Notes

"i want you to know that, last night, i barely slept. i didn't know what i was going to say, but i knew that something needed to be said. do i say something at the beginning of the show, do i say something before or after this song? i didn't know. i wrote a few things down, and then i threw those things away. i'm just going to speak from the heart. i want you to know something: when we decided we wanted to be musicians, we wanted to play shows, we knew that our concerts needed to be a place where people can come; we wanted them to be a safe place. we want this area in here to be a very safe place, and that is what we intended from the beginning. but here's the truth: this is going to be a safe place in here. we're celebrating the fact that we're alive, that we made it. i want you to know that music can help you get from one place to the next, and when you listen to music by yourself, you're trying to survive. at least that's what josh and i use it for. but when you come to a show, you are celebrating. you're celebrating the fact with the thousands of people around you that you made it. you made it through that day, you made it through that show, and you're still kicking. you're still here. this is a safe place. what i can't deny, what i can't pretend doesn't exist, is what is outside of this room right now, which is the rest of the world. when i heard what had happened last night in dallas with the five police officers that got killed, and also when i heard of the two african american men who were treated unjustly and were killed, i honestly said to myself, "what is going on? why does this keep happening? this is wrong. something's broken, and i don't know how to fix it. i just write songs." i don't know how to fix it, guys, i really don't. i wish i had the words to fix it, but i don't. all i can say is that i was in this city last night when everything was going down, and even though it felt dark, it felt like there was fear, i felt this strength. and if there's anywhere in the world where anyone can look at and learn from it, it's this city and dallas, texas. i know that they can learn from this place right here. we have to stick together, guys, we have to figure this out. we have to stick together, we have to love each other. i want you to know that all i know is how to play shows and how to write music, and i don't know what kind of power that brings. i don't know what kind of change that brings, but i promise you that we're doing everything we can to bring that power and that change to this community, to this world. and i want you guys, you in this room, to know that we're asking you to work your hardest to make that change as well. okay? i hope that was good enough. we have a little bit left, and i want what we have left of this show to be a celebration of the fact that this is a safe place here, and that when we leave this place in just a little bit, we have a duty to try to make this world a little better."