Jocelyn Cesari, professor of Islamic Studies at Harvard University, says:  "Muslim immigrants in the U.S. are well-educated and even after 9/11 they showed more trust in American society.  There is still an American dream and Muslims are partaking in it."  --  Here are two deeply democratic expressions of the American creed:  Amos Lee's "Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight" (2005) [1] and Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac" (1998).[2]  --  The key point being, in Amos Lee's words, "We all need a place where we can go/and feel over the rainbow," or in Bruce Springsteen's, "Feeling out of sight."  --  Amos Lee is still optimistic:  "I think we got a chance to make it right." ...

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1.

KEEP IT LOOSE, KEEP IT TIGHT
By Amos Lee

Amos Lee
2005

http://amoslee.com/lyrics.php
or
http://johncoleman.typepad.com/poetry_ex_nihilo/2005/03/amos_lee_keep_i.html

well I walked over the bridge
into the city where I live
and I saw my old landlord
well, we both said hello there was nowhere else to go
cause his rent I couldn’t afford

well relationships change though I think it's kind of strange
how money makes a man grow
some people they claim if you get enough fame
you live over the rainbow
over the rainbow
but the people on the street out on buses or on feet
we all got the same blood flow
oh, in society every dollar got a deed
we all need a place where we can go
and feel over the rainbow

and sometimes we forget what we got
who we are,
and who we are not

I think we got a chance to make it right
keep it loose
keep it tight
keep it tight

I’m in love with a girl who’s in love with the world
and I can’t help but follow
though I know someday she is bound to go away
and stay over the rainbow
gotta learn how to let her go
over the rainbow

sometimes we forget who we got
who they are
and who they are not

there is so much more in love than black and white
keep it loose child
gotta keep it tight
keep it loose child
keep it tight
keep it tight

2.

PINK CADILLAC
By Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen
1998

http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/PinkCadillac.html

You may think I'm foolish
For the foolish things I do
You may wonder how come I love you
When you get on my nerves like you do
Well baby you know you bug me
There ain't no secret 'bout that
Well come on over here and hug me
Baby I'll spill the facts
Well honey it ain't your money
'Cause baby I got plenty of that
I love you for your pink Cadillac
Crushed velvet seats
Riding in the back
Oozing down the street
Waving to the girls
Feeling out of sight
Spending all my money
On a Saturday night
Honey I just wonder what you do there in back
Of your pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac

Well now way back in the Bible
Temptations always come along
There's always somebody tempting
Somebody into doing something they know is wrong
Well they tempt you, man, with silver
And they tempt you, sir, with gold
And they tempt you with the pleasures
That the flesh does surely hold
They say Eve tempted Adam with an apple
But man I ain't going for that
I know it was her pink Cadillac
Crushed velvet seats
Riding in the back
Oozing down the street
Waving to the girls
Feeling out of sight
Spending all my money
On a Saturday night
Honey I just wonder what it feels like in the back
Of your pink Cadillac

Now some folks say it's too big
And uses too much gas
Some folks say it's too old
And that it goes too fast
But my love is bigger than a Honda
It's bigger than a Subaru
Hey man there's only one thing
And one car that will do
Anyway we don't have to drive it
Honey we can park it out in back
And have a party in your pink Cadillac

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