Yes, We Can − 4 February, 2008
Jenna sent me a link to the music video that by now you've already seen. It's Will.I.Am's powerful retelling of the Obama Concession Speech in New Hampshire. The song itself is a jangly guitar number - the kind I can easily imagine singing around a campfire with friends. That the song's lyrics are a mash-up of words from Obama's speech help elevate it from a mere ballad to a true political fight song. As such it is related both in form and in spirit to Bob Marley's song War which was a re-rendering of the War speech made by Haie Salassie to the UN in 1963. In the same way that the song transcends the speech from which it came, "Yes, We Can" both reinforces the the speech, making it into a watershed event where the noteworthiness of it might have waned.
I feel a deep sense of passion about the Barack Obama that I see and hear in his speeches. I remember packing our apartment while Steph was at school one night during the summer of 2004. We had just bought our condo and I was left home alone to pack up the bed room. It so happened that this was the night of the Democratic National Convention. Obama's speech was early on. And from the moment he started until the applause died down after, I was in tears.
I've never cried during a political speech before. And, yet, each time I tune into Obama's rallies, I find myself increasingly overcome with emotion. There is this person in me -- the one who may not strive daily for righteousness, but who believes in good and wishes it upon others more than its opposite. It is that person who is awakening in me when I have such an emotional response to his speeches. It's that person in me who has not had a resonant voice in the real world accept for the speeches he heard as a second-grader in Mrs. Adams' class at Fairfax Elementary School. The feeling is that deep.
Here is the video:
Here is the video of the original speech:
Here are the lyrics:
I feel a deep sense of passion about the Barack Obama that I see and hear in his speeches. I remember packing our apartment while Steph was at school one night during the summer of 2004. We had just bought our condo and I was left home alone to pack up the bed room. It so happened that this was the night of the Democratic National Convention. Obama's speech was early on. And from the moment he started until the applause died down after, I was in tears.
I've never cried during a political speech before. And, yet, each time I tune into Obama's rallies, I find myself increasingly overcome with emotion. There is this person in me -- the one who may not strive daily for righteousness, but who believes in good and wishes it upon others more than its opposite. It is that person who is awakening in me when I have such an emotional response to his speeches. It's that person in me who has not had a resonant voice in the real world accept for the speeches he heard as a second-grader in Mrs. Adams' class at Fairfax Elementary School. The feeling is that deep.
Here is the video:
Here is the video of the original speech:
Here are the lyrics:
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.Here is a transcript of the original speech:
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --
Yes. We. Can.
OBAMA: Thank you, New Hampshire. I love you back. Thank you. Thank you.
Well, thank you so much. I am still fired up and ready to go.
...
Well, first of all, I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard-fought victory here in New Hampshire. She did an outstanding job. Give her a big round of applause.
You know, a few weeks ago, no one imagined that we'd have accomplished what we did here tonight in New Hampshire. No one could have imagined it.
For most of this campaign, we were far behind. We always knew our climb would be steep. But in record numbers, you came out, and you spoke up for change.
And with your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment, in this election, there is something happening in America.
There is something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport, in Lebanon and Concord, come out in the snows of January to wait in lines that stretch block after block because they believe in what this country can be.
There is something happening. There's something happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit, who've never participated in politics before, turn out in numbers we have never seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be different.
There's something happening when people vote not just for party that they belong to, but the hopes that they hold in common.
And whether we are rich or poor, black or white, Latino or Asian, whether we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, we are ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction.
That's what's happening in America right now; change is what's happening in America.
...
Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients, workers and businesses, Democrats and Republicans together, and we can tell the drug and insurance industry that, while they get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every chair, not this time, not now.
Our new majority can end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut in the pockets of working Americans who deserve it.
We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start putting them on a pathway to success.
We can stop talking about how great teachers are and start rewarding them for their greatness by giving them more pay and more support. We can do this with our new majority.
We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists, citizens and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return.
And when I am president of the United States, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home.
We will end this war in Iraq. We will bring our troops home. We will finish the job — we will finish the job against al-Qaida in Afghanistan. We will care for our veterans. We will restore our moral standing in the world.
And we will never use 9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election. It is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear weapons, climate change and poverty, genocide and disease.
...
We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. And they will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come.
We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.
It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to justice and equality.
Yes, we can, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can.
...
Together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story, with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea: Yes, we can.
Thank you, New Hampshire. Thank you. Thank you.
END
