In our final day of Matthew Good week, a song that brought me to tears the first time I heard it with its relevance.

Matthew’s latest album, Vancouver, is aimed at the city he knows so well, the darker sides in particular.  In the wake of the lead-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics and the preparations the city has undertaken – namely, the diminishing support for and tolerance of the homeless, most of them mentally ill – Matthew has crafted a song that fits any large city and the general apathy of its denizens.  With Pete Yorn flushing out the backgrounds, the song cuts to the bitter truth of how easily we ignore those who’ve fallen from the ranks of the rat race (“We all live downtown/Pay in blood, no parking/Sleep on the ground/Step over ourselves…”).

Matthew has blogged in depth on the Olympics and their negative effects, the ones most do not see beneath the media coverage and flashy displays.  He’s also commented on his advocacy for the mentally ill, something I admire more than I can say. The song, for me, says it all.

http://www.matthewgood.org/?s=olympics

Day 101:  The Vancouver National Anthem – Matthew Good