You Gotta Be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db7cc8YRWxU

Listen as your day unfolds
Challenge what the future holds
Try and keep your head up to the sky
Lovers, they may cause you tears
Go ahead release your fears
Stand up and be counted
Don't be ashamed to cry
You gotta be
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm
You gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day
Herald what your mother said
Read the books your father read
Try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time
Some may have more cash than you
Others take a different view
My oh my heh, hey
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm
You gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day
Time ask no questions, it goes on without you
Leaving you behind if you can't stand the pace
The world keeps on spinning
Can't stop it, if you tried to
This best part is danger staring you in the face
Remember listen as your day unfolds
Challenge what the future holds
Try and keep your head up to the sky
Lovers, they may cause you tears
Go ahead release your fears
My oh my heh, hey, hey
You gotta be
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm
You gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day



I have loved this song for as long as I can remember, and it definitely came out when I was young.  In 1994, I was 7 years old and I can remember singing this song and loving it.  Back then, I didn't realize that it was such a complex and poetic masterpiece.

Something about this song always spoke to me from the viewpoint of, "They tell you that you have to be everything all at once, but it's okay that you aren't going to be everything."  I know this isn't probably everyone's interpretation of the song, but here we go:

We grow up and we hear all of these things that we are supposed to be.  "Gotta be bold, gotta be tough" and on and on.  To me, the chorus of this song is what society says.  Even the "gotta stay together" part appears to be a throwback to anti-divorce sentiment.  The rest of her lines are her counter-arguments to all of these "gotta be" statements.  It's okay to cry (therefore not be tough) and it's okay to "solve the puzzles in your own sweet time" meaning that there isn't some right or wrong way to get everything together.  Listen and learn from those who came before you, but "challenge" the future - meaning that you don't need to subscribe to a particular way of life in order to succeed.  It also means that you don't have to follow along the same path you've always been taking.  If you want to change your life, you can.


My favorite part of the song is the line, "all I know, all I know, love will save the day."  It rings so true to me because that's how I look at the world.  So many of our problems could be solved by simply taking a step back and trying to love before we judge.