Beginning of the End

Описание: TMON-115: The Myth of Normal, Chapter 33 (Last Chapter!), Song 1
Alex Hickey ©2026
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This song is based on information in Chapter 33 of The Myth of Normal, a book written by Dr. Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté. You can find more information about this book on Dr. Maté's website: https://drgabormate.com/book/the-myth...

I am writing a series of songs in response to the ideas in this book, sometimes in combination with ideas from other books by Dr. Maté and some of his colleagues.

These are my interpretations of these ideas. I acknowledge that I can make mistakes, misunderstand and/or take poetic license when transforming these ideas into songs. I welcome questions in the comments section and refer you to the book itself as the final authority about what it is saying.

Text/Lyrics:
Here we are with Dr. Maté
At the beginning of the end of his book
The Myth of Normal
And he says,
Here it is
I’ve laid it out
What now?

How do we even begin
To ask the question:
“What will it take to unmake
the myth of normal?” (1)

This vast array of blind spots
And prejudices
Health-killing fictions
Manufactured misperceptions
Embedded in our culture

Serving –
And protected by –
The ruling class
The one percent
That knows its interests
Are best served by these beliefs
Who will fight to maintain
The status quo
Even to the point of self-destruction;
Of planetary immolation. (2)

Chorus:
“Not everything that is faced, can be changed
But nothing can be changed that is not faced” (3)

Dr. Maté says he doesn’t know.
It was simpler to explain the situation
Than it is to create a blueprint to solve it.
And also, he says he does not want to use
his last chapter
to stand up on a soapbox.
And that makes sense to me.
I get it.

The answer cannot come from one man.

Not when the problem lies in passivity,
A lack of agency (4)
External manipulation and
Willful internal ignorance.

No. Dr. Maté cannot hand us an answer.
But he can point the way
He tells us we need the things
He has presented in his book:
A biopsychosocial approach to medicine and healing (5)
To view disease (personal, cultural and environmental) as a teacher (6)
To focus on attachment and authenticity (7)
And above all, to engage in fearless self-inquiry. (8)

Chorus

We’re going to need a couple of things
In our backpacks
First – Hope
“The optimism of heart and soul, which are the birthplace of will.” (9)
Hope is good. Hope Helps.
If we can work to heal our trauma
So that we can respond creatively,
not reactively
We will believe that we can create something
And then we can get a feel for what wants to be created
That attunement to growth
Is a facet of authenticity.
It sees the resilience of people
The goodness of our nature (10)
And the mysterious healing powers of our bodies and minds (11)
Chorus

Things are bad.
If we are to change them,
We must face them.
Dr. Maté often asks people:
“Would you prefer to be illusioned
or disillusioned?” (12)
Disillusionment holds a negative connotation
“akin to disappointment or a sense of having been betrayed”. (13)
We pay a cost for it
We must let go of something we believed,
something that was comfortable
Something we identified with
& built part of our world around.
It is the sign we put in the window
The compliance we thought we were trading
For safety (14)

Losing this is scary
And it involves grief
I can see why we avoid it.
To be disillusioned is to confront denial
The well-constructed barriers that confine us
to one version of events
Instead of seeing that two things – or more –
Can be true, which opens doors

It’s important that we know the truth –
That our compliance does not guarantee our safety
That the bargain we thought we had struck
Is only kept on one side.
The other side is a lie.

Chorus

If you imagine the capitalist system
Will one day wake up and change itself,
I have news for you.

No, it is time for each of us
Individually and in groups
To do the work.

And please take solace,
and sustenance,
in knowing that you are only one
Of an ever-growing number of people
Confronting these ideas.

Let’s seek out and support one another
Find alternative sources of knowledge
Learn how to hold uncertainty and the unknown
Practice taking the perspectives of others,
especially those with views
different from our own
Listen and pay attention to activists
Become activists in every way we can

Open our eyes
To the tendrils, the lies
Of the myth of normal
And the ways it has us colonized

So we can be citizens in a new way
Watching out for our neighbours
And for strangers in the street
Caring for ourselves
Growing something better
First inside and then outside

Loch Kelly says
“Grow Up and Show Up” (15)
I add:
“Wake up and Shake It Up!”

Chorus

#gabormate #mythofnormal #activism
I said I was going to put footnotes to this song in the description, but I've reached my character limit. I will put them in a comment below instead.