The Man Can't Stop the Light
I believe the most honest recording of history is through art and, in my case, song. I am a folk-singer, having fallen in love with folk music when I was only a child in Girl Scouts. We sang about the streets of Laredo, the execution of Tom Dooley, about cooking corn-cakes on a wood stove and love affairs with hunting dogs.
Currently, there are people being "detained" for disagreeing with the Federal Government. They are political prisoners who are good fathers, primarily Christian and profoundly patriotic. They are not violent and mostly do not even have a parking ticket, and yet they are being held in solitary confinement for all but forty-five minutes when, early in the morning, before the sun comes up, they are put in a dog kennel out in the cold for their "yard time". These men are not anti-government. They are anti-corruption. They are pro-Constitution for that is the supreme Law of this Country, a Republic ruled by Laws. It is legal to have an opinion and to talk about that opinion, protected by law, in this country.
This song is Bues, because a telling of the abuse of these men is appropriate for that style. This song is Rock, because it makes anyone with a backbone and a clue angry. The song is about justice, that will come in the end, because Right always finds a way.
"Freedom's Song: The Man Can't Stop the Light" is a song that records a significant moment in history, when the People of a once free nation can be imprisoned for pretty much anything from selling raw milk to humanely raising cattle. The Light is a metaphor for Freedom and the Man (The People who are in power) cannot stop the Light.
