As a teen hearing this song – The Way It Is, I liked the catchy piano riffs and Hornsby’s cool, intimate vocals, even though it seemed to appeal more to an adult audience with its steady tempo and jazz-inflected sound. I heard it only sparingly over the years, but always enjoyed it. The song, which topped the US charts and reached the top 20 in Australia, the UK, and other countries, added a welcome diversity to Top 40 playlists that were otherwise dominated by uptempo, synth-driven tracks. This is the second song from Hornsby to feature here in fairly quick succession after The Show Goes On – a happy quirk of the alphabetical sequence of song titles.
Most of the following was abridged from the references below:
The Way It Is is about the division between rich and poor and racial segregation. It makes explicit reference to the Economic Opportunity Act, also known as the 1964 Poverty Act, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The song deal with the need to resist complacency and never resign yourself to racial injustice as the status quo.
Hornsby grew up in Virginia, which isn’t where you would expect a song about racial and economic tolerance to originate. He was raised with these values though. Hornsby told NME: “My mother came from the New England area, and she was a little more enlightened about racial subjects than a lot of people in the South. So I had a different attitude to a lot of my friends whose parents were more conservative. He added: “When I was brought up, the vibe I got of Martin Luther King in my town was that he was a real evil man – just the vibe in the air, that he was terrible. And if you grow up in that environment you can’t help but be affected by it a little bit. Luckily, I came from a family that guarded us against that conservatism, but sure, I grew up in the thick of all that bad feeling.”
Hornsby had been working as a staff songwriter for years with no luck getting a record deal. With his attempts to appeal to popular taste falling short, he decided to make a demo of songs in his own style – ECM jazz – a distinctive style of jazz that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, primarily associated with the Munich-based record label ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music)and included this track. He sent the demos to major record producers and signed with RCA because they offered him creative freedom. They were rewarded when this song and the album became huge hits.
Hornsby and his band were not exactly MTV-ready, but the video for this song did well on the network. In the stark performance clip, none of the musicians ever stand up – some folks were surprised when they saw Hornsby in person and realized he was 6′ 4″.
[Verse 1]
Standing in line, marking time
Waiting for the welfare dime
‘Cause they can’t buy a job
The man in the silk suit hurries by
As he catches the poor old ladies’ eyes
Just for fun, he says, “Get a job”
[Chorus]
That’s just the way it is
Some things will never change
That’s just the way it is
Ha, but don’t you believe them
[Verse 2]
They say, “Hey, little boy, you can’t go where the others go
‘Cause you don’t look like they do”
Said, “Hey, old man, how can you stand to think that way?
Did you really think about it before you made the rules?”
He said, Son
[Verse 3]
Well, they passed a law in ’64
To give those who ain’t got a little more
But it only goes so far
‘Cause the law don’t change another’s mind
When all it sees at the hiring time
Is the line on the color bar, ooh, no
References:
1. The Way It Is (Bruce Hornsby song) – Wikipedia
2. The Way It Is – Songfacts
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I’ve always loved Bruce Hornsby. I saw him with the Grateful Dead in September, 1991, in Cleveland, OH. One of those shows when I was completely sober. LOL
I am relatively unfamiliar with his discography apart from the two songs I have written about as well as Every little Kiss, The Valley Road, and Mandolin Rain. That would have been cool to see him and the Dead even if you were sober 😛 How was the show?
It was one of the Dead’s good nights. I think having Bruce play with them improved the odds of them having a good night. That was actually the last time I saw the Dead, although I saw Jerry Garcia Band in Buffalo in November, 1993.
He was the piano player on “End of the Innocence” ~ he co-wrote & co-produced the song with Don Henley. True story ~ I first heard it on my answering machine. I was having an affair with a guy who used to play songs on my answering machine so that my husband wouldn’t hear his voice & recognize who was calling me. I remember the day I heard it ~ I didn’t recognize the song but I remember thinking, that sounds like Bruce Hornsby. LOL
Oh, I didn’t realise Bruce played with them. That’s cool. I assumed he was another act on the same night.
I never realised he was the piano player on one of my most cherished songs growing up – ‘End of the Innocence’. I also have a funny story about that song which I wrote about in my song article below. Yours was wicked! Haha
I loved that song and the entire album. I borrowed it from somebody on CD, taped it on music cassette and listened to that tape all the time. The melodies of the songs, as well as Hornsby’s vocals and piano playing have always impressed me. While I’m a bit less fond of the album nowadays, I still find it reasonably enjoyable.
This and ‘The Show Goes On’ are by far my favourite songs from my limited exposure to his music. I agree his vocals and piano playing are so impressive.
Bruce played with the Grateful Dead until their last shows. I was supposed to go to see them in Chicago in 1995 ~ taking my son along, he would have been 2 at the time ~ but we decided that he was too young for a long show like that & to wait until “next year”. Jerry died a few months later.
I always liked Don Henley as a musician & a lyricist, but apparently, he’s a real asshole, especially to women musicians. Linda Ronstadt helped him in his early career ~ the entire Eagles band ~ & she won’t have anything to do with him now, hasn’t for YEARS. He’s insulted Carole King more than once & she’s another one who won’t have anything to do with him.
It seems that many men in the music business are less than gentlemanly when it comes to their women peers. SHOCKING, I KNOW.
As I have told you before, I know next to nothing about the Grateful Dead, but their name always pops up and their legacy seems profound. They obviously rubbed off on you! I’m glad you got to see them so often.
You’re not the first person here to highlight Don Henley’s poor reputation, though your comments focus more on his behaviour toward female artists. My friend Max (Powerpop blog) wrote about what Henley did regarding copyright issues with the Eagles and the suspension of people’s YouTube videos I’ll relay what he wrote below:
Max: he admits…he hires a room full of lawyers (his words) to scope youtube and to turn anyone in that has any type of Eagles songs. I’ll give you two examples. A bass player was trying to show other bass players how to play Hotel California…without playing the song! Just showing them on bass…boom he is cited and gets a strike because of Henley and his merry band of lawyers.
First reaction videos…where young people listen to older music and respond what they think. They will play maybe a minute of a song…stop it and talk about it and then play some more…so it’s not straight through…you couldn’t record it. He should be happy that people are sharing his music on you tube because that leads to sales…but no.
The other Eagles do not do that.
Me: How did you find out about all that Max?
Documentaries…and interviews with Don.
I agree with you…if they didn’t authorize a complete song yes…but Don is against the free usage law where you are allowed a few seconds of use of a song…not counting selling anything.
He comes off as a greedy ass.