My inspiration for tonight’s song is Clive’s “Listen to the Band” post from earlier this week.  I do hope you’ll hop over and check out his post — it is awesome!  Meanwhile, this song is just one of the many on Clive’s post and one that I played a couple of years ago.  Today,  this song resonates more than ever given the increase in racism, homophobia, and every other form of bigotry known to humankind. 

A friend and I were having a conversation about how far too often we, as parents, instill our own bigotries and hatreds into our children, often without even realizing it.  Religion is guilty of creating so many phobias in children that I would need some extra fingers to count them.  My proposal is that we expose our children to all different sorts of people at a very young age.  Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, LGBT people … and let them see that these are just people, no different than they themselves in the ways that matter.  If we do this, then we raise young adults who are more caring, more accepting of ‘other’ than past generations.  We break that cycle of homophobia, racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, and much more.  As I was chatting via email with this friend on this topic, a song title came to me … this one … Teach Your Children, by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Graham Nash wrote this song when he was a member of The Hollies, though it was never recorded by that group. The lyrics deal with the often-difficult relationship he had with his father, who spent time in prison, but they also speak to the way we interact with and accept others.

Shortly after writing this, Nash visited an art gallery and saw two photographs that crystallized the meaning of the song: Diane Arbus’ “Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park” and Arnold Newman’s portrait of German industrialist Alfried Krupp. Says Nash:

“I put the ‘Hand Grenade’ photograph next to a picture of Krupp, who was the German arms magnate whose company was probably responsible for millions of deaths. It was an eerie photograph, a portrait, and the lighting is weird and his eyes are dark – a great image. And looking at them together I began to realize that what I’d just written [‘Teach Your Children’] was actually true, that if we don’t start teaching our children a better way of dealing with each other we’re f–ked and humanity itself is in great danger.”

This song wasn’t wildly popular, although it reached #8 in Canada and #16 in the U.S. but did not chart in the UK or much of anywhere else.  Although never one of my top ten favourites, I did like the song, but was completely unaware of the background (or most of the lyrics) until tonight.

Teach Your Children

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

You, who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so, become yourself
Because the past is just a goodbye

Teach your children well
Their father’s hell did slowly go by
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick’s the one you’ll know by

Don’t you ever ask them, “Why?”
If they told you, you would cry
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you

And you (Can you hear?) of tender years (And do you care?)
Can’t know the fears (And can you see?)
That your elders grew by (We must be free)
And so, please help (To teach your children)
Them with your youth (What you believe in)
They seek the truth (Make a world)
Before they can die (That we can live in)

And teach your parents well
Their children’s hell will slowly go by
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick’s the one you’ll know by

Don’t you ever ask them, “Why?
If they told you, you will cry
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Graham Nash

Teach Your Children lyrics © Nash Notes

A friend and I were having a conversation about how far too often we, as parents, instill our own bigotries and hatreds into our children, often without even realizing it.  Religion is guilty of creating so many phobias in children that I would need some extra fingers to count them.  My proposal is that we expose our children to all different sorts of people at a very young age.  Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, LGBT people … and let them see that these are just people, no different than they themselves in the ways that matter.  If we do this, then we raise young adults who are more caring, more accepting of ‘other’ than past generations.  We break that cycle of homophobia, racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, and much more.  As I was chatting via email with this friend on this topic, a song title came to me … this one … Teach Your Children, by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Graham Nash wrote this song when he was a member of The Hollies, though it was never recorded by that group. The lyrics deal with the often-difficult relationship he had with his father, who spent time in prison, but they also speak to the way we interact with and accept others.

Shortly after writing this, Nash visited an art gallery and saw two photographs that crystallized the meaning of the song: Diane Arbus’ “Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park” and Arnold Newman’s portrait of German industrialist Alfried Krupp. Says Nash:

“I put the ‘Hand Grenade’ photograph next to a picture of Krupp, who was the German arms magnate whose company was probably responsible for millions of deaths. It was an eerie photograph, a portrait, and the lighting is weird and his eyes are dark – a great image. And looking at them together I began to realize that what I’d just written [‘Teach Your Children’] was actually true, that if we don’t start teaching our children a better way of dealing with each other we’re f–ked and humanity itself is in great danger.”

This song wasn’t wildly popular, although it reached #8 in Canada and #16 in the U.S. but did not chart in the UK or much of anywhere else.  Although never one of my top ten favourites, I did like the song, but was completely unaware of the background (or most of the lyrics) until tonight.

Teach Your Children

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

You, who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so, become yourself
Because the past is just a goodbye

Teach your children well
Their father’s hell did slowly go by
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick’s the one you’ll know by

Don’t you ever ask them, “Why?”
If they told you, you would cry
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you

And you (Can you hear?) of tender years (And do you care?)
Can’t know the fears (And can you see?)
That your elders grew by (We must be free)
And so, please help (To teach your children)
Them with your youth (What you believe in)
They seek the truth (Make a world)
Before they can die (That we can live in)

And teach your parents well
Their children’s hell will slowly go by
And feed them on your dreams
The one they pick’s the one you’ll know by

Don’t you ever ask them, “Why?
If they told you, you will cry
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Graham Nash

Teach Your Children lyrics © Nash Notes