Angry You?… Lonely Me
Words and Music by Benny Mann
Fall 2000

This song was conceived on a ride home from Western Massachusetts back to Jersey City, NJ on one of the many weekends I was commuting to the Berkshires to escape my New York City life. I had the music hammered out for some time but I had been searching for a rivulet of inspiration to ignite the creation of some fitting lyrics.

On that particular afternoon I was listening to an NPR broadcast discussing the violent tragedies at Columbine and other schools over the last few years. I began reflecting on the families and communities involved in those tragic incidents. It occurred to me that I was astonished that some of the parents and caregivers of these children overlooked the warning signs that their kids were languishing in dismay about the state of their lives. I also realized how incredibly fortunate I was to be a member of a family incredibly wealthy in love and understanding, if not particularly wealthy in the financial sense. I know I would never have suffered in isolation the way these children did before they committed the atrocities for which they have become so well known. While I was angry with the children, I became more and more angry with the parents as well.

I decided to write a song about the situation. I wanted to make sure that it had a simple message with an expansive scope. I resolved that I would limit exact references in the song and instead paint my lyrical canvas in bright ambiguous tones. I wanted this song to speak to people personally so I designed it in the hope that one might place their own specific circumstances on the lyrical framework and that it then might speak to their condition personally.

I intentionally left unclear what injury the child in this song has suffered. What I do hope will blaze forth with biting clarity is a sense of complete and utter loneliness coupled with an aching desire to be loved and cherished.

One final note: I would never wish to liberate the purveyors of hate and violence in our schools from the responsibility of their horrific actions. I am, however, sympathetic to the suffering a person must endure to drive them to the point where they perceive such macabre displays of inhumanity as acceptable. It is my firm and lasting belief that the adults charged with the paramount responsibility of serving as these children’s primary source of love and character modeling must bear some measure of accountability for the tragic paths their offspring have eventually chosen.