Raindrops
One of my favorite pieces out of the five read. It’s short, simple, and sincere. The piece deals with gender roles in this society, and more specifically man grief. An ailment many men suffer from, but must not speak about. In this piece, man grief is expressed as an act of natural disaster, something Mother Nature concocted to keep men from loosing face. Men don’t cry, but instead water the earth with the raindrops that fall from their eyes. A phrase made popular by Dee Clark’s song Raindrops. A song I am very fond of. In the song, Dee Clark sings that a man isn’t supposed to cry, a belief that many hold true throughout all types of cultural backgrounds. So what’s falling from his eyes aren’t tears, but instead raindrops. The piece supports this idea by comparing the intensity of the emotions a man feels to the act of a natural disaster, like a flood. A flood created by the “unceasing torrent of raindrops falling from” his eyes, a flood so powerful that if caught in the down pour you run the risk of drowning in it. A powerful piece, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the music playing in the background.
True Love
An interesting piece and one I agree with. There is no love in a doo-wop song. There is only the remnant of an emotion once felt. When you first listen to a doo-wop song, or any song for that matter, that deals with the topic of love you must take into consideration (which many don’t) that the song is one filled with biased opinions and ideas of what constitutes love for them, the artist. An impressionable youth will take in all that the song has to offer, and convert it into a lens that will forever taint the way they see the world around them, especially, if they don’t have any one to turn to for clarification. This piece touches upon the topic of paradigms and frames, and how we see and interpret the world around us. What someone may consider to be true love, another may consider it to be an obsession. How many women stay in long term relationships with men that abuse them, all in the name of true love? Believing with every blow that grazes her cheek that this must be true love; that he acts this way because he really loves her; that it’s just the way he shows her that he cares. Songs just offer one glimpse, out of the many, on what true love is all about. And although we can find some comfort in their words, we should not let ourselves rely solely on their take of love.
A Casual Look
A concept I understand now, with age. But something I had no interest in as an adolescent. A Casual Look is a piece I can relate to now, having partaken in it and witnessed it amongst others. An act so simple, but bearing so much more than a causality to it. As adolescents we don’t realize the weight in our gaze. It is much more than a look. It offers a frank look into the eyes of someone who adores you, who pleas with you, who can see a future with you. I have come to realize that there is no such thing as a causal look, unless it’s a quick gaze into the face of someone you couldn’t help look at, whether it was there good looks that attracted you to them or not. A casual look amongst interested parties loses all casual feel to it. Like when you are across the room, and feel an odd sensation, a sort of tension running through your body, and when you look into the direction of that feeling you realize someone casually looking in your direction. There is nothing left to do but look back, and through that look express what it is that you are feeling. Discomfort will make you shift in your seat, and probably move. Interest will open you up, and make you turn to face your suitor, like a flower turning to face the sun, open, ready, and willing. Where this look will take you only time will tell. But only children start off with an innocent gaze. As we age, so does our gaze, and when a casual look is exchanged, well, like the song says “it can reveal just what you think.”
Jamesetta on My Mind
Wow. Definitely my second favorite out of the five read. At first this piece gives way to the feel that it was written primarily for and about Jamesetta (a wonderful singer and one I am looking forward to listening to again). Starting with feelings the author felt for the singer. Ah, to be young and infatuated. To learn of love through harmonious melodies from a voice that could melt the coldest of hearts. I remember being young and infatuated once. The feeling is sweet and indescribable, to feel a connection to this person without being connected in any way. That is why women read romance novels, and why ballads will never go out of style. These stories and songs create with their words an almost attainable future. To find true love at last, to see that happy endings do come true, that is the true allure of love. That is why we throw care to the wind time and time again, and why we never quite understand how something that started so sweet can turn so bitter. We let ourselves be swept up into their words and let their vision of love keep us in an enamored state, never once thinking realistically for a moment if this will work out. And then when it comes to an end, how can everything we read in books and heard on the radio about love be wrong? Did these creators of a perfect love lie to us? Or was it just an error on their behalf, they are human after all. When the love dies who is there to pick up the pieces? The stories and songs don’t explain that part of a relationship. Instead they move on, and create another picturesque look on love. All the while hooking us again to believe in the true power of love, a vicious cycle, and one that is necessary. For devoid of it I don’t think any one of us could move on without the ebb and flow of a rhythmic dose of hope and self-forgiveness.
The Blues Had a Baby
Read like a prose. I enjoyed it and the music very much, but with a title like The Blues Had a Baby that is just to be expected. Reading about the author’s own experience in love and growing up, made me realize how truly inexperienced I am. Most adolescents go through that phase, some at a much younger age and late bloomers soon after. But around that age I couldn’t even fathom such emotions. Growing up, I was always very blah about love, boys, and romance. I only ever had time for school, friends, and family. I figured it was a waste of time to be in a relationship at such a young age with no prospect of marriage. I always had one reason or another to push aside budding romances, and never really knew how to deal with someone when a situation would arise. I now realize that I had it all wrong. Being in a relationship with someone, especially at such a young age, isn’t necessarily just about love or romance. We are taking what we see and applying it with someone we cherish (even if it’s just at that moment). It is a wonderful way to learn life lessons not available through helpful words of advice, or taught at school, or even written in self-help books. Moments like those experienced during the first kiss are invaluable to the growth of each individual, like its own rite of passage. And one I unfortunately never traversed. Benched, like a player whom no one really believes can make the play, I now sit on the sidelines waiting for someone to call me into the game once again. To believe in me to make the winning play, but who am I waiting for? The man of my dreams, my future husband, or a guy who is willing to play the game right alongside me, cheering me on and believing in me to play the game fairly, honest, and with a little sportsmanship. Now, I really do wish I was a little more interested in boys while growing up.
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