2011 has been a pivotal, inspiring year, and a turning point promising big things for 2012. And it's maybe because people were broke and taking to the streets that, culturally, 2011 was somewhat uneventful. I suspect 2012 will bring the creative explosion of a culture reignited by shared awareness and new-found confidence. But looking back at 2011, the seeds of a cultural revolution did not seem to be penetrating the airwaves.
But where most of Hip Hop seemed to descend into a clatter of techno-fused beats and hooks about either partying in the club or partying in the strip club, there stood out a surprisingly positive groove that seems to best put a face on this year of the Occupy genesis.
Weaving an interpolation of Modest Mouse's 2004 upbeat hit "Float On," Lupe Fiasco uses his verses to unify the impoverished and privileged alike, urging courage to resist everyday oppressors, drawing strength from both childhood dreams and the power that a rarefied performer gets to observe when audiences are chanting his lyrics back to him around the world.
And yet in his open-ended challenge that "Ain't nobody leavin, nobody going home, even if they turn the lights on, the show is going on," there seems to be the prescient call for in-person assembly and energy that so many apparently desired deep down, across America, and around the world.
For those who still don't get what the Occupy Wall Street movement has been about, think about it like this: it's a like a vigil for a plan, or an intervention on behalf of an country all too obligingly suffering the painful cuts and deep gouging of corporate greed run amok in our political process. That outrage and alienation turns into empowerment with shared goals and the recognition that the voices of many are suddenly much louder than the voice telling us what additional austerity we should all endure because of some bankers' rampant criminal enterprise, which goes unpunished.
When future generations look back at us and our time, I hope they can associate this song with this tumultuous, inspiring era.
Here are the lyrics and music video for "The Show Goes On" by Lupe Fiasco, from his album LASERS. Follow Lupe Fiasco on Twitter: @LupeFiasco
Lyrics via LupeFiasco.com
ChorusAlright already the show goes onAll night til the morning we dream so longAnybody ever wonder when they will see the sun upJust remember when you come up the show goes onAlright already the show goes onAll night til the morning we dream so longAnybody ever wonder when they will see the sun upJust remember when you come up the show goes on
Verse 1Have you ever had the feeling that you was being hadKnow that shit that make you madThey treat you like a slavePut chains all on your soulAnd put whips up on your backThey be lying through they teethHope you slip up off your pathI don't switch up off I just laughPut my kicks up on they deskUnaffected by they threatsThen get busy on they assSee that's how that chi town made meThat's how my daddy raised meThat glitterin may not be goldDon't let nobody play meIf you are my homeboyYou never have to pay meGon and put your hands upWhen times is hard you stand upLUPE the manCause a brand that the fans trustSo even if they ban usThey'll never slow my plans up
ChorusAlright already the show goes onAll night til the morning we dream so longAnybody ever wonder when they will see the sun upJust remember when you come up the show goes onAlright already the show goes onAll night til the morning we dream so longAnybody ever wonder when they will see the sun upJust remember when you come up the show goes on
Verse 2One in the air for people ain't hereTwo in the air for the father that's thereThree in the air for the kids in the ghettoFour for the kids that don't wanna be thereNone for the n---s tryna hold them backFive in the air for the teacher not scaredTo tell those kids that's living in the ghetto That the n---s holding backThat the world is theirsYea yea the world is yoursI was once that little boyTerrified of the worldNow I'm on a world tourI will give up everythingEven start a world warFor these ghetto girls and boys, I'm rappin round the world forAfrica to New YorkHaiti then I detourOakland down to AucklandGaza Strip to DetroitSay hip hop on a destroyTell him look at me boyI hope your son don't have a gun, and never be a D-Boy
ChorusAlright already the show goes onAll night til the morning we dream so longAnybody ever wonder when they will see the sun upJust remember when you come up the show goes onAlright already the show goes onAll night til the morning we dream so longAnybody ever wonder when they will see the sun upJust remember when you come up the show goes onVerse 3So no matter what you been throughNo matter what you intoNo matter what you see when you look outside your windowBrown grass or green grassPicket fence or barbed wireNever ever put them downYou just lift your arms higherRaise them til your arms tired, let em know your there.That you struggling, surviving that you gon persevere yeaAint nobody leavin, nobody going homeEven if they turn the lights out, the show is going on