NCLB - No Child Left Behind - Katherine Dudney

Welcome to my channel! I am a singing cellist and composer. :)

Website: https://katherinedudney.com/
Soundcloud:   / katherine-dudn.  .

Download/Play Track:
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/0X98N4...
Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/album/nclb...
I ❤ Radio - https://www.iheart.com/artist/kdazz-3...
itunes -   / album  .
Deezer - https://www.deezer.com/us/album/24353...

Produced using Ableton Live

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I wrote this song about a decade ago when I was in the midst of researching the No Child Left Behind Act that Congress passed in 2001. I had naively assumed that our public school system was somewhat standardized across our great nation, and was shocked to learn some of the grim realities that exist in our poorest school districts that no one ever talks about, save for a few journalists. Where you live and the community that you’re raised in determines the quality of education that you have access to. The inequity is haunting and inspired me to write this song.

In general, the wealth disparity in this country haunts me daily. Watching the poor get poorer is so painful and overwhelming that it’s tempting to dehumanize these populations by assuming it’s not as bad as it is, or worse, assume that somehow they don’t feel as bad as I would given the same situation. It’s an ugly denial, and I know that it’s not true. Each and every one of us is alike with the same big hopes and dreams and feelings of despair. Parts of my past have given me a sense for the misery that festers in a place where there is no hope, and in its absence fear and hate grow like wildfire.

To those with the privilege to think they would never be that desperate or broken, do not assume you are stronger than the people born into those situations. You might have been an outlier, able to rise above the trajectory of your circumstances, but those are few and far between. It is more likely that you would have fared no better, and in some cases perhaps even worse, than the people you judge and shame for their lack of “success”. I should practice what I preach for I have spent most of my life shaming myself for not rising farther above my own past, and continue to learn how to give myself and others the compassion and understanding I choose to believe we all deserve.

The consequences of growing up in poverty are great, and the meritocracy propaganda that tells us we live in a free country where everyone can realize their dreams is such a slap in the face to the individuals living in communities that have been economically oppressed for decades. This song is my way of trying to give a voice to the voiceless.

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A big thank you to my friend and former bandmate, Bobby Stevens, for his creative ideas and musical expertise in helping to arrange the song. Also, for providing video editing support and additional footage. I cannot thank you enough Bobby! Collaborators are the best!!! 😍
Checkout Bobby Stevens videos here:
   / @bobbystevensfilms  

LYRICS:

NCLB - No Child Left Behind

Please don’t tell me that I live on the wrong side of this town
I don’t want to hear that I was born on the wrong side of this town
Where I’ll be held to blame for having less
And there’ll be hell to pay for being this way

My brother says it’s gonna stay this way
Oh it will it will it will he says
He says it’s gonna stay this way
Oh It will it will it will...

And we’ll be held to blame for having less
And there’ll be hell to pay for being this way
We’ll be held to blame for having less
And there’ll be hell to pay for living this way

So gather up he says we gotta run away
So we don’t get raised up in this town to nowhere

If we’re raised up here
We’re gonna live hard earned lives
And if we’re schooled right here
We’re gonna score low the whole way through
Ya know they say these days no child gets left behind
But when you’re raised up here
It’s not a place you’ll grow it’s a flat line

I know he’s been trying’ to leave here for awhile
I hear him whisper like a warning in the night
Echoes around our room like a warning on our lives

If you’re raised up here
They’ll say that you can learn to fly
If you just aim high and try a little harder every time
And they’ll write it on the walls
But we all know it’s a great big lie
‘Cause when you’re raised up here
The class you bear just keeps you denied