in my lifetime
see the video
The Story I’m a white guy who picked Barack Obama as my candidate pretty early in the campaign. I picked him because I agreed with him on most issues, and because I thought his intelligence, incredible charisma, and ability to inspire were what we’d need to reverse eight years of terrible de-evolution of America. Because I despise discrimination of any kind, I saw the color of his skin as kind of a bonus; his election could obviously have great side-benefits for our country and the world. But I supported Barack because I thought it was clear that he’d be the best leader of the U.S.A. going forward and we really needed what he was offering. I ran into my black friend Randy at a local watering hole on election night. Like me, Randy pays little attention to things like the color of a person’s skin. We discussed the fact that it was cool that Barack is black, but we voted for him because he was such a great candidate. Then we watched the states turn blue on TV, and like tens of millions we cheered and started to get more emotional than we’d expected. I don’t suppose I knew in advance that the election of our country’s first minority President was going to be one of those rare “where were you when it happened?” moments. But it certainly was. I’ll always remember exactly where I was sitting, and the way I felt when Barack was officially declared our next President and the room erupted. Sharing the experience with a black friend made the night so much more meaningful for me. Randy hadn’t expected to get emotional. But once we knew for sure that we really were going to have a black President, he said, “In my lifetime. I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime.” It almost became a mantra as Randy repeated these words through a stream of tears. “In my lifetime. In my lifetime!” He wondered what his grandfather was thinking in Heaven, and realized that his son would grow up in an America where a black man could rise to the very top. How wonderful it was for me to be able to share this moment! For me, knowing my country was going to have a great new leader would have been way more than plenty. I started work on the song “In My Lifetime” a few days after the election. Thank you, Randy, for so honestly sharing your emotions and inspiring me to educate myself. I feel like I’ve gained some understanding of the tremendous sacrifices that were required for our society to get to where it is today. While we surely have a lot of this road still ahead of us, apparently we’ve come a long way. The song was written and recorded here at my house. I’d originally planned to create a complicated and dramatic arrangement with percussion, strings, etc.--but in the end the message of the song seemed best served by the original piano/vocal demo I recorded the night I finished writing it. I’m not sure how a new interest in the particulars of black history turned into the photo montage that now accompanies “In My Lifetime”…I guess at some point I realized I’d collected dozens of images that really needed to be arranged to tell their story. Because of the way the montage came into existence and the very limited amount of time I had to complete and share this project before inauguration day, I was not able to compile a list of photographer/artist credits (many of which are unknown). This is more than unfortunate, and if this sentence happens to find the eyes of anyone who captured any of the images I’ve included or holds the rights to any of them…please accept my sincere apologies and let me know how I can offer proper acknowledgement. The video is not and will never be made available for sale, nor will I reap any financial benefits from the images therein. To all, thanks for taking a listen and a look. Here’s to believing in change and, as a country, making it happen in our lifetime. Dan
behind the song and the video.
