Two songs come to mind after reading this week's Upstate American: The first, "Middle of the Road" by the Pretenders, which suggests the middle of the road as the most dangerous place to stand. It's not for the weak-minded. The second, "Lawnmower" by Sparks. Angie and I drove to LA last July to see Sparks at the Hollywood Bowl, and it was a transcendent experience. Plus, their songs say a lot more than their songs say on their surface. To wit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPSFpaCQEvA
~ "...American polarisation was the lowest in the 1950s, the Jim Crow era where black Americans were politically oppressed and deprived of the vote."
~ "I did my research. But it doesn't always feel like Sunderland comes first, at least as far as the rest of the country goes. Well, actually not just Sunderland, sometimes it seems only London and the southeast come first because, compared to the rest of the country, London is in a different league. Average incomes in London are about £50,000 a year, but the national average income is closer to £30,000 and, in the north-east, here, average incomes are just half the level of London, and that's lower than in any American state, any French region, any German state, even those in ex-communist East Germany.
And it's not just income where we see huge gaps across regions in the UK.
So, as I took the train here from Oxfordshire, the average healthy life expectancy dropped a year every 25 miles, right, so not just my life expectancy from the train delays. And now it wasn't always thus because in 1900 the eighth richest region in all of Europe was the north of England, and Sunderland, as you know, is globally famous for its glassmaking and it's the shipbuilding capital of the world."
Two songs come to mind after reading this week's Upstate American: The first, "Middle of the Road" by the Pretenders, which suggests the middle of the road as the most dangerous place to stand. It's not for the weak-minded. The second, "Lawnmower" by Sparks. Angie and I drove to LA last July to see Sparks at the Hollywood Bowl, and it was a transcendent experience. Plus, their songs say a lot more than their songs say on their surface. To wit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPSFpaCQEvA
Yes! and:
"The teacher said, "You're sassy
There's ways that things should be
And you'll paint flowers the way they are
So repeat after me"
[Chorus]
And she said
"Flowers are red, young man
And green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen"
But the little boy said
"There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in a flower
And I see every one
...
The teacher put him in a corner
She said "It's for your own good
And you won't come out 'til you get it right
And are responding like you should"
Well, finally he got lonely
Frightened thoughts filled his head
And he went up to the teacher
And this is what he said
[Chorus]
And he said
"Flowers are red
And green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen"
[Verse 4]
Time went by like it always does
And they moved to another town
And the little boy went to another school
And this is what he found
The teacher there was smiling
She said, "Painting should be fun
And there are so many colors in a flower
So let's use every one"
But that little boy painted flowers
In neat rows of green and red
And when the teacher asked him why
This is what he said
Chorus]
And he said
"Flowers are red
And green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen"
Harry Chapin
~
Oxford Professor Ben Ansell, 2023
~ "...American polarisation was the lowest in the 1950s, the Jim Crow era where black Americans were politically oppressed and deprived of the vote."
~ "I did my research. But it doesn't always feel like Sunderland comes first, at least as far as the rest of the country goes. Well, actually not just Sunderland, sometimes it seems only London and the southeast come first because, compared to the rest of the country, London is in a different league. Average incomes in London are about £50,000 a year, but the national average income is closer to £30,000 and, in the north-east, here, average incomes are just half the level of London, and that's lower than in any American state, any French region, any German state, even those in ex-communist East Germany.
And it's not just income where we see huge gaps across regions in the UK.
So, as I took the train here from Oxfordshire, the average healthy life expectancy dropped a year every 25 miles, right, so not just my life expectancy from the train delays. And now it wasn't always thus because in 1900 the eighth richest region in all of Europe was the north of England, and Sunderland, as you know, is globally famous for its glassmaking and it's the shipbuilding capital of the world."
(BBC)