Can't Look You In Your Ideology

My musical reply to a woke friend who dumped me.

These are strange days, indeed.

And as each day passes, I realize more and more that I am a proud alumni of “The Old School”.

The curriculum of said school imbued in me the idea that

“sticks and stones may break my bones

but words will never hurt me”

It also taught me that disagreements do not necessitate the end of a friendship.

No two people look through the exact same lens to see the world in the exact same way. This is the flavour and spice of life. When we discuss and share and listen and synthesize our differing worldviews, we create a magical soup greater than the sum of the ingredients that went into making it.

Such is the logic & compassion of “The Old School”.

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This song has been shared by my friends here at Substack by Sol Luckman and The Freedom Scale. Sorry (but not sorry) for anyone seeing this for the third time. ;)

I’ve since grown my own Substack and wanted to share with it with my peeps.

I dedicate this song to those who have lost friends to the madness; to those who remain true to their punk roots; to those who cannot be labelled or boxed in by irrational rules or dogma; to those who truly have their own wings and fly free.

The story behind the song

Back in 2017 I joined a cool post-punk band as the keyboard player. Prior to my joining, I had been taking a break from music to focus on my upholstery business, Uplift Upholstery, that I had started to get me out of bartending for my supper. Living in the expensive city of Toronto required that I hustle day and night to make my ends meet, so sadly my music had taken a backseat to work that actually paid me.

It was in this band that I met my friend, who six years later, became the subject of this song. For the sake of this piece, let’s call him Jonny.

So grateful to be provided with an opportunity to reawaken my dormant musical self, the friendships and experiences born out of this band were a gift to me. We rehearsed and gigged regularly. We discussed many topics in between jams. Before long, it became clear to me that I was the only one truly anti-establishment. I was the punk-ass rebel in this post-punk band.

Their left-leanings took them all towards collectivism.

But none of this mattered to me.

In a world of diversity, a blending of different notes into harmony is the goal~ not a forced hammering out of individual frequencies into the boring unison of homogeny.

Fast forward a few years….

I left Toronto in 2021 to start a new life in a new city and Jonny was the one to help me move there. Right up until June of 2023, he came to visit me every 6 weeks or so, happily driving the 45 minutes to arrive at my studio for a catch-up hang and a jam. Over this period of two years, he was a witness to my experiences in a Canada I no longer recognized, one in which the divisive rhetoric of politicians & media outlets did their best to conquer us and confuse us into submission. It was upon my stating this (what I thought was) obvious fact on our last visit in June that Jonny’s brain exploded all over me. He had caught a case of cognitive dissonance. And it was terminal.

I received a long and nasty email from him a week later detailing why he could no longer be friends with me. It took me by surprise. At first it was painful to read. But because it was so insanely long and so incredibly nasty, it became easier to not take personally. It wasn’t about me.

He was clearly writing from pain. And that pain was there long before we met.

Two things to note before you listen & read the lyrics:

1. He referenced Star Trek a lot. So I did the same.

2. His nickname for me was Butterfly.

Enjoy…..xo

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the words

Like Jekyll hid his Hyde

You kept your monster locked inside

‘til a trigger tripped your rage

and he flew out of his cage

You’re woke, no longer alive

Lost to the Borg hivemind

Assimilated, your resistance was futile

And I can’t see a way past this impasse…

I can’t look you in your ideology no more

You can’t look me in the eye

You’re seeing everything in black or white, my friend

And I am living in colour, I am living in colour

The line in the sand

Has been drawn by your own hand

You think you’re better than me

But your grass ain’t greener

There’s no left or right

Just classic conquer by dividing

So rise above it~ join the human tribe

You’ve lost your rock, you’ve lost your roll

You’ve lost your heart, you’ve lost your soul

You’ve lost your mind, you’ve lost control

Your cult of misery

Thrives on homogeneity

True diversity is in individuality

You can’t put this Jac in a box

I’ll be dancing on the lid as I’m singing my songs

I’m not what you label me~

I am a butterfly and I’ll fly freeeeeee!

We’re all living colour.

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Thank you so much for listening and reading my story. If you have an inkling to share and comment please do….I’d love to hear from you.

If you’d like to support me by buying me some time to make some more music, please do so here:

be great,

love Jacqueline