![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capri0mni[AN: When I woke up, this morning, I thought this was going to be a long, involved, post with video links and full transcripts of words, audio, and description. But that was six hours ago, and it turns out I don't have the attention span for all that, anymore. So this is just to make note of these two sychronistic phenomena]
"American Country Music" fell out of my good graces after September 11, 2001, when the whole genre turned into "America's gonna whup the World's ASS!!," and the Dixie Chicks were ostracized for daring to criticize Bush's war policy. And I thought I would cringe at Country Music forever.
But then, yesterday, I read this post from Dave Hingsburger: The Day the Dog Didn't Die [emphesis mine]:
And then, a couple hours later, I was surfing through the channels on my set, and caught a glimpse of a country music video that featured two disabled war veterans just going through their daily lives (with actual disabled actors, no less, not able-bodied folks in Cripface), in a way that just happened to include putting on your prosthetic leg and glass eye (one soldier had lost a leg, the other had become visually impaired) when you get dressed in the morning, without pity.
The lyrics of the song, without the visuals, are all about getting over a bad romantic break-up; with the video, it's all about how being Disabled is just "A different kind of normal," instead of OMG!Inspiring!Tragedy! (though you wouldn't know it by reading the comments on YouTube).
I've got a number on a napkin, a pounding in my head
It takes everything I've got to crawl out of bed.
I lost a hell of a woman, freedom caught me on the chin
But I'm doing alright (sic) for the shape I'm in
The sun came up again this morning
I got a call from a long lost friend
Planned us a little road trip down in New Orleans
It aint much, but it beats where I've been.
Yeah, I'm doing alright, I'm doing alright
I'm doing alright for the shape I'm in, yeah.
Well, I'm getting better at barely getting by
When I look at her picture, I don't break down and cry
And all this time on my hands is getting easier to spend
'Cause I'm doing alright for the shape I'm in.
The sun came up again this morning
And I took my old past [?] back for a spin
Now when it rains, it ain't always pouring
And I'm learning how to live again.
Yeah, I'm doing alright, yes, I'm doing alright
Yeah I'm doing alright for the shape I'm in. [repeat 2X]
YouTube Video Link "The Shape I'm in" performed by Joe Nichols
You know, a generation ago, the Disability Rights movement got a big momentum push from the veterans returning from Vietnam, translating the skills they learned protesting the war policy into agitating for accessibility. Back when these wars started, especially since the lower mortality rates, this time around, translates to higher "survival with disability" rates, I was wondering if, or when, the Disability Rights movement would get another boost from vets.
Maybe that's starting to happen, now.
"American Country Music" fell out of my good graces after September 11, 2001, when the whole genre turned into "America's gonna whup the World's ASS!!," and the Dixie Chicks were ostracized for daring to criticize Bush's war policy. And I thought I would cringe at Country Music forever.
But then, yesterday, I read this post from Dave Hingsburger: The Day the Dog Didn't Die [emphesis mine]:
(quote) So here's to Darius Rucker, here's to song writers Brett James and Chris Young who worked with people with disabilities in writing the song, here's to CMA [Country Music Accademy] for making space for people with disabilities to shine. (unquote)
And then, a couple hours later, I was surfing through the channels on my set, and caught a glimpse of a country music video that featured two disabled war veterans just going through their daily lives (with actual disabled actors, no less, not able-bodied folks in Cripface), in a way that just happened to include putting on your prosthetic leg and glass eye (one soldier had lost a leg, the other had become visually impaired) when you get dressed in the morning, without pity.
The lyrics of the song, without the visuals, are all about getting over a bad romantic break-up; with the video, it's all about how being Disabled is just "A different kind of normal," instead of OMG!Inspiring!Tragedy! (though you wouldn't know it by reading the comments on YouTube).
I've got a number on a napkin, a pounding in my head
It takes everything I've got to crawl out of bed.
I lost a hell of a woman, freedom caught me on the chin
But I'm doing alright (sic) for the shape I'm in
The sun came up again this morning
I got a call from a long lost friend
Planned us a little road trip down in New Orleans
It aint much, but it beats where I've been.
Yeah, I'm doing alright, I'm doing alright
I'm doing alright for the shape I'm in, yeah.
Well, I'm getting better at barely getting by
When I look at her picture, I don't break down and cry
And all this time on my hands is getting easier to spend
'Cause I'm doing alright for the shape I'm in.
The sun came up again this morning
And I took my old past [?] back for a spin
Now when it rains, it ain't always pouring
And I'm learning how to live again.
Yeah, I'm doing alright, yes, I'm doing alright
Yeah I'm doing alright for the shape I'm in. [repeat 2X]
YouTube Video Link "The Shape I'm in" performed by Joe Nichols
You know, a generation ago, the Disability Rights movement got a big momentum push from the veterans returning from Vietnam, translating the skills they learned protesting the war policy into agitating for accessibility. Back when these wars started, especially since the lower mortality rates, this time around, translates to higher "survival with disability" rates, I was wondering if, or when, the Disability Rights movement would get another boost from vets.
Maybe that's starting to happen, now.
