Most songs about politics, government, or the USA are either patriotic and overly optimistic to the point of blind sentimentality and how wonderful "government by the people" is, or else they are protest songs that are negative, pessimistic, and focus on the injustices and deep flaws in the system. This song obviously aims to see things in all of the shades of gray, not denying all of the darkness that is all around, but yet somehow trying to see the potential for good and the hope that still remains in the midst of all of the negativity. As a political system, democracy has largely failed to live up to all of the idealistic talk of the people who made it into the world's predominant political system. And yet, the thought here is that there is still hope for the future, and that total cynicism may be an easy perspective, but it is somehow not the true one or the best one.
Most songs about politics, government, or the USA are either patriotic and overly optimistic to the point of blind sentimentality and how wonderful "government by the people" is, or else they are protest songs that are negative, pessimistic, and focus on the injustices and deep flaws in the system. This song obviously aims to see things in all of the shades of gray, not denying all of the darkness that is all around, but yet somehow trying to see the potential for good and the hope that still remains in the midst of all of the negativity. As a political system, democracy has largely failed to live up to all of the idealistic talk of the people who made it into the world's predominant political system. And yet, the thought here is that there is still hope for the future, and that total cynicism may be an easy perspective, but it is somehow not the true one or the best one.