The other day I was at work and one of my co-worker’s from the previous shift walked in and asked me to just hit one note before he left because it would make his workday complete. That’s when I realized that I sing a lot…I mean a lot. I can take a sentence and turn it into some theme music in a minute. I love to sing, life is music. It makes me happy. I get it from my parents. My dad whistles all day and when he’s not whistling he must be thinking about it because you can catch his lips puckered in preparation at any given moment. My mom sings like a bird and constantly lets us know that even if she just happens to fall ill and is laid up unresponsive in a hospital bed somewhere that we should just plug in some music and she’ll be back. Wow, that’s deep. Music.
I remember my first record player. It was red and little girl sized. It was big enough to play the 45’s I stole from my dad’s stash…I played them for hours and hours in my room. Heaven. I could give a live concert at the drop of a dime, mustard colored platform boots included. It was the 70’s and life was good.
As I got older I would jam my boom box and make tapes from the music on the radio. What an invention! When rap came out I was mesmerized by how fast my lips could move. Rapper’s delight made me feel like I could out-rap anyone, anywhere. Ha! Then MC Lyte quickly put me in my place, how I loved that woman, so talented. I fell in love with DJ Jazzy Jeff (the DJ) and the Fresh Prince (the rapper) and omg, when the Bodyguard came out and Whitney killed the soundtrack I must have died and gone to heaven. I would belt out each song as if I originally wrote, produced and performed it. I fell in love with singing then. “Iffffffff, IIIIIII, could staaaay. I would oooonlyy be innnn your waaaaaayy. Yes! Sing it, Whit!
Since then I have gone through countless songs to go with countless experiences, good and bad. Carl Thomas’ album Emotional got me through a breakup with my first love. Snoop’s Doggystyle and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic provided the soundtrack for many nights out with my bestie. I will never, ever forget us belting out songs by Escape and TLC. I was her faithful backup on Right Kind of Lover by Patti LaBelle because she sang it the best. Good times.
When my husband and I started dating, it was all about Boyz to Men, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and Musiq Soulchild. I got the chance to meet Musiq and I told him that he represented our entire relationship, it was surreal; from courting to marriage he was there.
Last night I sat at my parent’s dining room table after eating a lovely Christmas dinner, soca Christmas music playing in the background, and I launched into everything that Christmas represents to me. Not only the food, the homemade bread and ham but also the music that we would blast on Christmas Eve while we decorated and cleaned. A little Johnny Mathis, a little soca (parents are from Trinidad), a little Jackson 5 Live, a little Michael Jackson Off the Wall…made Christmas complete. I could finish all of the 863 chores dad had for me because of music and I was happy while doing it.
Thank you, music, for putting into words what my emotions sometimes won’t let me. It has been a beautiful love affair and I look forward to the infinite memories we have to come. Smooch!
