Self-Help SongS: HOW TO BE MORE TOLERANT #1, 6LACK

Let’s switch bodies for a day. You could be me and I could be you

                                                6lack, ​Switch

How to Be More Tolerant #1 - Before you judge someone, imagine life through their eyes

You might remember the comedy-rap hit from earlier this year, Lil Dicky’s ‘Freaky Friday’, in which he hilariously swaps bodies with Chris Brown. 6lack takes this plot but gives it a much deeper, more poignant makeover. 

The chorus plays, “Now switch/Tell me how it feels/to be somebody else”. The famous ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ quote comes to mind - “You never truly understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” 

In this world of instant opinions and twitter debates, Switch’s message couldn’t be more appropriate. Social media increasingly gets us into the habit of making immediate judgments about people, words and images. Everything is divided into two categories - like or dislike, and while it may feel like a greater amount of viewpoints is making us more open-minded, I would argue it is having the opposite effect. Accusations of ‘Fake News’ has led us to judge based on emotions rather than on hard facts. 

6lack croons, “Ain’t nobody gotta go through what I’m going through, no/But it seems like they all know what I’m supposed to do, so”. He is criticising those who try to dictate to him how he should live his life, and there is perhaps also a shot aimed at those who claim his problems aren’t worthy because he is living a life of stardom. But I think the most crucial message from Switch is to be more tolerant of others, because we can never truly experience life from their perspective. So although their issues may seem insignificant to us, or they may come across in a negative way, everyone is fighting their own battles, and each person’s troubles are the most important things in their own lives. Therefore everyone’s problems are equally as important as a whole - it is just a matter of subjectivity and perspective. 

Next time you’re going to judge someone, think of the unlikely partnership of fictional 1930s lawyer Atticus Finch and 21st Century rapper 6lack: 

“You never truly understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. Now switch, tell me how it feels, to be somebody else.”