A spoken-word performance opens with John Denver and Rumi to argue music unites people across divides. The speakers critique blaming external forces, insisting we're responsible for the world's state, and ask if we can imagine a different worldview that harnesses music's power to create change.
I repeat what John Denver told us: Music does not bring— music does bring people together. It allows us to experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit, no matter what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics, or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves we are the same. Rumi said, "Don't worry about saving these songs, and if one of our instruments breaks, it doesn't matter. We've fallen into the place where everything is music." The world is so screwed up, and yet it is we we who are allowing it to be that way. It's nice to say, "Oh no, it's them, it's them, it's them." It's not. It's us. It's me and you. What if there's another way of looking at this world? What if there is a way that can enable us to use that power that we have to change things? What if we determined we wanted to bring about a paradigm shift? Could we do it? Maybe. But if we can't imagine it, then we definitely can't do it. This is something that Michael has done recently. I'm gonna ask you all to help make it a hit song. Listen to the words. Get the feeling. Let yourself rock along with it. Got a little bit of that hip-hop in there.
Maybe it's time we finally make the truth. You think by now we've seen enough people in our neighborhood. But who knows? We make so much about what don't matter so much. Hardly matters. Maybe it's time we would let reason prevail. But who knows? You'd think we'd learn to learn from wisdom with faith. But who knows? We have no choice. Within the choices we've had, ones that we've yet to find. If we could learn from, but not live in the past, maybe we could leave it behind. What if there's another way of looking at things? What if we decided we could change our approach We could make— and who may know? China Bird. Who knows? Who knows? Oh, who knows? Who knows?
Everybody.
I think it's time. Who knows? Who knows? A whole new paradigm. Who knows? Who knows? Oh, the China Bird. Who knows? Who knows? The China Bird that we could create. Who knows? Who knows? Yeah! Woo! Michael! Woo!
