnout, imagine if our young people were seeing THIS video every day on BET. The lyrics not only carry a message, but it tells them "you CAN make a difference if you go out and vote." That is a message that isn't really popular in a lot of circles. Much like getting a good education, voting doesn't exactly have the best reputation (see Florida 2000, and Ohio 2004) and a lot of people don't vote simply because they don't believe it matters.

McC[ompl]ain and his campaign like to say Obama is a celebrity because people like him, and because he inspires songs like this one and the Will.I.Am interpretation of his "Yes, We Can" speech. Please Digg this video because this is the type of message we need to get out there.

Tips, recs, and comments are all welcome. Please, even if you can't watch the video read the lyrics and tell me what you think.