When i read Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man more than a dozen years ago, i was struck by the irony of his description of his young black protagonist as being “invisible”. Now most white people become instantly alert upon seeing a young black man, racist stereotypes being what they are. This image has stayed with me, and when i started writing songs, i thought about including the metaphor in a song. I did that in “Invisibility”. I could have taken the song in either of two directions; i chose the easier route of writing about the group that i considered most nearly invisible now.
However, the “road not taken” has called to me every time i’ve sung “Invisibility”. Consequently, i determined to explore the other path — that is, to write about the current plight of young black men, who are very visible indeed. I first tried a satirical piece, using the same melody and somewhat modified first verse as i had in “Invisibility”. It didn’t work. I originally thought that my words were so blatantly racist that the song could not be interpreted as anything but satire. However, upon reflection, i wonder if the success of Donald Trump has made racist, sexist, and xenophobic language sufficiently common in our society as to make my approach unacceptable among those who formerly would have recognized it as satire.
I’ve rewritten the song, using exactly the same melody and first verse as “Invisibility”. Verses two through four deal with a few scenarios that i expect many young black men experience in their lives. Other examples could have been included, but i don’t think i’m a powerful enough writer to do justice to the subject, so i stopped rather than add additional cliches.
I think that the final result is one of my better attempts at writing songs with a social conscience.