Ode To The Unemployed

Yesterday the unemployment numbers were released and despite the sigh of relief uttered by a CNN talking head and a New York Times article's stating, "the clouds have parted" the statistics are still abysmal.  Even though jobs were added, the unemployment rate is still 9.7% and will continue unless there is sustained job growth.

Just to repeat: sustained job growth. So talk to me about clouds parting two months from now.  Better yet, talk to me about job growth six months from now after all of the construction crews that normally return to work in the Spring and after the Census Bureau has filled all of their temporary positions.

I don't want to spoil the party, so I'll go. But before I do, I will leave you with an ode to the unemployed.  It was not written for that purpose.  But listening to it the other day, I thought about the topsy-turvy nature of being unemployed: the uncertainty of making the right career path, not wanting to repeat the same mistakes, not knowing who to trust, and feeling afraid. Having been there, you have my sympathies.  Or at the very least, I'm not breaking out the party favors.

I cannot share the audio portion due to copyright restrictions.  But if you have a copy of Genesis' "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", you will find the song, "The Chamber of 32 Doors."  Listen along if you can, it may read better.

"At the top of the stairs, there's hundreds of people,
running around to all the doors.
They try to find, find themselves an audience;
their deductions need applause.

The rich man stands in front of me,
The poor man behind my back.
They believe they can control the game,
but the juggler holds another pack.

I need someone to believe in, someone to trust.
I need someone to believe in, someone to trust.

I'd rather trust a countryman than a townman,
You can judge by his eyes, take a look if you can,
He'll smile through his guard,
Survival trains hard.
I'd rather trust a man who works with his hands,
He looks at you once, you know he understands,
Don't need any shield,
When you're out in the field.

But down here,
I'm so alone with my fear,
With everything that I hear.
And every single door, that I've walked through
Brings me back, back here again,
I've got to find my own way.

The priest and the magician,
Singing all the chants that they have ever heard;
and they're all calling out my name,
Even academics, searching printed word.

My father to the left of me,
My mother to the right,
Like everyone else they're pointing
But nowhere feels quite right.

And I need someone to believe in, someone to trust.
I need someone to believe in, someone to trust.

I'd rather trust a man who doesn't shout what he's found,
There's no need to sell if you're homeward bound.
If I choose a side,
He won't take me for a ride.

Back inside
This chamber of so many doors;
I've nowhere, nowhere to hide.
I'd give you all of my dreams, if you'd help me,
Find a door
That doesn't lead me back again
- take me away."

"The Chamber of 32 Doors" written by by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford, 1974