Tennessee - Arrested Development

I feel this song is an exact reflection of the status of Black culture at the time of its release. This song is a perfect example of African American music given the progression it follows: beginning with an extremely personal confession of pessimistic feelings due to the loss of a brother and a grandmother that expands into a chorus that nearly every person can easily relate to. "Take me to another place, take me to another land, make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand your plan," portrays an incredibly broad and seemingly universal emotion felt at one point in time by any given person. Furthermore, the song evolves into a reflection of the road that was travelled in order to reach the present status of the writer through the lines "Walked the roads my forefathers walked, climbed the trees my forefathers hung from." Lastly, I feel that though the song serves as an emotional release of negative subject matter, the flow and beat of the song portray a somewhat optimistic feeling, which forces a message of hope to be taken away from the listener especially given the closing lines of "take me home" and "let me understand your plan."

Lyrics: http://www.lyricstime.com/arrested-development-tennessee-lyrics.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g40C6iAEHpc