“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”
-Plato
I’m one of those people that pays attention to all the details in the movies. Especially the background music. Sometimes I even find myself closing my eyes and literally “feeling” the songs during the scenes. I can tell if the moment is happy, sad, dangerous, a love scene, a fight scene, etc.. all based on the lyrics, the melody, the crescendos….
***deep sigh***
I just really appreciate the language of music.
So with that being my relationship to the art of vocal and instrumental sound, I decided to make a soundtrack to my life. Of course there’s 28 songs in honor of my Golden Birthday. It was hard narrowing them down, but I think these songs sum up my life pretty well. At first I wasn’t sure if I just wanted to list them, or throw in the Youtube videos, or even write a little blurb about why I chose the songs, but music is up for interpretation. It’s meant to be expressed and understood in different ways. So some songs I did that with and some I didn’t. The ones I chose to drop the video and explanation for I want you to try the way I listen to music sometimes. I want you to think about the memory I shared. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. And listen to the song. Can you feel what I may have felt? Can you see what I may have seen? Or just close your eyes and dance like no ones watching. If you have Apple Music here’s the link. But otherwise you can enjoy the YouTube videos below.
- “I Was Here”- Beyonce (EVERY WORD in this song resonates with my soul.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RDUjA0fN4o
2. “Bad Girl”– Usher (There’s no deep meaning to this. I just like this song. And I actually never saw this video clip until writing this blog post. But The fact that Beyonce is the “bad Girl” made me like this song 10x’s more lol).
3. “It’s the God in Me”– Mary Mary (Everything I have and do I owe it to God).
4. “Just Fine”– Mary J. Blige
5. Running Back to You- Commissioned (This one’s pretty much self explanatory)
6. “I Just Wanna Dance with Somebody”– Whitney Houston (Anytime this comes on, no matter where I am I just gotta start dancing).
7. “Brand New Me”– Alicia Keys (“….Hey, if you were a friend, you want to get know me again. If you were worth a while, You’d be happy to see me smile. I’m not expecting sorry, I’m too busy finding myself. I got this. I found me…”).
8. “Cranes in the Sky”- Solange (When this song came out me and my friend actually put this on rotation to hype us up before we went out. I have no idea why because its far from a turn up song lol But this song made me think about how important it is to understand your emotions and deal with them through healthy coping strategies.)
9. “I Can’t Make You Love Me”– Tank (.…you can’t make your heart feel something it won’t…)
10. “Scars to Your Beautiful”– Alessia Cara (“…..She don’t see her perfect, she don’t understand she’s worth it Or that beauty goes deeper than the surface. So to all the girls that’s hurting, Let me be your mirror, help you see a little bit clearer. The light that shines within….”)
11. “Irresistible Me”– Cindy Rainne
12. “Don’t Touch My Hair”- Solange (I’m blessed to be able to try new things with my hair. I wrote about it. But sometimes people don’t understand how symbolic it is. Solange captured it beautifully in this song).
13. “Bad Mama Jama”– Carl Carlton (I really just like how the song just makes you bounce. Plus I’d like to think of my self a Bad mama Jama lol).
14. “Do You Still Love Me”– Commissioned (…I remember long conversations
Laughter and praise. You used to tell everyone about my love. Somehow in the course of this journey. So much has changed. I want my friend to come back home. I’ll be here whenever you get the time. And I won’t ever change my mind. I just need you to know how I love you so...)
15. “100 Years”– Five for Fighting (….Fifteen there’s still time for you. Twenty two I feel her too. Thirty three you’re on your way. Every day’s a new day. Fifteen there’s still time for you. Time to buy and time to choose. Hey fifteen, there’s never a wish better than this
When you only got hundred years to live…).
16. “Flaws and All”– Beyonce
17. “Here”- Alessia Cara
18. “Stay Saved”– Canton Jones (I remember the day my mom and I heard this song on the radio and we were crackin’ up because he was singing about handling real life frustrations. Like ordering some food and they get your order wrong, but the cashier be rude about it. Or being real excited to eat your dessert then go to the fridge and see somebody ate it lol and just doing it in a Christian way. So now anyway time we explain a situation that made us upset we reference this song lol).
19. “Naked”– Ella Mai
20. “Video”- India.Arie (…I’m not the average girl from your video. And I ain’t built like a supermodel. But I learned to love myself unconditionally. Because I am a queen. I not the average girl from your video. My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes. No matter what I’m wearing I will always be me…).
21. “Control”- Janet Jackson (When I was 17, I did what people told me, uhh!
I did what my father said, and let my mother mold me…But that was long ago…Got my own mind. I wanna make my own decisions. When it has to do with my life, my life. I wanna be the one in control…)
22. “20 Something“- SZA (…How could it be? 20 something. All alone still, not a phone in my name. Ain’t got nothin’, runnin’ from love. Only know fear. That’s me, Ms. 20 Something
Ain’t got nothin’, runnin’ from love. Wish you were here, oh…)
23. “Masterpiece (Mona Lisa)”– Jazmine Sullivan (…As the sun shines on all of my glory. My flaws don’t look so bad at all. What was I so afraid of?. Every part of me is a vision of a portrait Of Mona, of Mona Lisa. Every part of me is beautiful. And I finally see I’m a work of art. A masterpiece….)
24. “Man in the Mirror”- Michael Jackson
25. “I am Not My Hair”- India.Arie (…I am not my hair. I am not this skin. I am not your expectations, no (hey). I am not my hair. I am not this skin. I am the soul that lives within…)
26. “Can You Stand the Rain”– New Edition (I don’t know why, but I’m so obssessed with this song lol If you follow me on snapchat or instagram I have videos like every other month of me at home screaming this ad libs and bustin out random choreography. If we’re ever out and I hear this song, just be ready lol).
27. Independent Woman Pt. 1– Destiny’s Child (“…The shoes on my feet, The clothes I’m wearing, The rock I’m rockin’, I bought it’Cause I depend on me if I want it. The watch I’m wearin’, The house I live in, The car I’m driving, I bought it. I depend on me…”)
28. “I Need You Now”- Smokie Norful. (I remember going to target with my Mom to buy this CD and listening to this song NON STOP as we waited in the hospital to find out my brothers condition after drowning in a swimming pool and being resuscitated. This song really got me through.)
So that’s the story of my life (thus far) summed up in about 2 hours worth of music, in no particular order. I encourage you to make a playlist of songs that would play in the soundtrack of your lifes movie. I think it’s a good way to self reflect. If you do make a play list, feel free to share it with me. I’d love to get to know you through music.
Dear Future, 
Leave a Reply