This was a song I basically imagined was about dealing with super hard-headed people who simply will not believe the truth and facts in front of their eyes until it comes around to bite them in the ass.
I even did a video for it.
This can be true with relationships where someone is devoted to another person who is toxic and abusive. It can also happen in other contexts.
Obviously, now over a decade after having written the song it clear;y applies to the MAGAs and their psychotic obsession with Trump and ludicrous delusional paranoid conspiracy theories in more ways than I originally imagined.
I think I probably came up this idea because of my experiences around members of Fishbone, specifically their former guitarist Kendall Jones whom I met at a few events organized by the Black Rock Coalition in the early 90s. There was a bar-b-que we had and snagged one of our custom-imported beers. It wasn’t a big deal but I did run into him again during the Gathering Of the Tribes tour where Fishbone performed with King’s X, Primus and the legendary punk band X. He promised to return the favor with a beer of my choice sometime. He was a nice affable guy.
Not that much later I heard that he had joined some kind of cult and the other members of Fishbone were trying to work with his family to get him deprogrammed. One minute he’s a reasonable guy, the next he’s a fruitbat. It happened just that quick.
He’s never rejoined the band.
There is a point where a person’s entire sense of self and identity becomes imprinted by a specific belief or an idea. These people can’t be dealt with by just having a reasonable discussion because they automatically reject any idea that isn’t approved and endorsed by the cult belief system.
The rest of us are the people in the dark. The rest of us are the ones without a clue. The rest of us are brainwashed.
This goes far beyond having a difference of opinion. Far beyond a unique point of view.
There are those that argue you need to focus on your common issues and values. That you need to build a bridge of empathy in order to reach these people in order for them to be able to trust and hear what you have to say. That you can’t confront their differing beliefs directly, but need to simply put subtle questions in their mind that help them come to the realization about the truth of things on their own.
I am not a patient enough person to play that kind of long game. I gotta go straight to the issue and challenge it. Head on. So I’m no good at conversation therapy.
Lord bless those who are.
Original Song - Tumbling Down