Cherry Bomb

            I was listening to the radio the other day and happened upon John Mellencamp’s Cherry Bomb . It’s a pretty tune. I hadn’t heard it for a while. I downloaded it and then listened closely to the lyrics. There’s a line in the song that goes, “we were young and we were improving.” I love that line.

Mellencamp is a boomer, just a few years younger than I am. His song took me back to our so-called green years when everything was in front of us. You know, “when dancin’ meant everything.” Looking back on those years, one thing I clearly remember is we were determined to make a better world. Not only were we going to keep improving, we were going to take the whole world with us. Anything seemed possible. Obstacles were made to be removed.  

In many respects we did change the world. If you consider advances in technology, communication, medicine and civil rights for example, we done good. In terms of how we live now, or more to the point, the world we present to our children and grandchildren, I’m not so sure we improved a thing. Yes, I know old men are inclined to say, “The good old days were better.” And I try to allow for that. But I can’t help wondering whether kids growing up today will be able to look back on their adolescence and say with confidence the way John Mellencamp did, that "we were improving,” not to mention feel inspired to write a song about it.

Take the way government is run or more accurately, not run today. When I see our representatives on what passes for television news these days, they look, well…smug to me. What I see on too many faces is, “Look at me! I know how the game is played. Watch me spin!” This is while they are saying things that American people with common sense and no need for the spotlight, recognize as ludicrous.

Listen: It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, a Tea-Party member or a Liberal. The sad truth is too many of the people we’ve elected may not be there to serve our needs. They are serving themselves. In the process they are not setting the example that Mellencamp’s Cherry Bomb references when he says, “One night, me with my big mouth a couple of guys had to put me in my place.” Who puts self serving members of the government in their place?

Adults have always had the responsibility of giving their children a secure environment where they could simply keep on improving. There was never a time in the history of the United States of America when sacrifice wasn’t a requirement. Negotiation, accommodation, consideration are all essential ingredients to getting things done and keeping the country moving ahead and, improving. Having options is one of the benefits of living in a free society. It’s also an obligation. Are we making good choices, the kind that considers the needs of our children? At this time in our history it’s hard to see how our leaders and authority figures are doing much other than improving their place in line in the Capitol’s pecking order.        

The good news, I believe is that it’s never too late to improve. We still have options and we can make better choices than we’ve made in the past. Improving is not strictly the province of the young. Yes, we’ve made plenty of mistakes but to those running our great nation I say, with a bit of contrition, there is still hope. With apologies to John Mellencamp for updating his lyrics a bit, 

Seventeen has turned sixty-five
It’s not too late, we’re still livin’
If we’ve done wrong
I hope that we’re forgiven

            Our kids deserve a better world than the one we’re giving them. Listen to Cherry Bomb, a simple song with a sweet message. While we’re at it, let’s send the song to Senator Reid and Congressman Boehner. Once upon a time dancin’ was everything to them too.