Music has always been my pulse. It carries me through every mood. There is absolutely a song for every situation and occasion; it always has been since the beginning of time….since the beginning of my time anyway. There has not been one moment in my life that I can think of that is not summed up by a series of songs. It has gotten me through or even indulged the best of best and the worst of worst moods. I was raised that way. My momma had every song known to man in every genre. She would listen to music all day every day and you could tell by what was playing what kind of mood she was in. I remember this one time when my oldest sister decided she wanted to move out despite my mothers objection. OH MY GOSH my mother played this stupid song call “Somebody Please” over and over again. She had it on repeat. No shade to The Vanguards who song the song, but I wanted so bad to rip that 45 off the record player and break it in half! ….like somebody please come and rescue me or take this lady out of her misery. There were other times when we would walk in the house and The Ohio Players or The Isley Brothers were on and you knew that momma was about to get her party on. I can laugh at those moments and smile knowing that I’m the exact same way. My musical range is wide…I listen to it all (with the exception of county music…sorry it’s just not my jush, meaning I can’t get into it). And much like my momma, I can take you on a musical journey of my moods on any given day.
Here’s my education side note: Music has always been used to influence social change. There has not been a major movement is social history that did not have a great musical force behind it. Who remembers the song “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday? What a powerful song that messaged the savage injustice of racial prejudice. A personal favorite was the entire “What’s Going On” album by Marvin Gaye. And surely I wouldn’t be me without mentioning the amazing work of my all time favorite entertainer, Michael Jackson with “Earth Song”, “Man in the Mirror”, and “Heal the World” just to name a few. Artist using their platform to capture the social climate and stimulate awareness, is a beautiful thing; so much so that I created an entire academic curriculum called The Sociology of Music. It discusses the history of music from the colonial period to present and its influence on social change and social causes.
Ok, so anyway, like I was saying, music is it for me. It is apart of my fiber and ingrained in my soul. I don’t exist without it and so it respectfully has to have its place here in my blog. I’m going to give you guys a song of the week and depending on how I feel maybe more.
To kick it off, I wanted to start with one of the songs that got me out of a recent funk. Without going into much details about it here (I’ll share in my Love Jones post) I was really in a bad way for a nice little while. My musical collage during that time went from gospel to rock and landed on neo-soul. Jill Scott’s “When I Wake Up” sums up my resolve in the matter. I ‘woke up’ and realized that everything was going to be beautiful and that the take away from that experience would be something amazing. Surprisingly enough, this blog is the result of it! Enjoy!
When I Wake Up – Jill Scott
[Intro]
Too much on my mind
Too much on my mind
Too much on my mind
Too much on my…
[Verse 1]
Here I am thinking again
All lost in my brain
But I know I should get up and get out of it
I gotta keep moving
But here I am lost all up inside my brain
Can’t stop thinking, reminiscing
Can’t stop, can’t let go
[Chorus]
But when I wake up
And one day I will do it
I have let you go
And everything I went through was beautiful
I have let you go
And everything I when through was beautiful
[Verse 2]
Maybe I, right now, can’t see the forest full of trees
So lost behind hurt
But I’m trying everyday exponentially
To move forward
Ohh do you know how it feels to be lost?
[Chorus 2]
But when I wake up
Everything I went through would be beautiful
When I wake up
And I will wake up
It’s gonna be beautiful
[Bridge]
Down to my left side (last cry)
Feeling I could fly
All day, up high
Sweeter than the sugar on a cinnamon treat
Or an ice cream
That was me
But im feeling like im in a nightmare
Fear of loving somebody everywhere
Oh Lord I need this confirmation
This affirmation
[Chorus 3]
That when I wake up
When I wake up
Everything I went through will be beautiful
When I wake up
Everything I went through will be beautiful
[Outro]
Gotta wake up
Gotta wake up
Gotta wake up
Gotta wake up
Everything I went trough will be beautiful
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