It’s been a whole week and I’ve missed my AfroKAN people. It is always a pleasure for me to share my “7 songs of the week ” with you. Truth be told, I am alive end functional only when I have my ear phones bursting with some good soulful music.
So what’s the concept? Well you get to share a little bit about my life, because in this section….I am baring it all. Am going real naked with you. I will randomly pick songs from my play list. For each song, I will tell you about the first time I heard the song (if I can remember) but most importantly I will tell you what that song represents for me and how it makes me feel. If for some reason I have no attachment to the song, I will let you know and skip to the next one in line. Most importantly am sharing my musical passion with you, isn’t that enough? But sharing is caring, so you gotta share your songs and your moments with me too….DEAL?
Here it goes.
Like you’ll never see me again
I smile, I smile. Secretly I was hoping that this one wouldn’t show on the play list. Because well, I made a promise to tell you the naked truth and this one is quite the naked story. I first heard this song on Alicia Key’s “As I am” album. It was November 2007. I was already so in love with the other single “No one”. Every time I heard it (No one) I thought about ‘him’ and the album kind of described our relationship. But the reason this song (like you’ll never see me again) is so particular to me is because we separated in September of that year, rough but necessary. A year later, he was visiting. There was always chemistry between us. One night we had a little bit to drink and he asked me to stay with him. A torrid night. Ms Keys was playing in the background, he loved her album just as much as I did. A few days later when we talked he said, “you made love to me the other like it was the last time”. I went silent. We had always played this hot and cold game. Then he said, ‘like you’ll never see me again’. I was like What? And he said, “that moment was like Alicia Key’s song, Like you’ll never see me again. You had so much passion and yet I could feel you slipping away. You might not remember but towards the end, it was that song that was playing and I could feel you saying goodbye.”
I remember. Oh boy do I remember. Yes. It was my goodbye. That was the most intense and last time I shared anything that special with ‘him’. Every time I hear that song, I think back to that night and what never was.
Longue _ Charlotte Dipanda
(Although a beautiful song, it is perhaps only the second time am hearing it – so no special attachment)
La nuit- Kimberlite Zouk
This Zouk although not particularly special, always makes me want to dance to Zouk. I remember Montreal nights and swaying to it. Definitely the kind of song I will always want to dance to and makes me want to learn creole.
Leon on me – Michael Bolton
I started listening to Michael Bolton aged 7. I thank my dad for this one. There were two cassettes (yes CASSETTES – if you don’t know what those are, you are probably too young for my posts). There was the Phil Collins ‘another day in paradise’ and Michael Bolton ‘lean on me’. I knew them by heart, I could sing every single song on the albums. And I always had my pen in hand to rewind when the radio was acting up. This song digs up some sweet childhood memories, but more importantly it makes me think of my dad. Because truth be told, I can always lean on my dad and I can always call on him. Yes, this is when I fell in love with soft rock ballads….and they are still my genre of choice on a mellow Sunday.
Sauti Sol – Coming Home
August 2011 when I came home. My little sister kept on blasting it around the house. Whenever I got in the car with my moms it was playing on the radio. I like the ballad feel to it, but couldn’t quite figure out why everyone was just so into it. Then I sat down and youtubed it and listened to it again, this time I was listening to words and watching the video. It made it to my top 10 list for the whole month of September. Sometimes I want someone to tell me, “am coming home” At about 2.22 of the song, the guitar vibes just make me silly happy.
p.s I recommend their albums. Strongly. If you are the ballad type.
p.p.s: I later met the producer of this video, amazing woman; it was interesting to listen to her vision for the video. Let me know what you think so I can pass it on to her.
Muntula moto Richard Bona
As you get to know me, you’ll notice I like what most people call “old music” – I just call it GOOD music. Richard Bona for me was perhaps one of the best musical discoveries (of all time). I started listening to his music around 1999/2000; about the same time I discovered Henri Dikongue. I was so proud to have such great musicians from Cameroun. I had been playing the saxophone actively for 2 years by then and was completely in love with Jazz and blues. This particular song (2001) reminds me of car drive with my parents; because Richard Bona is perhaps the only album that existed in both their cars. Later on Richard Bona came to represent quiet evenings in Ottawa, sometimes studying and sometimes just thinking about my life.
Vuli Ndela – Brenda Fassie
For some reason this song always reminds me of weddings. Yes because every time the dj plays it I insight my friends and guests to break into a very “africanised” shuffle. May her soul rest in peace, she brought us some great southern vibes.
