Ain’t Got No/ I Got Life

The other day a message popped up on my blog site: ‘Congratulations. You’re on a 900-day streak.’ I’ve been writing my musings each day for 2½ years!

Much of the time it’s been against a backdrop of bad news. ‘Unprecedented’ has been used to describe the global pandemic, the uncertainty of Brexit, Black Lives Matter, climate change, war in Ukraine and now the financial crisis…

Musing on the old Nina Simone song… She paints a dark picture of all of the things she hasn’t got…

I ain’t got no home, ain’t got no shoes
Ain’t got no money, ain’t got no class…

In 2½ years ‘ain’t got no’s could refer to health, work, security, respect, money… This week’s news has included ‘ain’t got no’ people from Pakistan, Ukraine, Florida… as well as folk struggling closer to home.

Reading the prophet Zechariah… he says ‘Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners and the poor.’ (7:10) Look out for the ‘ain’t got no’ people. Help them. Support them.

Nina Simone doesn’t stop as an ‘ain’t got no’ person. She turns it round and becomes a ‘got my’ person.

Got my hair, got my head
Got my brains, got my ears
Got my eyes, got my nose
Got my mouth, I got my smile…

It’s the detail, the small things; she notices and appreciates the ‘taken for granted…’

Musing… Today I shall be a ‘got my’ person… got my jumper, that I’m wearing for the first time in months… got my breakfast, that I usually eat without thinking about… got my wife; we celebrated our 50 year streak earlier in the year(!)… got my friends, that we shall meet later… got my bed, where I shall finish at the end of the day.

As a child I was taught: ’The Lord is my Shepherd…’’ I’m grateful that I’ve got my shepherd.

I’ve got the life
And I’m gonna keep it
I’ve got the life
And nobody’s gonna take it away
I’ve got the life.