Basic HTML Version
14
The
PLAIN TRUTH
Ambouodot College
Pholo
Another of the seemi ngly look-olike, sound-olike rock groups entertoins ot
on Eoster Sundoy ' ' l ove-ln." Many of the songs of youth show a sincere
desire for a new world of love and truth.
perhaps the most cynical ever. Will
next year's graduates have any reason
to be less pessimistic?
Many students have lost faith in the
system- and in those who run the sys–
tem - to solve the problems of this
world. Today, we have Vietnam, the
Jew-Arab
crisis,
a divided Berlín- wars
and rumors of wars the world over. One
miscakulation, one pressed button, could
set in motion a nuclear holo<:aust power–
ful enough to kili multiple miUions, per–
haps wipe
ALL
üfe from the face of this
earth.
That, after all, is nothing to be very
optimistic about. The kids do havc a
point. W hat they often fai l to see is
that many of the so-called establishment
are themselves pessimistic about solving
the world's problems! There's only one
difference - they're stuck with the
responsibility of making the system
work.
Getting Tired of H uman Nature
Of course, plenty of young people are
looking forward to lucrative jobs with
the so-called establishment. Pcrhaps
these silent ones are in the majority. But
many of the younger generation are
frustrated, confused, scared - and
sorne are downright mad. And so are
many in the establishment, and so are
many Negroes, and so are many other
folk- taxi drivers, plumbers, mai lmen.
They know the ghettos are still there,
our environment is polluted, our cities
stink, our economy is a mess. lt's black
against whitc, young against old, the
auto mechanic against the cae owncr,
the chemkal manu facturer against thc
environmentalist. And that's just our
problem - we'rc about as polarized as
we can get.
People are fed up with their present
way of lífe
-
and perhaps for the first
time in the history of man they're get–
ting fed up with
HUMAN NATURE!
August-September 1970
They are absolutely pessimistic about
man's ability to solve his problems with
the attitudes he carries about with him.
And pcrhaps it is about t ime wc
DIO
get
fed up with human nature. Perhaps it is
time we looked at ourselves for what we
are. It's about time we realized we
human beings need something we just
don't have. Frankly, we knew all along
that the world - our socicty - isn't
big, widc and such a wonderful place to
live in. We just didn't want to adrnit it.
But now we talk about - and sing
about it openly.
What This World Needs
Tbis is not an article about rnusic.
But those who have studied thc history
of the arts or music know that art and
music of any given pcriod reRcct the
ideas and problems of that pcriod. Thc
songs we are singing today are telling
us what the problems are.
They'rc telling us, for cxample, this
world needs love - and that doesn't
mean illicit sex. lt's got too much of
that already. As one song goes, "Oh, lis–
ten, Lord, if you want to know. What
the world needs now is love, sweet love,
lt's the only thing that there's just too
little of. What the world needs now is
!ove, swcet !ove, No, not just for sorne,
but for
EVERYONE."
Of this onc: thing you can be sure:
The onc addressed as Lord
DOES
know
that thc world needs !ove and that
there's just too little of it. Curiously,
the book of the Lord wc sing about
says, "In the lasl days [is this prophetic
of our day?] perilous times shall come.
For mcn shall be lovers of their
own selves ... disobedient to parents,
unthankfttl, unholy,
WITHOUT NATURAl.
AFFECTION ...
incontinent, fiercc,
despisers of those that are good, trai–
tors ... lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God"
(JI
Tim. 3:1-4, ernpha–
sis ours).
Well, what about that? Js that what
our world is likc? Sure it is - and we
all know it. We sing about it, don't
we?
The Hateful Games We Play
Take last year's Grammy Award
song, "The Games People Play." The
(Contiwted on page 41)