Disparate Youth

I believe that this song is about institutionalized and systematic racism against African Americans.

First off, the definition of "Disparate" is: "essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison." The African American race is unique and unlike all of the others. And this song is a message to the "Youth."

"Don't look ahead, there's stormy weather Another roadblock in our way But if we go, we go together Our hands are tied here if we stay"

This first verse of the song is a call to unite, there is more power in numbers, especially against the dominant "White" upper class. They are becoming aware of their oppression and learning how to combat it. They can't let doubt and self-loathing, or "stormy weather" get in their way if they are going to defeat discrimination. They must "go together" so start a revolution.

"Oh, we said our dreams would carry us And if they don't fly we will run Now we push right past to find out Oh how to win what they have lost"

The "dreams" she is singing of are the same dreams Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about in his famous speech. If their "dreams" are not enough to move them spiritually, they will move physically. When she sings about "winning" what "they" have "lost", she speaks of humanity. The oppressors have lost their humanity, and that is what African Americans, even after being enslaved, segregated, imprisoned, disenfranchised, and killed, still have left, or have to find within themselves. (Refer to Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed.")

The chorus/hook is self-explanatory. They've tasted what a bit of freedom was like, and now they want more, and are willing to fight for it.

"So let them say we can't do better Lay out the rules that we can't break They wanna sit and watch you wither Their legacy's too hard to take"

This first half of the second verse is very similar to Audre Lorde's "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House." Marginalized peoples can't use the tools that were used to marginalize them to break free. They must create new tools, or in this case, "rules." "Their legacy" is hard to take because they have been at the top of the societal hierarchy for generations, thriving off of privilege and entitlement. They subordinate Blacks and use negative stereotypes to "sit and watch" them "wither", and make them internalize that "they can't do better." (Refer to the "Stereotype Threat")

"In their heads pledging their beds In their eyes it shows When the freedom breaks Well then if you ask and they don't know Oh tell me that I turn my back while the odds all stand beneath me And they all said I was mislead But now the odds all stand beneath me"

The bridge/climax is a bit harder to deconstruct. I see "In their heads pledging their beds, in their eyes it shows" as the "superior" class realizing they have to give up their domination. They act as if they "don't know" that African Americans are capable human beings. Here, Santigold is declaring her freedom, she was able to overcome their binds, despite everyone saying she was "mislead."

The last lines of the song validate the bridge/climax, and now that the African American race is on a mission to gain their human rights, nothing can stop them.

I think that the music video works to further prove this interpretation. The imagery shows Santigold dreaming, and within her dream, she is sharing her vision with others, in solidarity. She is leading the children to form an army that will be fearless in fighting against the oppression of the higher class. Santigold actually majored in African American Studies, so some of my references may be ones she intentionally drew from. I think a few of her songs are focused on self-empowerment as well, this being another one of them.