"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

"I Am Always Remembering..."

A song from my youth...

I really never understood it until he came along

"The Truth About Me..."

I was tickled pink (which is a really good trick for a black man) when I discovered the repeat button on my first CD player in 1984. I've always been one of those types who likes the one song on an album that's not the hit released on a single (yes, I'm talking about a 45 RPM vinyl record). It was such a joy to be able to listen to the one song I liked as many times as I wanted.

And of all the cars I've owned, one of my favorites was my Hyundai XG350... My favorite feature? It had the only car stereo I've ever owned with a repeat button on the CD player, not even my Cadillac could do that. Of course I started driving back in the analog days, so in my 1972 Chevy I solved the repeat problem with my under dash 8-Track player. I'd record 4 favorite songs over and over, one on each program and then I'd have a tape with 4 singles that I could play as many times I wanted.

When the streaming age arrived, I learned to always use the power of a right-click on YouTube. When you right click on a video playing in a browser you can select repeat (loop) and it'll just play over and over. Give it a try below and listen to Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show perform a favorite from 1976 that was definitely on one of those 8-Tracks I made back in the day.

"I Am Always Remembering..."

"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

It's another Sunday afternoon and I am remembering Love's journey again. As it turned out, we both loved the music of Nina Simone.

"Just Like A Woman"

Written by Bob Dylan

Nobody feels any pain
Tonight as I stand inside the rain
Everybody knows that baby's got new clothes
But lately I see her ribbons and her bows
Have fallen from her curls

She takes just like a woman
Yes, she does, she makes love just like a woman
Yes, she does, and she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl

It was raining from the first
And I was dying there of thirst
So I came in here
And your long-time curse hurts
But what's worse is this pain in here
I can't stay in here

Ain't it clear that I just can't fit
Yes, I believe that it's time for us to quit
But when we meet again, introduced as friends
Please don't let on that you knew me when
I was hungry and it was your world

Ah, you fake just like a woman
Yes, you do, you make love just like a woman
Yes, you do, then you ache just like a woman
But you break just like a little girl

Just Like A Woman lyrics © Dwarf Music, Universal Tunes

"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

A quite lovely duet of Bublé's breakthrough hit, "Home"

"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

Not quite my own story, but close enough...

Love is always wondering what might have been

"Fear Eats the Soul"

"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

Most songs are about love, and there are a few that can tell the story of love better than even we ourselves, this song is one of those. Originally performed by Bryan Adams in 1997, 16 years ago, I discovered this cover by these two young Singaporeans that just resonated with my own heart. I remember the first time I saw this, I wondered, could they be a couple? Surath's delivery was so incredibly authentic that I was moved to tears realizing that this was my story too.

"When You Love Someone"

Written by Bryan Adams, Gretchen Peters and Michael Kamen

When you love someone - you'll do anything 

You'll do all the crazy things that you can't explain 

You'll shoot the moon - put out the sun 

When you love someone 

You'll deny the truth - believe a lie 

There'll be times when you'll believe you can really fly 

But your lonely nights - have just begun 

When you love someone 

When you love someone - you'll feel it deep inside 

And nothin else can ever change your mind 

When you want someone - when you need someone 

When you love someone… 

When you love someone - you'll sacrifice 

You'd give it everything you got and you won't think twice 

You'd risk it all - no matter what may come 

When you love someone 

You'll shoot the moon - put out the sun 

When you love someone

"I Am Always Remembering..."

"I Am Always Remembering..."

          

I think I was 14 or 15 years old the first time I heard this song. I vividly recall being moved by the lyrics and somehow understanding that they might rather prophetically someday define my own future. Well, now these many years later, and not for the first time, I realize I was right. Today is my birthday and as I venture into the seventh decade of my time on earth, I find that I am always remembering and looking back on all the times I let my heart lead me into the unknown, only to discover when it was too late, that all I'd found was the "heartaches of a fool."

I am always remembering...

And my greatest fear is that I may not live long enough to forget.

"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

This was running through my mind as I lay awake at 3:30 this morning...

"I Am Always Remembering..."

"Is this Christopher...?

I am always remembering...

And my greatest fear is that I may not live long enough to forget

"The Truth Of Love Songs..."

You and I

Written by Stevie Wonder

Here we are on earth together

It's you and I

God has made us fall in love, it's true

I've really found someone like you

Will it say the love you feel for me, will it say

That you will be by my side

To see me through

Until my life is through

Well, in my mind, we can conquer the world

In love, you and I, you and I, you and I

I am glad at least in my life I found someone

That may not be here forever to see me through

But I found my strength in you

'Cause in my mind, you will stay here always

In love, you and I, you and I, you and I, you and I

In my mind we can conquer the world

In love, you and I, you and I, you and I

You and I lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group

"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

This song is special to me for a couple of reasons... Firstly, because it reminds me of my late sister, Ora Jean. I have her original 45 of this song. When I found it still on the turntable of an old phonograph that had been collecting dust on a shelf in a corner of our basement about 50 years ago, I noticed that one side of the record had been played so much you could visibly see the wear and scratches made by many passes of the stylus. That worn out side was the "A-side" with Sam Cooke's "We're Having a Party."  So whenever I hear this, I'm reminded of my sister's joie de vivre and how she must've loved that song. She could miraculously find an exuberant happiness in the most mundane of everyday moments of life and living. I miss her terribly. 

But like that record, I seemed to have born on the other side of things... And like me, this song was on the hardly played "B-side." Somehow, from the first time I heard it, I knew that the lyrics of this song would speak to the precious desires of my own heart one day. Sam Cooke, backed by none other than the unmistakably brassy Lou Rawls pleads for a true love's return. 

"I Am Always Remembering..."

I was reminded this morning of the first time I heard this cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like A Woman" by the incomparable Nina Simone. I was driving home from work late one night and I was so moved by this song and her performance that as I drove through the dark streets awash in a spring rain shower, I had to pull off the road to listen. And as the windshield wipers kept a cadence with the song, I realized it was raining inside the car as well... Tears were streaming from my eyes as I listened and reflected on how alone in the world I was and of how this song described a remembrance of love I had only ever dreamed of. It's been some twenty years ago now. At the time, I was still denying my truth. And that night, I was reminded that I had been living a loveless lie for my entire life.

The strange thing is that at the time I first heard this song, I thought I understood it. It was like Nina was singing it for me. But truthfully, it would be another few years until I really knew what this song's melancholy was all about. I had somehow found the courage to live my truth... Then came love, and also loss... And when I next heard this song, I realized that for me, it would always be about the beloved one. As it turned out, it was about he and I that first time I heard it in the car and it was about him this morning when I listened again for perhaps the 100th time.

I am always remembering...

"The Truth Of My Life In Songs..."

I am always remembering...

"To Love Somebody"

There' a light

A certain kind of light

It's never shown on me

I want my whole life to be

Lived with you

Lived with you

There's a way

Everybody say

Do each and every little thing

What good does it bring

If I ain't got you If I ain't got you

If I ain't got you If I ain't got you

You don't know

What it's like

Baby you don't know

What it's like

To love somebody

To love somebody

The way I love you

In my brain

See your face again

I know my frame of mind

You ain't got to be so blind

And I'm blind so blind

But I'm a woman

Can't you see what I am

I live and breathe for you

What good does it do

If I ain't got you If I ain't got you

If I ain't got you If I ain't got you

Say you don't know

What it's like

Baby you don't know what it's like

To love somebody

To love somebody

The way I love you

Oh'a, you don't know

What it's like

Baby you don't know

What it's like

To love somebody

To love somebody

The way I love you

Written by Barry and Robin Gibb

Copyright 2013 Sony Music Entertainment

"I Am Always Remembering..."

IWTFY

"For Stephen, if he wants it..."

It was on a day like today that I discovered this song for us.

"That's All I Want From You"

Nina Simone

A little love that slowly

Grows and grows

Not one that comes and goes

That's all I want from you

A sunny day with hopes up

To the skies

Not a day that comes and dies

That's all I want from you

Don't let me down, oh show

Me that you care

Remember when you give, you

Also get your share

Don't let me down, I have

No time to wait

Tomorrow might not come

When dreamers dream too late

A little love that slowly

Grows and grows

Not one that comes and goes

That's all I want from you

A sunny day with hopes up

To the skies

Not one that comes and dies

That's all I want from you

Don't let me down, oh show

Me that you care

Remember when you give, you

Also get your share

Don't let me down, I have

No time to wait

Tomorrow might not come

When dreamers dream too late

A little love that slowly

Grows and grows

Not one that comes and goes

That's all I want from you

Songwriters: Fritz Rotter / Mausie Rotha

That’s All I Want From You lyrics © Weiss And Barry Music Co Inc

"The Truth About Love..."

True love is like water, it lasts for time and all eternity and it always will be.

- Christopher Flournoy