When I saw this week's prompt, I silently chuckled to myself because when it comes to music, my affinity for this particular thing runs deep, there's literally no me without music.
Songs that I've completely memorized over the years are a whole lot, some I don't quite remember whilst the others seem to be permanently ingrained in my brain. I picked up this particular habit in elementary school when I discovered that the sweet melodies that come with music always kept me going, unfortunately, I couldn't always get access to it because it would only be played at specific times on the radio or whenever I was allowed to use the digital video player(DVD) in our sitting room. Whenever the opportunity came however, I listened with rapt attention, soaking up the words to hum or sing them later as I go about my chores. This habit only grew in high school as it was considered an elite thing to know and be able to sing or rap a song word for word. I'd come home during the holidays and memorize as many songs as I could before school resumes as we'd have little rap battles and singing competitions amongst ourselves to know who had actually done their "assignment". I actually earned the nickname of 'class DJ' then because I was the definition of a walking jam box.
For this prompt, I'll highlight just a few of the songs in my head:
- Pincode by Pincode
I was 5 years old when I first heard this song, my uncle used to play it almost everyday whenever he came to stay with us for a while. I don't relate to the lyrics of this song in any way but the video was quite fascinating to me then for one reason; it was the first time I saw a white person. Regardless of the fact that it was through the television, I can't even begin to explain how thrilling this was for me as a young child. I'd race to the sitting room anytime I hear it start just to watch the video and before I knew what was happening, I had started hearing the words, the beat, everything in my head. I didn't hear this song again until recently when I downloaded an old school mixtape it was included in, funny thing is I never even knew the name of the artiste till this very moment (when I was drafting this article) I had to search for it because it would have been an error to omit this song from this post as it was the very first song I committed to memory.
2) Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely by Backstreet Boys
This was my favorite band back in the day, the rhythms of this young men always managed to enrapture my young blood, I have always been a sucker for love songs, still am and always will be but God help me because I love heartbreak songs twice as much, I literally feed off the emotions from these particular tracks. Listening to the lyrics of this song, you'll know that he was in a hopeless situation of unrequited love. One of the worst things to feel as a human being.
3) I Need You by Marc-Anthony Mended
When you think about the best love songs in history, this would surely make the top list. In this song, he unabashedly professes his love for and faith in the woman his heart beats for. Talk about a proposal in a song when he said;
Say that you'll be my wife
Oh, I love you
Won't you marry me,marry me
I need you.
Hyperbolically speaking, if I was already in my prime during this artiste's time, I would have crossed the mountains and the seas to where he was and strive to be the woman after his heart but oh well, I can only sit and imagine that he sang this for me.
I know other songs by Marc- Anthony but this one....this one hits different.
4) So Sick, Mad and Miss Independence by Neyo
I'm going to start with the one I love most; Miss Independent, whenever this song comes up on my playlist, I just imagine Neyo is talking to me and in my mind's eye, I just strive to be like or even better than the woman he described. In his own words;
She walk like a boss
Do what a boss do
She got me thinking about getting involved
That's the girl that's on my mind
This song made me realize that no right thinking man would want a liability for a partner and he'll respect you more when you're an independent lady as Mr Neyo described so yeah, I'll always want my partner to look at me this way;
I look at her and she makes me proud
There's something about her.
Some folks say, 'when you're happy, you vibe to the music but when you're sad, you listen to the lyrics'. This was the case for me in 'so sick', this is a song that I've vibed to countless times over but I never actually listened to it till I found myself in Neyo's exact situation, I took his advice and figuratively turned off the radio, if I was to listen to any song at that period, it was 'so sick' or nothing, this song helped me heal faster than anything else.
I think what intrigued me in the last piece 'mad' and led to it being stuck in my head was the very first few lines:
She's staring at me
I'm sitting, wondering what she's thinking
Nobody's talking cause talking just turned into screaming
So now as I'm yelling over her,she yelling over me
All of that means is neither of us are listening
What's even worse is that we don't even remember why we're fighting.
His words made me realize that not just in a relationship but in everyday life, a lot of full blown arguments would be avoided if people just calmly talk things through rather than yelling at each other. This is yet another advice I took from Neyo.
5) Good Enough by Jussie Smollett (Empire Cast)
This particular song by this particular character in this movie went straight to my soul from the very first day I heard it, his voice carries all the agony and sorrow that the naked eyes can't see and you can clearly feel his pain by absorbing the lyrics. Even though our reasons may differ for feeling like this, I relate to this song 100% and I gave it my full attention....word for word.
6) One Side by Iyanya
This was my best afrobeats song as at the time it was released, I sang and resang this song to my heart's content. I'm pretty sure my neighbors got their ear plugs ready whenever I went to tend to the dishes in the kitchen because this song was on steady repeat from my vocal cords. With the beat stuck in my head, I penned down a song of my own, that's how much I loved this particular song.
7) Options and Time by NF
This is one of the realest dudes I've ever jammed in my entire life and I'm more than honored to have a couple of his songs in my brain box. 'Options' is like a hustle mantra for me, when I get tired and I feel like the weight on my shoulders are threatening to crush me, I just tell myself that I've got to keep grinding, I have to stay consistent, I have to put in my all. With this song in my head, I literally have no option of failure because the words NF spill are the fuel to my fire:
I had a job making minimum wage
Told myself that I gotta get paid
Prove myself yeah,get up my grades
Walk into class like,gimme that A
Think I'm trash,put a bag in your face..
I'm an outlaw,my brain has no fence
Doesn't matter either way to me cause even if it did I would destroy it
Used to be employee now I'm employer....
I gotta make it or make it man,these are the options,these are the options!
'Time' is an apology of some sort to his lover, him owning up to his faults with promises to change and the assurance that he's working towards that change as time goes. After hearing this song, I'm pretty sure the lady must have pardoned whatever his faults were cause I know I would.
8) The Devil's Calling and Joker by Dax
This is another individual I have maximum respect for, he talks about life in general and everything in between, I have memorized part and parcel of almost all his songs on my playlist but these two happen to hold the top spot in my memory.
I could write the entire lyrics of 'The Devil's Calling' and I still won't find a particular line that hits me the most because the entire song totally hits me. This rap offers encouragement:
Straight from the depths of hell,the devil's calling,he might win a couple battles but I promise he would not prevail.
It gives advice:
Yeah this is not a game
The devil's calling,all my people stay inside and please be quiet when he screams your name.
He tried to lead me down the wrong path,I used to question God but after what I've seen I'll never do that s--t again
F--k fame,f**k greed,all the material things
The devil's in sheep clothing,he gives what you don't need
Keep your eyes open,don't sleep and if you do,be aware he will visit you inside your dreams.
It's a prayer mixed with words of affirmation when he said:
I used to think that I was all alone,till I felt him breathing down my neck while I was sleeping right inside my home
I tried to wake up but the devil had me in a hold,
I tried to move,he paralyzed my skeleton and all my bones and that's when I called God and I shouted out Amen and I can put that on the Father,Son,Holy Spirit and the Ghost!
That I will not fold,I will never crack,never sell my soul.
You see this energy right there is just what I need and when I feel it slipping, this song comes to mind and I am reminded that this is what the devil does, I should be strong enough not to let him in and should be steadfast cause I know he'll never win. This song gives me reassurance and I'm happy I found it.
'Joker' talks about the things we see in the society today, how certain individuals are quick to judge others in public yet struggling with their own abominable acts in private, say what you may but my favourite part of this song is the maniacal laughter at the end addressed to those with that repelling 'holier than thou' attitude. That laughter literally appeals to all my senses.
9) Hear Me Calling and Empty by Juice Wrld
This is someone I also frequently listen to and know most of his songs by heart. My brother had just downloaded this new song and he kept it on replay throughout the day. At first, I found it utterly annoying because it disturbed my slumber but fully awake with absolutely nothing to do, I found myself leaning into the words that poured from this artist's heart and that's how I found 'Hear me calling '. At that time, I wasn't quite familiar with his songs but when I heard 'empty', I just knew he was the one for me and I went for more. As time passed, his words became a drug I was addicted to.
10) Changed by Geoffrey Gideon
If you're on a redemption path, then this song is for you, it's a song of repentance and total submission to God affirming that he has cleansed us and made us whole again. In his words:
Feels like I've been down to the river,washed away all my sins
No longer bound because I'm forgiven,been made free from sins guilty chains.
You changed my life today that I might be saved
You changed my destiny with the awesome price you paid
Now I can say,old things have passed away,all things are new,I'm not the same.
Yes I've been changed.
Truthfully, after absorbing these lyrics, I felt change like never before.
Considering how much I love music, I can't even imagine a life without it, I'm not mincing words when I tell you that after water,music is life.....to me at least.
Thank you for reading!