I can't believe there's not more comments on this. It's a really interesting song.
If you do a YouTube search for this song's title, you'll encounter an Obama speech from '08 that really sort of spells out a significant part of what this song is about. "A More Perfect Union" refers to the flexibility of the US constitution, in that its interpretation and, therefore, the union itself, can, and is expected to, evolve as times change.
The "new New Jersey" line alludes to this, where he's expecting for things to evolve and get better from where they are now. Where these iconic, somewhat negative images of New Jersey are going to be gone soon, as the state's culture will evolve just as the country itself will.
The second half likens the Obama speech, with its regard to slavery and how America overcame that, to the more contemporary issues, where we have a black president for the first time, and that's an enormous step in our history, but many people still can't and will never accept that change. But that change is moving the country forward, just as the changes away from slavery, which were, of course, so decisive, moved America forward in the 19th century. Here, he's taking the side of the opposition and likening them to those who supported slavery, with the references to weeping under a lynched Jefferson Davis and how, even in the more liberal and somewhat tolerant New Jersey, you're faced with this element of racism and intolerance and cannot escape it. Moving past the racism to confront the real issues.
Just my interpretation, at least.
I can't believe there's not more comments on this. It's a really interesting song. If you do a YouTube search for this song's title, you'll encounter an Obama speech from '08 that really sort of spells out a significant part of what this song is about. "A More Perfect Union" refers to the flexibility of the US constitution, in that its interpretation and, therefore, the union itself, can, and is expected to, evolve as times change. The "new New Jersey" line alludes to this, where he's expecting for things to evolve and get better from where they are now. Where these iconic, somewhat negative images of New Jersey are going to be gone soon, as the state's culture will evolve just as the country itself will. The second half likens the Obama speech, with its regard to slavery and how America overcame that, to the more contemporary issues, where we have a black president for the first time, and that's an enormous step in our history, but many people still can't and will never accept that change. But that change is moving the country forward, just as the changes away from slavery, which were, of course, so decisive, moved America forward in the 19th century. Here, he's taking the side of the opposition and likening them to those who supported slavery, with the references to weeping under a lynched Jefferson Davis and how, even in the more liberal and somewhat tolerant New Jersey, you're faced with this element of racism and intolerance and cannot escape it. Moving past the racism to confront the real issues. Just my interpretation, at least.