I've often said that what makes America exceptional isn't our wealth or size or skyscrapers

or military power.

It's the fact that America's the only nation in human history that's made up of people

of every race, religion, and culture from every corner of the globe, and that we've

had faith in our democracy, our common creed, to blend this hodgepodge of humanity into

one people.

Nothing symbolizes this truth more than our music, the way the generations of Americans

stitch together every imaginable tradition, from African rhythms to Irish ballads, to create

something entirely new, whether it was jazz or the blues, country or rock and roll.

At the same time, our music's often been a mirror into the fault lines of American society,

in what gets played and who gets paid, in the songs of those who've been relegated to

the margins of society, and in the songs of those insisting that their truths finally

be heard.

It's got a power to reshape social attitudes and make connections between people when

mere words, even in good speeches, aren't enough.

Fether on up the road, someone's going to hurt you like it, wait we got to get all right

here.

Let me hear where you're at, Fether on up the road, Fether on up the road, Fether on up the

road, Fether on up the road, Fether on up the road, Fether on up the road, Fether on up the

road, Fether on up the road, Fether on up the road, Fether on up the road, Fether on up the

road, Fether on up the road.

You, I forget that last line.

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