I\u2019ll begin by admitting this is much too humble a publication for as highfalutin a proclamation as \u201cSong of the Year.\u201d It\u2019s the time of year when every editor is assigning lists and every writer is sifting through the year gone by for something meaningful to declare. It\u2019s a useful enterprise for taking stock and moving on to the new stuff on its way in the year ahead. But all this stuff, no matter how thoughtfully considered, will be forgotten by Valentine\u2019s Day. <\/p>\n
But a single song \u2013 that has a fighting chance. If it hits you the same way it hits me, it might stick with you. It might become something that resonates in a way that you\u2019ll be able to come back to it later on, as I have been with this song since it was first released in June. And it might help you take a breath and grab onto a tiny bit of faith, or give you strength to keep fighting for something worthwhile. There can\u2019t be more of them than us, right? <\/p>\n
I humbly present to you the Department of Tangents\u2019 Song of the Year \u2013 \u201cHope the High Road\u201d by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. It\u2019s a testament to Isbell\u2019s songwriting prowess that his big, hooky rock songs can feel as personal as his ballads. \u201cHope the High Road\u201d is invigorating emotionally and intellectually, and it\u2019s fun to belt out with the windows down on a sunny day. <\/p>\n
It is the perfect song for this particular moment in time, when so many people can\u2019t see each other as human, when leverage is more important than harmony or progress and it feels like hordes of partisan drones are swarming every last bastion of common sense and kindness and eating it alive. This subset, regardless of their nominal ideology, cannot abide deviation. They exist all along the political spectrum, though the most virulent group now has one of their own in the White House. And when any reasonable person takes a minute to breathe and ponder, they jump into the void screaming and insisting they\u2019ve already figured it out. <\/p>\n
This is the battle Isbell is fighting in this song. The narrator has reached a level of fatigue with this way of thinking, having realized where it\u2019s creeped into him. \u201cI used to want to be a real man\/I don\u2019t know what that even means,\u201d he sings. And he\u2019s breaking free of it. \u201cI\u2019ve heard enough of the white man\u2019s blues\/I\u2019ve sang enough about myself.\u201d And through sheer force of will, he\u2019s rejecting the negativity, reaching out to another human being \u2013 this has to be a love song, at its core, or else it doesn\u2019t work \u2013 and he\u2019s doing something about it. \u201cI ain\u2019t fighting with you down in a ditch\/I\u2019ll meet you up here on the road.\u201d <\/p>\n
Is this possible? Can anyway take the high road and pull everyone else into that setting? Maybe not. Isbell is no Pollyanna. These are the words of a wary optimist, one who doesn\u2019t necessarily believe the arc of history bends toward justice all on its own. Someone, a lot of someones, has to work to bend it that direction. And it work that needs to be done, even if it\u2019s ultimately fruitless. The work is still worthwhile. \u201cWe\u2019ll ride the ship down dumping buckets overboard\/There can\u2019t be more of them than us.\u201d <\/p>\n
And that hope, it\u2019s hope for everyone. Everyone you\u2019re arguing with now, maybe that was you a couple of years ago. And if you came out of it, maybe they can, too. The only difference between you and the person with whom you\u2019re locked in the death grip of ideological struggle might be a point on a timeline. With some luck and kindness, maybe those points will merge at some point. Maybe you\u2019ll both get home.
\nThat\u2019s what I hear when I listen to this song. That\u2019s why I keep coming back to it, why it helps keep me going when I sing along. And why it\u2019s my song of the year for 2017, and why I can take it with me in 2018 and beyond. <\/p>\n
\u201cHope the High Road\u201d by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
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