Are thing really gettin' better like the newspaper said/What else is new my friend, besides what I read/Can't find no work, can't find no job my friend/Money is tighter than it's ever been/Say man, I just don't understand/What's going on across this land
Interpretation
The quote questions the accuracy of optimistic news reports in the face of personal hardship.
Marvin Gaye's quote reflects the frustration and confusion many feel when faced with difficult economic realities, contrasting the optimistic narratives often portrayed in the media. It highlights the disconnection between the reported progress in society and the lived experiences of individuals who struggle with unemployment and financial instability, prompting a deeper inquiry into the inequalities that persist despite what news sources may suggest.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about economic policies at a community meeting.
I hope to refine music, study it, try to find some area that I can unlock. I don't quite know how to explain it but it's there. These can't be the only notes in the world, there's got to be other notes some place, in some dimension, between the cracks on the piano keys.
If I do my job well, then God will smile on my offspring and on their offspring. I'm sure my father is seeing a blessing in me.
LIVE for LIFE, but let live everybody
I don't make records for pleasure. I did when I was a younger artist, but I don't today. I record so that I can feed people what they need, what they feel. Hopefully, I record so that I can help someone overcome a bad time
War is not the answer, because only love can conquer hate.
I'm not sure I'm trying to communicate a message. I'm just trying to be part of the movement away from the unacceptable present.
Probably the single-most concrete and substantive thing an American, young American, could do to lower our carbon footprint is not turning off the lights or driving a Prius, it's having fewer kids...we'll soon see a market in baby-avoidance carbon credits similar to efforts to sell CO2 credits for avoiding deforestation.
Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together.
Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.
Change based on principle is progress. Constant change without principle becomes chaos.
I like every individual editor, designer, marketing and publicity person I deal with, but I don't like what publishers, corporately, are doing to the ecology of the book world. It's damaging, and it should change.
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