Ultimately, if songs become bridges, makers hold civic tools. Toni Morrison’s Nobel Lecture (1993) warned that language can imprison or free; so too can our work. Inclusivity, credit, and context determine whether a bridge invites passage or extracts a toll. Avoid manipulative shortcuts that narrow another’s agency; instead, amplify room for judgment and dissent. When you center marginalized listeners in both process and payoff, the bridge expands the commons. In this light, Gaiman’s advice is not about branding but about stewardship: make work that sings to strangers so they can cross safely into themselves—and perhaps return to carry others. [...]
