Say What You Ought to Say

Some people want us to speak so that they can listen… really listen.

Sometimes the same people want us to speak so that they can say their piece. Other people simply don’t care to have an exchange with us at all.

In John Mayer’s hit 2006 song, “Say what you need to say,” it offers a moving melody that urges us to open our mouths. Great song. Great idea. With this idea however comes the truth that when we do open our mouths and say what we need to say, (assuming that what we say needs to be heard), we will be challenged to say it some more, and then again.

At some point we’ll be asked to give arguments to support it, reasoning. Even further into it we might be asked to write a book, perhaps speak on the subject in the public sphere if we haven’t already. We’ll be asked to take our words and align them with some greater cause or bigger purpose. We will or we won’t, with or without compensation.

And then it will come.

The Backlash

The backlash, the criticism , the insults can and will come. Maybe we’re one of the few who have went through this entire process of finally putting our words out there, …”in quotations” as the song says. If we are, the backlash is inevitable.

One of the things Mr, Mayer doesn’t mention in this beautiful ballad is this part. In fact it’s one of the things that much of mainstream media, entertainment, and education doesn’t mention at all or simply leaves out bits and pieces. With no mention, there is no preparation for the backlash.

Preparing with “Ought”:

The dirty word “ought.” In reality it’s a quite positive word, it even has sort of a negative counterpart to prove it, as in “oughtn’t.” What we’ve done, however, and are continuing to do as a society, is take the very positive possibilities of this word and silence it. At google we can find decreasing usage of the word over time.

Despite these stats, We can find that “ought” is not only useful, it’s respectful, deliberate, and even motivational. It supersedes all of the views of the onlooker, the critic, those ready to shoot stones. Ought, the dignified word that it is, rises above the backlash, the distasteful arguments, questionable alliances, the compensation, and even our own voice dissuading us from telling the Truth.

Saying what we need to say is certainly inspirational, but saying what we ought to say is truly transformational.

Useful links:

http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~wedgwood/meaningofought.htm