This is a parable of Henson Cargill’s 1968 hit Skip A Rope. “Listen to your kids as they play. Isn’t it funny what kids say? Mom hates dad, dad hates mom, you should have heard the fight they had. Last night we all woke up to a terrible scream. I hit little sister another bad dream. Don’t pay your taxes, don’t be silly. What happened to the golden rule? Forget the rules, just play to win. Hate your neighbor because of the color of their skin. Stab them in the back, that’s the name of the game. Mommy and Daddy are to blame.” Oh! what a mess we got ourselves into. Can’t seem to get it together to make things right. All we do is fuss and fight. We have not paid attention to what the children say. We have only made things worse with each passing day. We can’t stay like this anymore. We’ll just end up pale and gray. When you think about it, it’s really not funny what kids say. Today, the world has turned pale and grey. What the children have said long ago their days are full of terror.
When the song “Skip A Rope” first appeared in 1968, it should have been a wake-up call for our society to realize the pitfalls that have begun to play havoc with the community of humanity. Since then, we haven’t really heard the real meaning behind the lyrics of what the song “Skip A Rope” actually conveys. Since then, generation after generation has only succumbed to the fate that our children have long endured. As a consequence, our society has deteriorated to the point where, as a nation, we have become so accustomed and insensitive to violent tremors that they continue to reverberate throughout the nation.
More than 50 years ago, singer-songwriters turned their attention to the shortages and the violent confrontations that broke out in a time of injustice in the midst of social convulsions. These upheavals led to the dismantling of the basic family unit that had stabilized much of America’s landscape. As we have entered a new decade in the 21st century after more than half a century later, the lyrics behind “Skip A Rope” sound like a perspective on our society that has long been ignored, perhaps considered old-fashioned and even obsolete. according to society’s standards. we have today. It would be so refreshing to adhere to what that letter says and realize how far we have to go to make things right.
As our society has deteriorated to a point of utter disregard for the basic goodness and fellowship of man, many of us are wondering how long humanity can stay focused on what Skip A Rope’s lyrics are trying to say about our world. The divisions we face, the economic inequality, and the injustices that plague so many of us have disrupted our children’s development in a way that has only perpetuated the way society has become.
Ending this vicious circle is essential to generate the necessary changes so that our children forge a destiny away from the turbulence that so often affects and destroys the family unit. They in turn break with the circumstances that have led to the deterioration of the only denominator that is integral to stability in society. A strong, healthy, and stable environment within the structure of families is essential for societies to break the long-standing cycle of repetitive warfare, say, between parents, outside influences, and, in some cases, their offspring.
Achieving this is by no means easy considering how far our society has regressed. We have become intolerant of others and a constant reluctance to accept any kind of change that alters the deep divisions that are in tune with the lyrics of Skip A Rope. This is one of the most important lyrics that is just as relevant now as it was when it was first released in 1968.
