#294 / What Good Am I?

 

That "prophetic voice" I mentioned yesterday is always calling out to us - and it is calling us to action, not to mere observation. I feel that keenly, as I continue posting these observations, day by day. The question asked in this song is for all of us, but it is for me, too, I know: "What Good Am I?"

 

In this song, Bob Dylan's question is specifically directed to us as we witness the poverty and pain of homeless people, so evident everywhere, and as we then "just turn away." The question, though, is actually more general, and is applicable in almost every circumstance. That next to the last verse helps make that clear. From homelessness, to global warming, to the continuing threat of nuclear annihilation, this question is posed, always and forever, for each one of us: "What Good Am I?"

 

You can listen to the song by clicking the title link: 

What Good Am I?

What good am I if I’m like all the rest
If I just turn away, when I see how you’re dressed
If I shut myself off so I can’t hear you cry
What good am I?

What good am I if I know and don’t do
If I see and don’t say, if I look right through you
If I turn a deaf ear to the thunderin’ sky
What good am I?

What good am I while you softly weep
And I hear in my head what you say in your sleep
And I freeze in the moment like the rest who don’t try
What good am I?

What good am I then to others and me
If I’ve had every chance and yet still fail to see
If my hands are tied must I not wonder within
Who tied them and why and where must I have been?

What good am I if I say foolish things
And I laugh in the face of what sorrow brings
And I just turn my back while you silently die
What good am I?

 

 

Image Credit:

https://www.captainstomp.com/vinyl/lp/bob-dylan-oh-mercy