In at least 75 words:

Listen to the selections by Phil Collins, Billy Joel, and Traci Chapman.  All three share some common denominators.  Discuss the similarities of each selection’s theme.

From the album But Seriously, in the Phil Collins song, “Another Day in Paradise,”  the insensitivity of people towards the problem of poverty is discussed:

“She calls out to the man on the street
‘Sir, can you help me?
It’s cold and I’ve nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?’
He walks on, doesn’t look back
He pretends he can’t hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there” 

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Performed by Billy Joel
from the album The Nylon Curtain, Billy Joel realizes the dead end and limitations/constraints of growing up in a steel working town:

“Well we’re living here in Allentown
And they’re closing all the factories down
Out in Bethlehem they’re killing time
Filling out forms, standing in line” 

From the album Tracy Chapman, she nails the song “Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution.”
 

“While they’re standing in the welfare lines,
crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation,
wasting time in the unemployment lines,
sitting around waiting for a promotion.  
Poor people gonna rise up
and get their share
Poor people gonna rise up
and take what’s theirs” 

The humanity that pervades “Talking ’bout a Revolution” combined with her commercial smash “Fast Car” to make Chapman a hugely popular singer-songwriter. This humanity is grounded in her early school experiences  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.  in Cleveland, Ohio the surrounded busing and racism.  She once stated  the following:

“I found myself in the middle of a race riot when I was about 14 years old and I found someone pointing a gun at me and telling me to run or they’d shoot me…”