I wrote this song the day after Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York. But it’s not about him. It’s about the people, mostly but not only young people, who got up out of their complacency and conspiracies, and knocked on doors and talked with their neighbors and, as incredible as it seems at this moment in our history, put their faith in a politician.
Everyone who is paying attention knows that we are at a turning point in American politics. Our two parties are mostly out of touch with the people they represent. The Democrats have a Senate and House Minority Leader – both from New York City - who either refused to endorse, or reluctantly endorsed, their own party’s candidate for the mayor of the largest city in the country, despite the enthusiasm of their base. Republicans are so terrified of their base that they have taken to boldfaced lying on their behalf and daring anyone to arrest them for the metastasizing crimes of the cult leader they surrendered The Party of Lincoln to. They know he would pardon them anyway.
So I wrote this song in tribute to honest people on every side who I believe are going to get this country back on track, in spite of ourselves.
You are the one your ancestors knocked down barriers for You are the one generations to come will remember for knocking down more You are the one the world is calling to catch everybody falling You’re the one You are the one the world is calling to catch everybody falling You are the one You are the one they always said could not get the job done You are the one they still secretly pinned all of their hopes on You are the one the mystics mentioned when fortunes were being told You are the one who found out way too young what it feels like to grow old This is one of those times that ends With everybody saying “never again” Meanwhile this pitiless world keeps Turning around, turning around, and around You are the one who terrifies them because they know you are going to win You are the one who’s going to hold it all together when everything starts to spin You are the one they danced in the streets for You are the one they carried their dreams for You are the one they died in the fields for You are the one they always knew you would be