I’ve had the following song playing in my head recently. The word “blame” is loaded, charged, generally carrying a negative connotation. To me, this song is mainly about accepting responsibility for my own actions and their effects on the world and other people; it’s not about blaming others. It also suggests that we all need to be careful about reacting offensively, avoiding responsibility, and blaming others (which seems to be a very common defensive “strategy”).
We can only reach understanding and forgiveness by (amongst other things) accepting the fact that we all make mistakes, that I make mistakes. The only way out from under our mistakes (and accumulated emotional and moral baggage) is to look directly at those mistakes and understand their causes (avoiding bias and blaming others). From there, we can make corrections/refinements/amends. We can (and must!) learn from our mistakes. We must forgive ourselves as well as others. We can reconcile and move forward… “move straight ahead.”
”
When problems arise and mistakes are made
It’s easy to pin the blame on other people
But there comes a time when we must face the truth
And realize whose fault it was
Accept the blame
I’ll do the same
Don’t be afraid to say you’ve done wrong
It’s no so hard to forgive and be forgiven
We all need to admit mistakes
We all are nothing but human
Accept the blame
I’ll do the same
”
– Bold - Speak Out - Accept the Blame
Possibly interesting trivia: this song was released in 1988. I’m not sure who wrote the lyrics, but the singer was 16 or 17 at the time.
This is a fairly representative example of the music I listened to growing up–hardcore punk with a positive message. I’ve been thinking recently about the impact of listening to this kind of music for twenty years.
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