"Welcome to the Future" by Brad Paisley

This video is somewhat in correspondence to the Web 2.0 video, because both videos make a person think about the changes that have occurred in the past years. In "Welcome to the Future", I thought a lot of the verses were interesting and compelling on so many different levels of context. I think nowadays, we sometimes overlook the children of the society. Kids have big dreams and ideas, and most of the time as a child gets older they forget their dreams, or they think that obtaining them is not possible. I believe the repetition of children say what they want to be was provided so the viewers of this video will realize these kids will run our nation, and the world. It was a beautiful thing to be reminded that kids do have dreams, hopes, ambitions, and I hope the drive will stay. A black girl in the video said, "I want to be President." Can you imagine 50 years ago a little black girl saying this and believing it? Not only is she a girl, but she is black. Although I was not alive 50 years ago, I am sure this was frowned upon. And now, it is possible and will probably happen. Martin Luther King Jr. was also mentioned in the song, along with Rosa Parks. If they were alive now, what do you think they would think?

I believe, the most powerful lyrics of the song are that of mentioning Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. The situations that occured in the video are all the things that have changed. Such as the arcade game to the phone, writing letters to having a video conference half way around the world, and having once segregated races to friends. This video takes place in a number of locations. Such as the Statue of Liberty, with two Chinese children running by it. Also, there was the reference to WWII and fighting against the Japanese, but then a place similar to Chinatown, but I would guess is like a Japanese city, was shown. And then there is the little black girl I mentioned before who says she wants to be President at the Washington Monument, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his speech. And next a black and white boy are shown playing football together in the park. Most of the song Paisley is singing in a city, full of things you would have never imagined, such as big screen televisions in the streets. Given each and every one of these examples, I hope you can see why each these are ironic and note that the location and the people at the locations are part of the context of this video and are meant for many purposes, but mostly to realize the changes that have occured and to embrace them.