#Song Lyric Sunday Contrast Sept 13

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This week for Song Lyric Sunday our host Jim Adams for has given us the prompt of CONTRAST.

Here are the “rules”:
• Post the lyrics to the song of your choice, whether it contains the prompt words or not.  If it does not meet the criteria, then please explain why you chose this song.
• Please try to include the songwriter(s) – it’s a good idea to give credit where credit is due.
• Make sure you also credit the singer/band and if you desire you can provide a link to where you found the lyrics.
• Link to the YouTube video, or pull it into your post so others can listen to the song.
• Ping back to this post or place your link in the comments section below.
• Read at least one other person’s blog, so we can all share new and fantastic music and create amazing new blogging friends in the process.
• Feel free to suggest future prompts.
• Have fun and enjoy the music.

The world we live in today seems to want to point out all of the CONTRASTS. The political, religious, and philosophical differences between people seems to dominate the media. There are lots of prompts about CONTRASTS.

Last week I was stumped on what song to write about but Jim’s prompt this week gave me quite a few to decide on.

I am pretty certain that many people will immediately gravitate to the CONTRAST of colors in response to this week’s prompt. A song that came to me immediately was Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.

Then there is the contrast of emotions in a Paul Thorn song called “I don’t like half the folks I love”. If you haven’t listened to these lyrics please take the time to do so. Maybe some part of your family is being discussed in this song about dysfunction. .

The song I choose for the CONTRAST theme was made into a hit in 1972 by Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, and Cory Wells. Those three were the original members of Three Dog Night. The title is Black and White. It was originally written in 1954 by David L Arkin and Earl Robinson.

The song was spurned by the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education US Supreme Court Decision

The original lyrics of the song opened with the verse below and the Arkin and Robinson were most certainly referencing that court decision. I find it refreshing that social justice songs are not a new thing in the US.

Three Dog Night adapted the original lyrics to make it more universal. Yet when you know the 1954 history it makes you appreciate their adaptation.

Original opening

Their robes were black, their heads were white,
The schoolhouse doors were closed so tight,
Nine judges all set down their names,
To end the years and years of shame.

The version that Three Dog Night sang began like this.

The ink is black
The page is white
Together we learn to read and write
A child is black
A child is white
A whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

Three Dog Night earned 12 gold albums and recorded 21 consecutive Billboard Top 40 hits, seven of which went gold, including Black and White. The success of TDN was due to the pop/rock sound and powerful harmonies they created.

Black and White reached #1 on the Billboard Top 100 and finished the year at #63.

Here are the complete lyrics to Black and White.

The ink is black
The page is white
Together we learn to read and write
A child is black
A child is white
A whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

And now a child can understand
That this is the law of all the land
All the land

The world is black
The world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black
A child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light

And now at last we plainly see
We’ll have a dance of liberty
The world is black
The world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black
A child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

The world is black
The world is white
It turns by day and the by night
A child id black
A child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light

Here is a video that moved me

Yes the prompt this week is about CONTRAST but when it comes to people we need to remember we have more in common than differences.

If we remember that maybe we can grow to see the light. That would a be a beautiful sight.