Broken Hearts Don’t Need A Hero
I was in Glasgow last weekend. Walking through the streets as you do. Seeing the folk in various places hoping for a few coins. A few coins at a time in their lives that could well and truly be called “rock bottom”.
It’s a hard thing to see, and as a man with a conscience, I haven’t found a way of dealing with walking past (it’s usually walking past) those folk who are sitting there on a cold December day. There aren’t any easy answers, short of treating it as a personal crusade. The Big Issue magazine was, and continues to be, a great idea. It helps pour a little bit of dignity into the whole scenario when possible.
But aside from developing the sort of political system that treats those on the margins of society with more concern and compassion (that seems as far, further off than ever) we seem to be stuck with the sheer sadness of it all.
My song Broken Hearts Don’t Need A Hero, was an attempt to get my head around this particular big issue a few years ago. Our fundamental need for friendship, one that we all have, is its underlying theme.
We can’t easily change the situation for people on the streets. But perhaps we can help to close the barn doors before the horse bolts for somebody that we know.
Simply by being a friend to them when the shit hits the fan. Because that person on the street could easily be you or I.