Bruce Hornsby - Look Out Any Window

Image from El Wik

There's an election coming next week, and I don't expect that I'm the only one who thinks that something is very, very wrong in this Republic.  The smooth talkers and back slappers have the system good and rigged, and it's not at all clear what a vote will do.  Bruce Hornsby captured this sort of class despair in his unique mix of rock/jazz/bluegrass, but his lyrics sign of the Working Man's plight in a way that would have made Woodie Guthrie jot down some notes.

Hornsby's big hit was "The Way It Is" in 1984 which went double platinum and won him the Grammy for best new artist.  However, my favorite was his 1988 album, Scenes From The South Side which had this song.  Along the way he's recorded with the Grateful Dead and Ricky Skaggs, and written songs that became hits for Huey Lews and the News.



Look Out Any Window (songwriter: Bruce Hornsby, John Hornsby)

There's a man workin' in a field
See's the rain and it's burning
He's saying this can't be real
Oh as he sees the color of the fields turning

Far away them too busy getting rich to care
Close their eyes, let it all out into the air
Hoping nobody else would care

Look out any window
Look out any open door
Look out any window
See what's going on in the world around you

There's a man working on a boat
Pulling lines from the water
Just trying to stay afloat
Oh filling the nets is getting harder

Far away they bend the rules so secretly
Close their eyes and let it all out into the sea
Hoping nobody else would see

Look out any window
Look out any open door
Look out any window
See what's going on in the air around you

Far away too many leaders let them get their way
Close their eyes and let it all out into the bay
Say they'll clear it up another day

Look out any window
Look out any open door
Look out any window
See what's going on in the air around you

Look out, look out for the big boys
Telling you everything they're gonna do
Look out, look out for the fat cat builder man
Turning this into a wasteland

Look out, look out for the back room boys
That say the smoke is gonna blow away
Look out, look out for the men who say it's okay
Sitting in a building far away