"The Way It Is" is a song by American rock group

Bruce Hornsby and the Range Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions. ...

. It was released in the United States in September 1986 as the second single from their debut album, ''

The Way It Is The Way It Is may refer to: Music * ''The Way It Is'' (Bruce Hornsby album), by Bruce Hornsby and the Range ** "The Way It Is" (Bruce Hornsby song), the title song * ''The Way It Is'' (Glenn Hughes album), or the title song * ''The Way It Is' ...

''. The song topped the charts in the US, Canada and the Netherlands in 1986, and peaked inside the top twenty in such countries as Australia, Ireland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Written by

Bruce Hornsby Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions ...

, it made explicit reference to the

Economic Opportunity Act The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 () authorized the formation of local Community Action Agencies as part of the War on Poverty. These agencies are directly regulated by the federal government. "It is the purpose of The Economic Opportunity Ac ...

, also known as the 1964 Poverty Act, as well as the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

. Musically, the song is characterized by two long piano solos. The song has been sampled by various rappers such as

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the rap group The Click, and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, a ...

for his song " Things'll Never Change", by

Tupac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

for "Changes", by DJ

Don Diablo Don Pepijn Schipper (; born 27 February 1980), better known by his stage name Don Diablo, is a Dutch DJ, digital artist, record producer, musician and songwriter of electronic dance music from Coevorden. He is one of the pioneers of the future h ...

for his song "Never Change", and

Polo G Taurus Tremani Bartlett (born January 6, 1999), known professionally as Polo G, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence with his singles "Finer Things (Polo G song), Finer Things" and "Pop Out" (featuring Lil Tjay). His debut album ''Die a ...

for " Wishing for a Hero" in 2020.

Content

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 Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

. The final verse recounts the passage of the

in 1964 "to give those who ain't got a little more", and the

as a victory in the civil rights movement against job discrimination, but insists that more is needed. Hornsby's brother John said, "The song is mainly about compassion, about understanding racial and social types, and beliefs and practices that are different from your own. It's about a status quo that's so complacent in its narrow-mindedness and bigotry that it seems it'll never change. That's why the line 'Ah, but don’t you believe them' is so important." The way it is evokes people to give to the poor and to protest against racial segregation, white supremacy and economic value.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year end charts

Certifications

In popular culture

*An adapted version of "The Way It Is" was used as the theme tune for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

's '' City Hospital'', a medical documentary television series which ran from 1998 to 2007. *In the ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

'' episode " Advanced Criminal Law", Pierce Hawthorne (played by

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

) writes a school song entitled "The Way It Goes", an unwitting rip-off of "The Way It Is". * The song was used for many years on ''

Grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...

'' in the league tables segment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Way It Is, The 1980s ballads 1986 singles 1986 songs 1993 singles Bruce Hornsby songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles RCA Records singles Rock ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs about poverty Songs against racism and xenophobia Songs based on American history