Sample Sunday: Hello, It's Me

Song: Hello, It's MeArtist: Todd RundgrenAlbum: Something/AnythingReleased: 1972Writer: Todd RundgrenSampled By: The Isley Brothers, Live it Up, 1974[audio http://blackloveproject.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/04-hello-its-me.mp3]"Hello, it's me. I've thought about us for a long, long time". Todd Rundgren phrased this line perfectly. If there's one thing I love about musicians, it is their innate ability to expose the minds and feelings of their listeners. It is the reason we all have a favorite musician; they are the one person who is able to musically create the inner workings of our souls. Love and music are two things that transcend all race, gender and economic lines. They are two things in life that reach us all on a human level, outside of the social constructs within which we live. Which adds to another reason why I love samples; they are written and covered by artists so different in background and privilege, but whose commonality is founded on art and love.It is a valiant effort to love someone. There are so many risks involved with being responsible for someone else's heart, as they are yours. Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.", and how true that is. How many times have you fondly reminisced about loves that did not last? No matter how bitter the end, you hold on to certain memories of the sweet. Even after the relationship has ended and the feelings have settled, there is a remaining connection to that person. An old friend, who for a while knew all of you and you knew their bones, too. That once shared intimacy is the silver lining to many a sad love story. No matter how short or brutal it becomes, love usually begins with a very beautiful spark. It is that first spark that moves people to take another risk, which is to love again.I really love this song. I was fairly young when I first heard the Isley Brothers' version and it always struck me as a bittersweet and melancholic song. A feeling that occurs during a breakup when you come to the realization that it's just not going to work.

I've thought about us for a long, long time/Maybe I think too much, but something's wrong/There's something here that doesn't last too long

There does not need to be a particular reason why things end, there does not need to be some horrific event that tears two people apart. Sometimes time is all that is needed to see that you're not meant to be together. The intense flame of love, that first spark, gets a little lower. You may still love that person, but not in the same manner that made the relationship worthwhile. And the only hope to salvage the relationship is to release each other.

It's important to me/That you know you are free/Cause I never want to make you change for me

Keith

Name: KeithHometown: Minneapolis, MinnesotaAge: 59Age You First Fell in Love: I've fallen in love in more ways than one, but I married my real deal at 20.Love Is: When you do things [for that person] without thinking twice, you do things without hesitancy, it's automatic. You do it all unconditionally.On Atlanta: I moved to Atlanta when I was 19 in 1973 and it has definitely changed. You know being from Minneapolis, I loved it down here. I went to Georgia State and there were so many beautiful black women walking around. Natural hair was the norm, it was everywhere. Our best pickup line was, "I love your hair." I moved to East Point and I remember when I called an apartment leasing office, the woman on the phone told me, "You better hurry, all these coloreds are trying to move in!" (he laughs), but that's how it was. Black people were more scattered, you'd never see as much black people as you do now in places like Stone Mountain or Cobb County. Things have definitely changed.On Music: Earth, Wind and Fire or Parliament, that P-Funk. We bought that automatic! There was no need to listen to a single first, we just went down there and bought the record. Our music was about the struggle, you could hear it in the music. This generation is more about money and drugs and sex. Except for Tupac.On Being Black: Your generation is proud of their accomplishments, what they've done, who they are. We were just proud to be black, that's all we needed.

Sample Sunday: Crazy Love

Song: Crazy LoveArtist: Van MorrisonAlbum: MoondanceWriter: Van MorrisonReleased: 1970Sampled By: Brian McKnight, Crazy Love, I Remember You (1995)[audio http://blackloveproject.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/1-03-crazy-love.mp3]For the last two years, I've had this obsession with the musical catalog of Van Morrison; a brilliant singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland. I have this tendency to listen to the same album for at least two months. It is the only thing I listen to and the lyrics come to mean more to me on deeper and personal levels. Moondance is no exception.Some of you may know his most famous single, Brown Eyed Girl (1967). (Side Note: It is rumored that the song was originally called Brown Skinned Girl, written about his brown skinned lady). To those who do not know of him, he may appear to be just some obscure white singer. But if you really listen to his music, you'd find a perfect mixture of Irish folk, jazz, blues and soul; with a heavy influence of black artists like Muddy Waters and Ray Charles. His voice has this unique tone, an understated grittiness that rises and falls at the perfect moment, showing a great understanding of every word and rhythm in his song. He's a storyteller and I think that's what I like the most about him. A good amount of his stories are of love, described in great imagery.The third track of the album begins with Van Morrison singing in a beautiful rasp,

I can hear her heart beat from a thousand miles/Yeah, the heavens open every time she smiles/And I when I come to her that's where I belong/Yes, I run into her like a river song

The song is beautiful and simple, telling of a man who loves the woman who loves him. It is the kind of love that is comfortable and passionate. There are lovers who come into your life at the right moment and become the best complement to everything about you. This is the kind of love described in Crazy Love.

Yes, it makes me righteous/Yes it makes me feel whole/Yes, it makes me mellow down in to my soul

My earliest memory of this song is Brian McKnight's 1995 single, done in standard 90s R&B fashion, with syncopated drum machines and velvety vocals. It was a pleasant surprise to discover what I'd always assumed was a song written for McKnight, was a twenty-five year old love story waiting to be retold.Side Note: Van Morrison has a great way with words. His songs are poems set to rhythm and it comes out very organic. Because I love his wording, I want to share with you one of the greatest lyrics I've ever heard. From the title track of his 1968 album, Astral Weeks:

If I ventured in the slipstream/Between the viaducts of your dream/Where immobile steel rims crack/And the ditch in the back road stops/Could you find me?/Would you kiss my eyes?/Lay me down/In silence easy/To be born again

Happy Sunday!

Akwaaba Means Welcome

[audio http://blackloveproject.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/01-i-love-music.mp3]Welcome to Black Love Project!I am very happy and thankful that you've taken the time to visit.My name is Monique and I am a music lover. A deeply passionate music lover who finds a relative story in every song I hear. Music, for me, is a personal experience, seeping into almost every aspect of my life. This means that music finds itself woven into my love life. For every serious love affair or fleeting crush, there is a song, a chorus or sixteen bars to remind me of every memory. From every kiss to every heartbreak, there is a song or songs that serve as my personal soundtrack.The idea of Black Love Project came to me when I experienced what it is to love a musician. Our time together always felt like a love scene out of a blaxploitation film: brown flesh upon brown flesh, coarse hair and thick lips, a hazy room filled with music, there was always music. We created our own soundtrack of songs that mirrored how sweet and intensely passionate we were. And when the sweetness turned sour and sadness and anger settled in, the songs showed the same. It is no secret that art imitates life. It is the reflection of the people, an artistic immortalization of life's ups and downs. The songs that reminded me of him, I was sure reminded someone else of an old lover. As I tend to view and relate most things through a historical and musical perspective, I understand there is a great relationship between song and life, love most especially. The quest to study the link amongst relationships, socio-political circumstances and the art created during respective eras, blossomed into Black Love Project.Black history has often been written and told by others. However, the music, derived on that Great Continent, has been an important historical archive of black people. It is the tradition of our bloodline, to preserve our story through word and song. It is the continuation of tradition through the people of the Diaspora. It is the black story told by the black story teller. Black Love Project aims to explore and expose such stories. To create a soundtrack of our harrowing and rich history.I hope you'll join me on my quest and perhaps, along the way, share your own story of love, your own history.Thank you again for visiting.love,MoniqueSong: I Love MusicArtist: The O'JaysAlbum: Family ReunionWriter: Kenny Gamble and Leon A. HuffReleased: 1975