"The Way It Is" is a song by American rock group Bruce Hornsby and the Range. It was released in July 1986 as the second single from their debut album, The Way It Is. The song topped the charts of Canada, the Netherlands, and the United States while entering the top 20 in at least eight other countries, including Australia, Ireland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Written by Bruce Hornsby, it made explicit reference to the Economic Opportunity Act, also known as the 1964 Poverty Act, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Hornsby referred to it as a "song about racism."
Background
In 1985, working by himself in his garage in Van Nuys, California, Hornsby wrote the lyrics for "The Way It Is" first, after which he developed the song's music and created the song's piano lick. The song later appeared on a demo recording made by Hornsby that included "Mandolin Rain" and "The Red Plains". This tape led to him being signed by RCA in 1985.
Song lyrics and music
The opening verse recounts a story taking place at a line for welfare that illustrates a divide between the rich and poor; the second verse recounts ongoing social issues from the voice of someone supporting racial segregation.
The final verse recounts the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964 "to give those who ain't got a little more", and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a victory in the civil rights movement against job discrimination against Black people, but insists that more work is needed. The last line promotes the idea that at the end of the hiring process, "the line on the color bar" of a job application carries a lot of weight, meaning that a person of color would not get a job as easily as someone who entered "white" on that line. Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2020, Hornsby provided his perspective on the song.