Racial strife has played a huge role in the downfall of Cairo. “The North Starts Here” tells how Cairo was the demarcation point for crossing over into a place where the colour barrier ceased to exist. Once buses travelling up from the south arrived, they were able to remove the curtains that separated the coloured seating from the white. Cairo’s white population, however, wasn't in tune with the laws of the state.

“Far From The Tree”, “White Hats”, and “Jesse’s Coming To Town” try to depict the atmosphere of racial intolerance that was so prevalent in the 1960s. Cairo never recovered from its white population’s refusal to integrate. Black boycotts of white-only businesses closed most of them down by the end of 1973. The empty storefronts on Commercial Street are mute testimony to the city’s failure ever to recover from its self-inflicted wounds.

Of the final three tracks on the disc, “Buy My Votes” and “Prosperity Train” show that Cairo both has a long way to go yet in its attempt to recover, and the reality of their current situation. “Buy My Votes” is about buying votes in a circuit clerk race in 2000 for cigarettes, whisky, and three dollars.

Small time corruption like this does nothing to enhance the reputation of any city, but when you have the history that Cairo does it just serves to drag you a little deeper into the muck. The irony of “Prosperity Train” is that people are bemoaning the good old days, and realizing that they’re gone, but as usual are blind to how aspects of the way things used to be were the cause of how things are today.

Echoing Rodney King, Stace’s final song on the disc is a plea. “Can’t We All Get Along” is an open call to the people of Cairo to work together to build something out of the ruins of a great city. His genuine affection and frustration for the city and its inhabitants comes through loud and clear in the lyrics of this song. He offers them hope, but only if they are willing to get it together:

The glory days are gone, leaving only a trace.

But each time another building falls down,

A garden could grow in its place.

Hold on, hold on, and open up your heart.

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Article Author: Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of the recently published What Will Happen In Eragon IV? and has had his work published in print and online all over the world. The not so long-haired Canadian iconoclast writes reviews and opines on the world as he sees …

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