Tag: Music

Opening Lyrics To Songs That I Love

trE

#7: H.E.R., Process

I’m just tryin’ to process what just happened/
I’m just tryin’ to express what I’m feeling/
When the pressure gets too intense, burn some incense
Stop and take a deep breath… release it/

©2021 H.E.R., Process. YouTube

This will probably be my favorite segment on my blog in a very long time! Welcome to Opening Lyrics to Songs That I Love!

H.E.R.’s song “Process” appears on her album “Back of My Mind” (Apple Music Edition), released in 2021. The lyrics seem to be about navigating a challenging situation or relationship, feeling like someone is “slowing up the progress” and causing a lot of frustration and sleepless nights.

The speaker is going through an emotional “process” of dealing with this, feeling pushed to their limits, and on the verge of “popping” or “blowing up.”

Lines like “Pushin’ all my buttons/Teardrop, hurting/Say I’m off the deep end/Yeah, right, you’re reachin’ reveal the raw vulnerability and emotional turmoil. 

Essentially, “Process” seems to be a raw and honest expression of dealing with the difficulties and emotional strain that come with a challenging personal situation.

By this point, I guess you have made the assessment that I have a thing for love songs: love lost, love gained, seeking love, and learning how to love. Most of my favorite songs center around love and all things encapsulating love. H.E.R. does an incredible job with “Process” as she pens what it feels to move forward while in the throes of breaking down.

It is oftentimes hard to move on from such a loss. Grief, reminiscence, and the constant wondering of “What did I do?” and “What could I have done to make things better?” can eat us alive.

This song will forever be a favorite of mine. The opening lyrics pull you in to hear the deeper story–to sit down at her feet and vibe with her–to feel her pain. I am here for this kind of carrying on day in and day out.

For the next three Sundays, I’ll share with you my favorite opening lyrics to songs I truly love. Maybe you’ll enjoy it. Maybe you won’t. Perhaps you’ll share favorite opening lyrics to songs you love as well. Perhaps you won’t. Either way, we’re going to have a good damn time.

See you next week!

Opening Lyrics To Songs That I Love

trE

#6: Eric Benét, News For You

You tell me love ain’t been goin’ your way/
Cause you’ve been searching, but good ones are hard to find/
Said you won’t settle for less than your heart is asking/
And life’s too precious just to be wasting time/

Eric Benét, News For You. YouTube

This will probably be my favorite segment on my blog in a very long time! Welcome to Opening Lyrics to Songs That I Love!

In “News for You,” Eric Benét sings about the surprising and transformative power of finding love after having given up on it.

The song’s core message is in the lyrics: “Think your time for love is through. Well I got news for you.” Benét describes falling in love so completely that the thought of the person leaving feels devastating. The song embraces the “beautifully frightening aspect of love” that can be both tragic and deeply resonant.

The song was featured on his album “The One”.

When I listen to this song by Eric, I have to push away all of the negative thoughts that bounce about in my head regarding him and Halle Berry. Their marriage was an embarrassment on public display because of Eric’s constant cheating.

ON HALLE BERRY!!! Dude, like how?! Why?! I remember watching an interview with her, and then watching a separate one with him, and he spoke about being diagnosed as a Sex Addict. It was the first time I had heard the term.

He also spoke about being in the throes of counseling and therapy and trying to come to grips with the pain he had caused Halle, while also not hating himself in the process. Needless to say, they were some heavy interviews.

The song, though?! It’s one of my favorites by him because it pulls at the heartstrings. It makes me think about all of my failed relationships and the ones that were gifts to me because I learned something, and me and those exes are still friends. We know what we had, but we also know why we had to let it go.

The song is beautifully penned with a catchy chorus, and his distinctive vocals make it so much better. It’s an everlasting love song that can be and will be played on repeat for years to come.

For the next four Sundays, I’ll share with you my favorite opening lyrics to songs I truly love. Maybe you’ll enjoy it. Maybe you won’t. Perhaps you’ll share favorite opening lyrics to songs you love as well. Perhaps you won’t. Either way, we’re going to have a good damn time.

See you next week!

Opening Lyrics to Songs That I Love

trE

#5: Incognito, Spellbound and Speechless

Across the crowded room/
Stood apart from it all/
You took my breath away/
(Yes, you did.)

Incognito, Spellbound and Speechless. YouTube

This will probably be my favorite segment on my blog in a very long time! Welcome to Opening Lyrics to Songs That I Love!

100° and Rising is an album by the British acid jazz band Incognito, produced by band leader Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick and released in 1995 on Talkin’ Loud Records.[1] The album peaked at No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 2 on the UK R&B Albums Chart.[2] In the United States, it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and No. 29 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic hailed the album saying “On 100 Degrees and Rising, the pioneering acid house outfit, Incognito, turn in another first-rate record, featuring their trademark mixture of jazz, soul, and funk. There’s not much to distinguish 100 Degrees from their previous handful of records, but the band is smooth, accomplished, and deep, finding new variations on their trademark sound.”

Spellbound and Speechless is No. 8 on the album, and it gripped my heart, wrung it free of its blood, and washed me clean when I first heard it. Joy Malcolm is the lead singer on this track. Her voice is luring, exceptionally fluid, and memorable. The opening lyrics pulled me in and gave me pause. They make me wish for a love-at-first-sight kind of love. Here is a live rendition of the song… Joy is killing it here, too!

This is a forever JAM for me, and I hope it becomes one for you, too.

For the next five Sundays, I’ll share with you my favorite opening lyrics to songs I truly love. Maybe you’ll enjoy it. Maybe you won’t. Perhaps you’ll share favorite opening lyrics to songs you love as well. Perhaps you won’t. Either way, we’re going to have a good damn time.

See you next week!

Opening Lyrics to Songs That I Love

trE

#4: Ambrosia, How Much I Feel

I don’t know how this whole business started/
Of you thinkin’ that I have been untrue/
But if you think that we’d be better parted/
It’s gonna hurt me, but I’ll break away from you/

Ambrosia, How Much I Feel. YouTube

This will probably be my favorite segment on my blog in a very long time! Welcome to Opening Lyrics to Songs That I Love!

Ambrosia is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1970. Ambrosia had five Top 40 hit singles released between 1975 and 1980, including the Top 5 hits “How Much I Feel” and “Biggest Part of Me“, and Top 20 hits “You’re the Only Woman (You & I)” and “Holdin’ on to Yesterday“. Most of the original band members have been active with the group continuously since their 1989 reformation to the present day, with the notable exception of original guitarist and lead vocalist David Pack who left in 2000.

“How Much I Feel” is a 1978 song by American rock band Ambrosia. The song, written by the band’s guitarist/vocalist David Pack, was released in the summer of 1978 as the lead single from their third album, Life Beyond L.A., peaking at position three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[5] and number two for three weeks on the Cash Box Top 100.

I don’t know how anyone can hear David Pack’s crooning and not fall completely in love with this song. My favorite part (aside from the opening lyrics & the chorus) is the riff in the song where he says, “So you try to make amends/But you’re better off as friends” and he takes it up another octave and you can just hear the emotion in the pitch… Whew! It gets me every single time.

Ambrosia has a couple of other songs that I truly love as well, “Biggest Part of Me” and “You’re the Only Woman”, and I won’t deny the fact that those two pull just as much emotion from me, too, but something about them still doesn’t hold a candle to “How Much I Feel.”

For the next six Sundays, I’ll share with you my favorite opening lyrics to songs I truly love. Maybe you’ll enjoy it. Maybe you won’t. Perhaps you’ll share favorite opening lyrics to songs you love as well. Perhaps you won’t. Either way, we’re going to have a good damn time.

See you next week!

until it all fades

trE

musical selection: One Step Ahead, Aretha Franklin

One Step Ahead, Aretha Franklin via YouTube

until it all fades

we’re all just moving
about robotically;
carrying years of
hurt on our backs.

our scrabbly efforts
have done nothing to
alleviate the pain.

forced to exist in a
world of crafted
terror, the light at the
end of the tunnel
f a d e s.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.