Tucson Thoughts: Cheryl Wheeler’s ‘If It Were Up to Me’

Thanks to Michael Kanter, Chief Visionary Officer at Cambridge Naturals in Cambridge, Mass., for passing on the lyrics to a great song by Cheryl Wheeler. This fine singer-songwriter in 1999 asked and answered the questions we’re struggling with this morning.

Lyrics to “If It Were Up to Me
by Cheryl Wheeler

Maybe it’s the movies, maybe it’s the books

Maybe it’s the bullets, maybe it’s the real crooks

Maybe it’s the drugs, maybe it’s the parents

Maybe it’s the colors everybody’s wearin’

Maybe it’s the president, maybe it’s the last one

Maybe it’s the one before that, what he done

Maybe it’s the high schools, maybe it’s the teachers

Maybe it’s the tattooed children in the bleachers

Maybe it’s the Bible, maybe it’s the lack

Maybe it’s the music, maybe it’s the crack

Maybe it’s the hairdos, maybe it’s the TV

Maybe it’s the cigarettes, maybe it’s the family

Maybe it’s the fast food, maybe it’s the news

Maybe it’s divorce, maybe it’s abuse

Maybe it’s the lawyers, maybe it’s the prisons

Maybe it’s the Senators, maybe it’s the system

Maybe it’s the fathers, maybe it’s the sons

Maybe it’s the sisters, maybe it’s the moms

Maybe it’s the radio, maybe it’s road rage

Maybe El Nino, or UV rays

Maybe it’s the army, maybe it’s the liquor

Maybe it’s the papers, maybe the militia

Maybe it’s the athletes, maybe it’s the ads

Maybe it’s the sports fans, maybe it’s a fad

Maybe it’s the magazines, maybe it’s the Internet

Maybe it’s the lottery, maybe it’s the immigrants

Maybe it’s taxes, big business

Maybe it’s the KKK and the skinheads

Maybe it’s the communists, maybe it’s the Catholics

Maybe it’s the hippies, maybe it’s the addicts

Maybe it’s the art, maybe it’s the sex

Maybe it’s the homeless, maybe it’s the banks

Maybe it’s the clearcut, maybe it’s the ozone

Maybe it’s the chemicals, maybe it’s the car phone

Maybe it’s the fertilizer, maybe it’s the nose rings

Maybe it’s the end, but I know one thing.

If it were up to me, I’d take away the guns.

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