For this week’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, Jim Adams has given us the word, “street,” an image, a song, or a recording artist to write about. Or, he tells us, “You can go with anything else that you think fits.

First of all, let me apologize. I’m feeling kind of loopy at the moment. I’m on pain medication, including an opioid known on the street as Norco. And I took 1,000 milligrams of Tylenol about an hour ago, and about half an hour ago I chewed a 30 milligram ring of CBD, which has only a trace of THC. This is my current pain management routine.

But I digress. When I saw that Jim’s Thursday Inspiration prompt today was “street,” the song that popped into my head was “Takin’ It to the Streets” from the Doobie Brothers. However, Jim’s Thursday Inspiration prompt from March 21, 2024 was also the word “street,” and I responded to that prompt with the same song.

So given that I’m under the influence of a cocktail of powerful drugs, I’m going to replay my “Takin’ It to the Streets” post. Hey, it’s a good song!

“Takin’ It to the Streets” was the first single by the band after Michael McDonald joined The Doobie Brothers. McDonald wrote the song and sang lead. It peaked at number 13 in the U.S. in 1976. McDonald joined the group when guitarist Tom Johnson fell ill. The words were partly inspired by an essay McDonald’s sister, Maureen, wrote, hence the lyrics, “Take this message to my brother.”

The song is written from the perspective of someone growing up amid poverty and despair in the inner city, addressed to an audience that has no idea what it’s like to live there (“you don’t know my kind in your world”). McDonald fleshed out the lyrics after a conversation with Maureen where they talked about how society was letting poor people fall through the cracks.

The chorus is almost a chant, with the group singing “takin’ it to the streets” as Michael McDonald ad-libs underneath. This gives the song a church feel, which was intentional: McDonald thought the melody evoked gospel music, and wanted it to sound like a gospel song. This meant delivering a powerful message in the lyrics and having lots of people sing on the chorus as the spirit moved them.

This song popularized the phrase “taking it to the streets,” which means bringing a message directly to the people. It’s often used in politics to describe grass-roots campaigning. Prior to this song, the phrase was rarely seen in print.

Some consider “Takin’ It to the Streets” to be a protest song, but to me it seems to be more about the day-to-day situations we all find ourselves in at some point. It’s a message that we’re all in the same boat and there’s no such thing as a hole in your end of the boat. Hence, we need to get it together and do something constructive. I find it particularly relevant in our world today. Especially the lines “You, telling me the things you’re gonna do for me / I ain’t blind and I don’t like what I think I see.”

Here are the lyrics to “Takin’ It to the Streets.”

You don't know me but I'm your brother
I was raised here in this living hell
You don't know my kind in your world
Fairly soon, the time will tell

You, telling me the things
You're gonna do for me
I ain't blind and I don't like
What I think I see

(Takin' it to the streets)
Takin' it to the streets
(Takin' it to the streets)
No more need for running
(Takin' it to the streets)
Oh, na, na

Take this message to my brother
You will find him everywhere
Wherever people live together
Tied in poverty's despair

Oh, you, telling me the things
You're gonna do for me
I ain't blind and I don't like
What I think I see

(Takin' it to the streets)
Takin' it to the streets
(Takin' it to the streets)
No more need for running
(Takin' it to the streets)
Oh yeah
(Takin' it to the streets)
Takin' it, takin' it
(Takin' it to the streets)
No more need for hiding
(Takin' it to the streets)
Oh yeah
(Takin' it to the streets)
Takin' it to the streets
(Takin' it to the)

Oh, you, telling me the things
You're gonna do for me, yeah, yeah
I ain't blind and I don't like
What I think I see

(Takin' it to the streets)
Takin' it to the streets
(Takin' it to the streets)
No more need for running
(Takin' it to the streets)
Oh yeah
(Takin' it to the streets)
Takin' it to the streets
(Takin' it to the streets)
We'll discuss it further
(Takin' it to the streets)
Oh, na
(Takin' it to the streets)
Takin' it, takin' it
(Takin' it to the streets)
Yeah, yeah
(Takin' it to the streets)
Takin' it to the streets
(Takin' it to the streets)
No more need for running
(Takin' it to the streets)
No more need for hiding
(Takin' it to the streets)
Hey, yeah
(Takin' it to the streets)
No, na
(Takin' it to the streets)
Yeah, yeah
(Takin' it to the streets)
Takin' it, takin' it
(Takin' it to the streets)