The Staple Singers – If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)
- Album:
- Be What You Are
- Year :
- 1973
- RIYL :
- Marvin Gaye / Dusty Springfield / Jamie Lidell
A lot can change in a week. In a month already full of strange, wonderful, disturbing, and genuinely surprising news events, has there been a more fascinating week in 2013 than the one that started on June 24?
We’ve seen bedlam on the floor of the Texas State Senate, an NFL player charged with 1st degree homicide, the the trial of George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin, and a host of majorly important Supreme Court rulings (most notably the end to parts of the Voting Rights Act and the end of the Defense of Marriage Act as we know it).
It’s enough to explode your Facebook feed.
But, with the weekend upon us, I feel good in spite of the ups and downs. In particular, the Supreme Court’s decision on DOMA seems to be one of the rare events that I’ve watched unfold that will have an unambiguously positive impact on the country I call home. It feels like we can still make progress in spite of it all. It just feels good.
The Staple Singers knew that progress was possible back in 1973, just like countless others before them. Musically, “If You’re Ready” is a retread of their better known I’ll Take You There. But, to me, it matters not. It’s aching with the feeling that things will be okay in due time. It simply cannot be denied. Thinking about the end of DOMA, I can’t help but smile while hearing the warmth in Mavis Staples’ voice. Lyrically, it’s so simple that it achieves a kind of rarefied purity. It’s a song for weeks like this. Even if you aren’t ready today, hands are stretched out for you to come along when the time is right.
American politics often seems to me like a never-ending race to opposite corners—but make no mistake, there is a such a thing as the right side of history. If you’re ready, come go with me.
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