Behind the song: "The Strength to Not Fight Back" by Aaron Nathans and Michael G. Ronstadt
Guitarist Aaron Nathans and cellist Michael G. Ronstadt play musically adventurous folk with vivid storytelling. They just released their second album, Hang On for the Ride, and below Nathans shares the story behind his timely song "The Strength to Not Fight Back," about effecting social change through nonviolence.https://youtu.be/fKZcto7EaGM
The story
What is strength? Is it brute force, angry words spoken at a loud volume? Is it winning the affirmation of a crowd?
Or can strength be something more subtle? While passion can certainly be a delivery agent of positive change, it can just as often be used as a weapon.Strength can also be expressed in the act of restraint: When others act to provoke, and draw you into their conflict, overcoming the urge to engage can be difficult. And yet fighting fire with fire can make things worse. Many a life has been lost over the need to show the wrong kind of strength.I have long been moved by the example of Jackie Robinson. He was given the opportunity be the one to integrate Major League Baseball, but Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey told him he'd need to show great restraint in the face of the inevitable abuse. The story has been told many times of the ordeal Robinson faced, about all scorn heaped upon him as he went about his business, and how he managed to integrate the game by keeping his cool.The title of this song, "The Strength to Not Fight Back," paraphrases something Rickey said to Robinson during their initial meeting. In the song I extend the metaphor to others in history who have made change not with their fists but with their feet, not with fighting words but defiant action. And then I apply it to the everyday situations we face in our own lives. If someone comes at you in anger, tempting as it may be to engage, you don't need to do that. It's hard. I have certainly not mastered this, and this song is my prayer to find that strength within myself.At a time when our politics is all about stoking conflict, we can learn from Robinson's example. We can take principled stands on the issues that matter without making it personal. We don't have to take the bait. We don't need to let those that would antagonize us define the terms of the conversation.We often use the word "fight" to mean standing up, but in this song I draw a distinction between taking a stand and releasing your venom. There is a way to advocate for justice without losing your cool. It is not easy, but it is probably more effective.My rabbi, Yair Robinson, said in the wake of the recent Las Vegas shooting that it's easy to explode in anger, but the hard thing is to love. To love, he said, is an act of radical humility. Jackie chose the hard path, and it ate him up inside. But look at what he accomplished.I pray that more us follow his example in these troubled times.—Aaron Nathans
The lyrics
Do you know why we brought you hereHe bellowed with a gleamYou’re here to play in BrooklynIf you can make the teamI know that you can hit the ballBut there’s more to discussWhat I need to know from youIs if you have the gutsWhen they bring the scorn upon youYou’ve got to turn the other cheekYou've got to stand your ground in silenceUp against the highest heatIf you lose your head, they’ve got youSo this will be our pactI need to know that you have gotThe strength to not fight backSo he stood into the batters boxAnd took what they could throwA fastball to the headOr reminders of Jim CrowThey spiked him on the base pathsThey cursed him from the standsEven his own managerSaid he was half a manBut his hitting was electricHe ran in no time flatHe heard all of the tauntingAnd he answered with his batIt’s a hard road to travelBut he didn’t draw the mapHe stood in a long line of those withThe strength to not fight backFrom a man who held a bullhornOn the streets of the CastroTo Mahatma’s march in IndiaAnd Kent State, OhioTo a jail cell in South AfricaWhere a man learned to forgiveTo a lunch counter in GreensboroAnd the Edmund Pettus bridgeTo a mighty march on WashingtonAstride a sea of menTo lessons of humilityFrom a man from BethlehemWho said to love your neighborsForgive those who attackAnd as he died, he showed hadThe strength to not fight backThe strength to not fight backAgainst a vicious fistThe strength to not fight backAnd the power to resistWhen they laughed at them, or froze them outOr when they brushed them backSomehow inside, they could findThe strength to not fight backAnd so we’re at the crossroadsWe stand there every dayCan we check our prideOr must we escalateWith a neighbor, a coworkerA policeman or a clerkOr when somebody cuts us offWhen we’re driving home from workJackie how’d you do itHow’d you turn the other cheek?When you felt the rage swell upYou never said a peepBy power of exampleYou more than kept your pactYou showed us all how to findThe strength to not fight backOh, the strength to not fight backTo stand the higher groundThe strength to not fight backTo speak without a soundWhen they laugh at us or freeze us outOr when they brush us backSomehow inside, we can find the strength to not fight backSomehow inside, we can find the strength to not fight back