Fanfare for the Common Man

Everyone is familiar with the famous classical work by Aaron Copeland, Fanfare for the Common Man, even if you do not recall the title, as soon as you hear the music it is instantly recognizable. For those that need a refresher follow this link “Various – Fanfare for the Common Man” it was written in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, it was commissioned by the composer Eugene Goossens who wanted to organize a symphony composed of fanfares, upon hearing the title and music he responded “Its title is as original as its music” and planned playing the piece to correspond with tax season.* Considering the title of this blog I thought it would be fitting to look at the common man.

First off, I am a common man. I grew up in an urban city my whole life, never lived in a grand home, none of my family ever went to college, and I work a low paying full time job while I go to college at night. I live in a small one bedroom apartment and going to Ruby Tuesday’s constitutes a nice night out for me and my wife. I am not the exception however, I am the majority. For only about 0.62% of the American population has a net worth of 1 million dollars, for the global population it is only 0.15%. In fact you are more likely to be a victim of a crime (21.1%), become obese (30.6%) or be unemployed (5%) than you are to be a millionaire.*

The common people are the workers, the laborers, in short the people that make our nation, nay our world, function. They are janitors, construction workers, landscapers, clerks, fast food workers, police men, and salespeople. In the past they may have been known as peasants or serfs, they are the workers of America. They are not the wealthy nor are they the destitute, they were not given hereditary privileged, nor do they ask anyone to support them, they are the ones who earn what they have by the sweat of their own brow. And yet there is a bit of the common man in everyone, for truly all men are created equal despite economic differences. All people care about their families, their friends, and their purpose. They care about were we have been and were we are going, and they care about their God. In the end, the common man is everyman. And while countless people have died and have been forgotten to the tomes of history; a faceless, nameless horde of people that we will never know, those that were not the Caesar’s, or Galileo’s, but without their contribution we would not have the world that we have today. They had a purpose and they had meaning, and while we may never be known to history we too have a purpose and meaning to our lives.

*Information about Fanfare for the Common Man taken from wikipedia.org; Statistics taken from nationmaster.com