People are People
What is "common decency"?
Hi all,
Thank you for joining me for this week’s song, “People are People”, written in 1984 by Martin Lee Gore, sung by Depeche Mode. If you’d like to hear the song before you read the background, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article.
Below, you’ll find my interpretation of the lyrics (written in italics). Comments and questions are welcome. For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below. TOEFL (PBT) 450+, Eiken 2, CEFR B1.
The Song
(243 words)
People are People is a song by the very popular UK band, Depeche Mode. Some of their songs have strong lyrics and controversial content. Today’s song talks about injustice, whether it is based on race, religion, or sexual identity.
People are people so why should it be / You and I should get along so awfully
So we're different colors (races) / And we're different creeds
The word “creed” has to do with religious beliefs or faiths.
And different people have different needs
It's obvious you hate me / Though I've done nothing wrong
I never even met you / So what could I have done
I can't understand / What makes a man / Hate another man / Help me understand
The song asks why anyone would want to act with violence toward other people. Here, it talks about personal violence:
Now you're punching and you're kicking / And you're shouting at me
I'm relying on your common decency
So far it hasn't surfaced / But I'm sure it exists
It just takes a while to travel / From your head to your fist
“Common decency” is about being kind and polite to others and treating people the way you want to be treated. When you have common decency, you use good manners, show respect, and think about how your actions might affect others. The singer is saying that the violent person is not showing any of those qualities, or maybe it takes time for the person to realize they are acting badly.
QUESTION
What happens when a bigger group, for example, a country, acts in a violent way? Should we demand that the leaders show “common decency”? What should we do if they don’t?
VOCABULARY
injustice 不正
creed 信条
common decency 礼儀正しさ
surface で浮き出る
fist 拳
I think the present moment is a demonstration of what we do when a country or countries don't behave with common decency. I wish this wasn't so common on the geopolitical stage.