I was shopping at a budget clothing store this past weekend when the song “Waiting for the World to Change” came over the loud speakers. As if on cue, every aproned clerk in the place started mournfully singing along as though we were all on the set of “Rent” or something. “Me and all my friends,/ We’re all misunderstood/ They say we stand for nothing, and/ there’s no way we ever could./ Now we see everything that’s going wrong/ with the world and those who lead it. /We just feel like we don’t have the means/ to rise above and beat it./ So we keep waiting/ Waiting on the world to change./ We keep on waiting,/ waiting on the world to change.”

I’m not sure author John Mayer should be overly commended for what’s being called “the song of a generation.” To me, this song is only beautiful melodically. The lyrics are rather irritating. Words fail me here. I don’t want to seem like a snob, but the video accompanying this ballad on YouTube seems nothing more than an endorsement of mopey New York graffiti artists. Waiting for the world to change appears to be tedious work for these dudes.

I’m moved by the disenfranchisement. I weep for those in need. But this song has such an unfortunate message. What a tribute to the magnetic lure of powerlessness! Is anybody else out there ultimately put off by the passivity, the blaming, the easy judgments articulated here?

Change begins with us. Peace begins with us. I’d advise no one to wait for the world to change. Thich Nhat Hahn says that “a person who is not happy cannot work for peace…but happiness does not need a lot of conditions.” I believe that. Click here and then click on the excellent meditation about “Being Peace,” if you wish to be the “change” the world needs and not just wait around!