Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind

Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign

And the sign said anybody caught trespassing would be shot on sight

So I jumped on the fence and yelled at the house, Hey! what gives you the right

To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in

If God was here, he'd tell you to your face, man you're some kinda sinner

I used to listen to that song and I always liked it. I agreed with it. Then one day I started thinking about what the group was saying and I realized they had it all wrong. Signs are not just about restricting what someone does, they are guides to help people.

Have you ever driven in an unfamiliar town and tried to find your way through without a sign to direct you? I remember the first time I went through Stockton and ended up going north when I wanted to go west. If I had been more attentive to the signs that were posted that wouldn't have happened.

Even signs that forbid some activity or other aren't put there just to satisfy some authoritarian's compulsion to order people about. They are there to make it safer for everyone, including the person being told not to do something.

Imagine seeing a sign saying no left turns and you ignore it. Suddenly you could be facing oncoming traffic going 70 miles an hour. That wouldn't be safe for anyone, not the people who are following the rules and going the right direction at the right speed and certainly not for you.

Signs can get out of hand but that's no reason to rail against them generically. If a sign is inappropriate that's one thing but if all it does is give information its not only silly but downright foolish to argue for its removal.

I still enjoy the song, I just listen a little differently now when it comes on the radio.