Songs To Promote The Vote!

What you can do for your country:

It seemed to me a very simple premise. The power of this great country was put in the hands of the people. America would live on as a representative government of 'We the People' for as long as we exercised our right to vote. Much to my dismay, in 1964 my 5th grade teacher Mr. Otto told the class "Americans are not living up to their responsibility - to preserve the vote for future generations." The country was voting around 55% then and to date has been its lowest (48%) since 1950. 100.5 million registered voters were eligible to vote and did not participate in 1996.

As the sixties went by, election results always caught my interest. Not so much who won, but how many Americans participated in electing those who were to lead our country. Election after election turnout remained the same and I wondered why no one was doing anything about it. I thought it was a no-brainer, it seemed a candidate could base his entire campaign around being the one to stand up and tell America - everyone needs to participate in the voting process if we are to have a government of 'We the People'. A patriotic platform that would bring people together, to this day is still ahead of its time.

With all the songs we heard in the sixties, how could we give peace a chance without the vote? While Martin Luther King was leading the march for civil rights, voting rights were in the forefront. Did the flower children look past their most powerful access to making the world a better place? They had noble intentions, their protests led to the end of the war, but how many of them registered to vote? How many dropped out, only to resurface as part of a system they so vocally opposed and still refuse to participate in?

I had no idea what it was President Kennedy wanted me to do for my country, yet he made it seem like a goal that every American could achieve. You see, my vote counts because I am doing my duty for my country. My vote would be more valuable if more people voted. The value of the popular vote in America can be measured only in quantity - the more people who participate, the better the representation. If only 50% of those eligible are involved in the process, no party has a chance of gaining a true mandate by the people. The only way the vote of the people counts is when the popular vote exceeds predicted expectations. In peacetime, the obligation of participating in ones' civic duty is equal to the obligation of fighting for ones' country when at war.

In a town called Baltimore, where the Star Spangled Banner was born, I write songs of civic responsibility encouraging everyone to vote. I released a 45 record with 'The Voting Game' on it in 1982 and in 1996 I released a cassette called 'Voice Your Vote' with three songs promoting the vote. I am in the process of recording a variety of my latest material to be released via this website in the near future. I know in my heart, if I can create a platform for the vote, my songs will lead our people to the polls.

So, when you ask yourself what you can do for your country — America needs your vote, and only you can fulfill that need.

Sincerely,

Patrick Simpson

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