“Your voices will be heard!” I’ve heard some of you sing, it may be best to leave the singing to Bono while you hum silently along. More often than not, the voice(s) that are heard are the ones that remain echoing inside, destroying people. An annual theme for October is National Bully Awareness Month and the theme of voice is a major theme that echoes throughout Songs of Innocence, which was also released in October. Coincidence? Maybe.

Whether it be…

I didn’t call you
Words can scare a thought away- California

We can hear you, hear you
We can year you
We can hear you, hear you – The Miracle

Your voices will be heard
Your voices will be heard – The Miracle

Are we so helpless against the tide- EBW

Iris standing in the hall
She tells me I can do it all –Iris

She said free yourself to be yourself- Iris

All those frozen days
And your frozen ways – Invisible

We’re the ghosts of love
And we haunt this place- Crystal Ballroom

In one way or another, voice is referenced in these songs. For many, the voices that remain echoing in their heads are the same that have caused those people to live in fear and not live to their fullest potential. The power of words and the scars they leave behind outlive the worst physical beating a person could ever take. When Bono sings on Cedarwood Road, “You can’t return to where you’ve never left,” some people never get past or leave the spoken word behind that broke their heart, will or spirit, which is exactly what bullies try to do. Whether that bully is a cyber-bully, co-worker or the worse bully of all, a parent, then the potential to “Never leave” is a grave possibility. If you want all Kites to soar, some need some protection, the thinner the skin from people shooting their verbal bullets that riddle the blue skies. That protection needs to be us, because remember there is no them, there’s only us, and we have the power to make all bullies… Invisible.

At times, we all say the wrong things and do harm, whether intentionally or not. Let’s be more careful with what we say and how we say words to each other, especially to our younger generation. Remember, the weight that drags a heart down could be the spoken words from a bully.