Het Amerikaanse radioprogramma This American Life vroeg singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles een nummer te schrijven over de reactie van Obama op de verkiezing van de nieuwe Amerikaanse president, wiens naam wij niet meer noemen. Hoe zou Obama binnenskamers gereageerd hebben? Het indrukwekkende resultaat was het lied Seriously, dat hier gezongen wordt door musicalster Leslie Odom Jr. Hij wordt begeleid door Lee Nadel op bas, Jonathan Dinklage & Antoine Silverman op viool, Adele Stein op cello en Todd Low op altviool.

Seriously
Let’s start with hope.
I threw it in the middle like a skipping stone.
The ripples won, son of a gun.
Some would not have thought so.
But I stand here Commander in Chief.
And I take that seriously.

But along the way.
A rogue ripple turned tidal wave.
In reaction to what I tried to do.
A rebirth of a nation’s hatred.
Red, white, and blue.
Is black in there too?
Seriously?

One man,
rewriting the book on bad behavior.
Maybe cheats the neighbors.
Feels he gets what they pay for.
We can’t, pat him on the back,
and send him on through.
No man’s ignorance
will ever be his virtue.
Is this the best we can be?
Seriously?

Let’s talk of fear.
And why I don’t bring it in here.
It’s a dangerous word,
it spooks the herd.
And we all bleed in the stampede.
Fear makes a false friend indeed.
And I take it seriously.

Oh hear me now,
before the truth gets drowned out,
by a demagogue flexing.
A demagogue flexing.
He’s history repeating.

Angry? Am I angry?
You ask am I angry?
And I’m at a loss for words.
After all we’ve done,
every battle hard won.
Every hair gone gray,
in the name of this place.
In a history plagued
with incredible mistakes.
Still I pledge my allegiance to these
United divided States.
Seriously.

Let’s end with “why”?
It’s a question I
want to ask of us as a populace.
Why not take our time
or the weight of this story.
Seriously.