Fifty Nifty

"Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies;
Fifty nifty stars in the flag that billows so beautifully in the breeze."
- Ray Charles, "Fifty Nifty United States"

The list of states where coronavirus is on the rise reads exactly like the bridge of the "Fifty Nifty" song which names every state in alphabetical order: "Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California... ." Colorado comes next in the list but the illness isn't spreading here (though our governor is keeping a sharp eye on neighbors Utah and Arizona). Full stop at Colorado, my friends, where luck and outdoor lifestyles have so far kept us off COVID-19's most wanted list. Fingers crossed.

This song has been stuck in my head over the past few days and I decided to look it up and write a few words on the subject. I was quite startled to learn that Ray Charles crafted the lyrics, but with a quick Google search I found not rhythm and blues great Ray Charles but a whiskered, grandfatherly, white Ray Charles who apparently  also sang the theme song to the TV show "Three's Company."

I learned Charles' lyrics in fifth grade chorus at Thurston Elementary School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The lyrics are somehow unforgettable and they surfaced in my brain when my oldest child learned and performed to the same song thirty years later.  Memory's grip held me strongly enough that I was jolted during the fill-in-the-blank line when you name your favorite state and the children said Colorado instead of Michigan.

Now the poor states are strung out in repeated tallies of protests, police overreach and COVID hotspots, a chorus lacking cheer and sunny patriotic images. Current headlines render the quaint lyrics of "Fifty Nifty" unbearably antiquated and reminiscent of a time - not when everything was better - when everyone had their heads in the sand.

But certainly the fifty of us (along with Puerto Rico, who should be a state if they still want to be) are somewhat tired of being held off with promises of unity and coherence that fall flat. As each governor fights desperately for his or her own people and tries to craft "Survivor"-style alliances with neighbors, the fabric that used to unite the North to the South, the East to the West, wears mighty thin.

The round number fifty and the phrase "fluttering flag" create pretty pictures and smooth sentences, but they are just words. We need actions to help unify 330 million diverse actors, to bridge gaps and build safety nets and scaffolding to better things. We need a plan to defeat COVID-19, to heal the wounds of slavery and racism, and to imagine a better future for every individual in every state. Until the leaders emerge or until we become the leaders we need, we'll continue to hear roll call and pray no one's calling our name.