Put a Little Love in Your Heart
This anthem to kindness was a major hit for Jackie DeShannon in 1969 and later covered by Annie Lennox and Al Green. DeShannon had an earlier hit with Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s What the World Needs Now is Love, later covered by Dionne Warwick.
Both songs were a counter-balance to the turmoil of the 60’s, stirred by the increasingly disastrous war in Vietnam and the racist violence following the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, viciously punctuated by the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. It was a volatile time.
These admittedly saccharine songs ran through my head Tuesday night as I watched primary election returns.
Unmentioned in the commentary and interviews throughout the night was a consistent theme of self-interest. Candidates and voters alike cited one or another of personal woes in justifying their votes or political positions.
While addressing personal woes is not a new campaign phenomenon, my observation is that we Americans have drifted further and further from our social contract - the commitment to collective responsibility. This drift is apparent in the depth and rigidity of the partisan divide. Despite the occasional call to listen to the other side or love thy MAGA neighbor, most of us, including me, do precious little listening to or loving those on the other side of the chasm.
Listening and love aside, our politicians lean toward appealing to self-interest and the electorate responds accordingly. Even progressive candidates, who profess a commitment to human rights, quickly segue to food or housing costs to avoid appearing too “woke” to the mass of self-interested voters in the theoretical “middle.”
I was dismayed by every media interview on election night. Voters repeatedly voiced cost of groceries and gas at the pump as their primary concerns. I don’t doubt their sincere expressions of financial stress. Candidates were equally monotonous - and I do question their excessive caution.
I cannot recall any time in my past when anyone I knew was motivated primarily by what are glibly called pocketbook or kitchen table issues. We were mortified by the immoral war in Vietnam and the endless violence against or marginalization of our Black neighbors - among other things. No one said, “I’d vote for (blank) except eggs are too damn expensive!”
Even when approaching the outer edges of empathy, most voters’ concerns are skewed toward those things that directly affect them.
There are a great many issues that should relegate gas prices to the bottom of the voting motivation list.
* The war in Iran is not just a stupid Trump/Hegseth folly. Hundreds of thousands of children, women and men are injured, dead, displaced and living in abject misery. We should care.
* Immigrants, including citizens and others with legal status are being harassed, assaulted and warehoused in inhumane conditions. We should care.
* The Trump administration, particularly the felon-in-chief, is corrupt far beyond anything in our history. He and others should be in jail, not issuing offensive, dishonest social media posts, some of which are inarguably war crimes. Candidates for national office tiptoe around this blatant criminality and quickly turn to the “affordability” theme. We cannot “afford” to normalize crude authoritarianism by playing nice. We should care.
* Our planet is burning to a crisp. Real scientists are like Cassandra, screaming into the void left by candidates and office-holders who would rather lower gas prices by opening the strait of Hormuz than ask anyone to sacrifice by engaging in important environmental practices. We should care.
Popular culture is increasingly crude and violent. My wife and I cringe at the pounding beats and offensive lyrics - it discernible - coming from our grandkids’ devices in our backseat. A quick scan of popular movies and television reveals an endless invitation to horror, thrillers, sci-fi or a combination thereof. Neither children nor adults are yearning for tales of kindness. People subconsciously absorb these repetitive assaults.
Schools are competitive and dreadfully devoid of any curriculum or social emphasis on cooperation and empathy. Educators should be engaging our children in examination of the matters mentioned above. But here too, there is no risk tolerance for teaching children to open their hearts to the “other,” whether marginalized classmates or distant infants caught in the rubble of Pete Hegseth’s testosterone contest.
Ultimately, each person is morally connected to all others. Precious few officeholders or candidates are willing to make that case, whether in terms of our neighborhoods, towns, cities, nation or world.
What the world needs now is for each of us is to put a little love in our heart. Find the song on Spotify and sing along.
Think of your fellow man
Lend him a helping hand
Put a little love in your heart
You see it’s getting late
Oh, please don’t hesitate
Put a little love in your heart
And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place
For you and me
You just wait and see
Another day goes by
Still the children cry
Put a little love in your heart
If you want the world to know
We won’t let hatred grow
Put a little love in your heart
And the world (and the world)
Will be a better place
All the world (and the world)
Will be a better place
For you (for you)
And me (and me)
You just wait (just wait)
And see
Wait and see
Take a good look around
And if you’re looking down
Put a little love in your heart
I hope when you decide
Kindness will be your guide
Put a little love in your heart
And the world (and the world)
Will be a better place
And the world (and the world)
Will be a better place
For you (for you)
And me (and me)
You just wait (just wait)
And see
People now, put a little love in your heart
Each and every day
Put a little love in your heart
There’s no other way
Put a little love in your heart
It’s up to you
Put a little love in your heart
Come on and
Put a little love in your heart
You’ve got to
Put a little love in your heart
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