[ETHAN]
What looks at first to be remarkable, bizarre
Will soon reveal itself to be part of a pattern
And we who stand outside identify the history
In the seemingly unprecedented thing
[ROBIN]
A young man dreamed
In 1944
Of a magazine that spoke for his generation
And two years later
From a townhouse in Hell's Kitchen
Issued issue number one of The Connector
A young man dreamed
In the middle of the war
Of a monthly source of truth and investigation
So Aubrey Bernard
Twenty-five years old
Rolled the dice and rolled the presses on The Connector
And the whole world changed
And everything stayed the same
The whole world changed
And everything, everything, everything stayed the same
Circulation boomed with international acclaim
And everything, everything stayed the same
A young man dreamed
In his dorm room up at Harvard
That he'd someday write for his favorite publication
So Conrad O'Brien
As of 1962
Sent dispatches from Saigon for The Connector
A young man learned
As he grew to middle age
How to navigate the constant exasperation
And so Conrad O'Brien
In 1981
Became the next editor-in-chief of The Connector
And the whole world changed
And everything stayed the same
The whole world changed
And everything, everything, everything stayed the same
New subscriptions dwindled and new competition came
And everything, everything stayed the same
[CONRAD]
We talk a lot about the truth around here
The truth is not just something verified
The truth is palpable, tangible, real
The truth is not about the facts
Forgive me
The facts can always be manipulated
Arranged, massaged
We are not purveyors of facts
We are tellers of truth
So here's a truth: For fifty years we've stood on this foundation
Truth: In fifty years, we've never been outrun
Now, in partnership with this great corporation
We are resolute, determined as we have been from day one
We are fighting now to honor what our founder would have done
In 1946, and '56, and '66, and '76
And '86, and '96, we've stood firm while
The whole world changed
The whole world changed
The whole world changed
The truth will stay the same
[MURIEL, spoken]
To the next fifty years!
[ROBIN]
A young man dreamed
In his bedroom in New Jersey
Of his name on a byline in The Connector...