So many of us are heartbroken after learning about the death of 47-year-old singer Mandisa, who was born in Citrus Heights, California, as Mandisa Lynn Hundley. On Thursday, April 18, 2024, the American Idol alum was found dead in her home in Nashville, Tennessee. The cause of her death is unknown. Keep her family and loved ones in your prayers. The following song, “Bleed the Same” is one of the many songs she recorded, and this one features TobyMac and Kirk Franklin. It is a poignant reminder for us to love one another, no matter what we look like, where we come from, our religious or political beliefs, or how much money we have. We all bleed the same.
April is Jazz Appreciation Month and this music genre is classical and timeless. Originating in the African American communities in New Orleans, jazz is a storyteller, a musical griot. Pull out your favorite jazz album, or grab your favorite instrument and groove to the hypnotic sounds that have a language and style of their own. Jazz is a class act. Do you have a favorite Jazz artist or band?
Poetry originally posted on From Behind the Pen 2019
I tend to drift back to songs that had a meaningful statement in their lyrics that touched me when I first heard them played on the radio or saw performed on Soul Train (host Don Cornelius) or American Bandstand (host Dick Clark). I featured this song a few years ago, which was released when I was a senior in high school in 1975. While this song was written in response to what was going on in the world during that time, the lyrics remain relevant and resonate powerfully in our current day and time. I included the lyrics after the following video if you would like to follow along. Wake up! It’s long overdue. Let’s be clear, this is what being “WOKE” is all about.
Songwriters: Gene Mcfadden / John Whitehead / Victor Carstarphen – Released November 1975
Wake Up Everybody Lyrics
Wake up everybody no more sleepin in bed No more backward thinkin time for thinkin ahead The world has changed so very much From what it used to be so There is so much hatred war an’ poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way Maybe then they’ll listen to whatcha have to say Cause they’re the ones who’s coming up and the world is in their hands When you teach the children teach em the very best you can
The world won’t get no better if we just let it be
The world won’t get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me
Wake up all the doctors make the ol’ people well They’re the ones who suffer an’ who catch all the hell But they don’t have so very long before the Judgement Day So won’tcha make them happy before they pass away
Wake up all the builders time to build a new land I know we can do it if we all lend a hand The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind Surely things will work out they do it every time
The world won’t get no better if we just let it be The world won’t get no better
We gotta change it yeah, just you and me (yeah, yeah)
Change it, yeah (change it, yeah) just you and me Change it, yeah (change it, yeah) can’t do it alone Need some help, y’all (y’all) Can’t do it alone (can’t do it alone) Yeah (yeah)
Wake up, everybody Wake up, everybody Need a little help, y’all (yes I do) Need a little help (say it, boy) Need some help, y’all (uh-huh) To change the world From what it used to be
Can’t do it alone Can’t do it alone Need some help, yeah Need some help, yeah
Wake up, everybody Get up, get up Get up, get up Wake up, come on, come on
Wake up, everybody Teach a new way Maybe then they’ll listen To what you have to say
Wake up, everybody No more sleepin’ in bed No more backward thinkin’ Time for thinkin’ ahead Come on
Wake up, everybody I’m talking about the dope pusher Stop pushin’ that dope Dope users Stop usin’ the dope
Wake up, yeah
False lyin’ False preachin’ False teachin’ Wake up, y’all Come on
You preachers Start preachin’ what you teach Teach the truth Wake up, preachers
All liars (all liars) Politicians Stop lyin’ (stop lyin’)
Why don’t somebody Help the poor people Help the babies
Enjoy this throwback, from my 2013 poetry collection, Wings of the Wind: A Cornucopia of Poetry. My heart is on fire with this 1975 hit from Gary Wright!
Love Is The integration of love has no barriers where race, creed and color dance to the same rhythm bridging cultural differences and gender boundaries a contagious commitment to unity and happiness Love is beautiful, splendid and ageless love is encouraging, colorless and genderless love is universal, powerful and understanding love is forgiveness and never demanding love is compassionate, eternal and real love can easily be duplicated with revolutionary appeal.
Jackie Wilson(June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer of the 1950s and 1960s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul.
I loved me some Jackie Wilson and so did my mother. I don’t know of any woman who didn’t woo over Mr. Lonely Teardrops. His sexy dancing, voice, and showmanship were artfully soulful. There were so many of his songs like “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher,” “To Be Loved,” “Sixty Minute Man,” and “That’s Why” that were popular hits slaying music charts. But there is one song that touched my soul that did not get the type of airplay that his other songs got. It was “Nobody But You” which was released in 1976, the year I graduated from high school. Oh my gosh, trust me this song tugged at my young soul and heart, and still does to this day.
Here’s your musical interlude for today, from the crooner himself. Enjoy!
When I listen to soundtracks by musicians and singers, I scan through selections to listen to something that connects to my mood or sets the stage to allow me to listen to something I never heard before. Often the soundtracks of our lives play music or songs of occurrences and lessons that strike a chord in our mental, emotional, or spiritual state. Whether we are happy, sad, feeling positive, or down in the dumps, there is a soundtrack playing amid our current state of mood whether we hear it or know the words to it or not.
There’s no doubt that we will go through some rhythms of life that are going to be slow, moderate, and fast-paced. We are going to run into those times where the music in our life skips a beat or continuously repeats flawed, scratches of moments that seem to stay stuck in time and are unable to move ahead.
Last week was a week of challenges I didn’t see coming when the week began. Yet at week’s end, the wrapup allowed me to say “whew” and soak in a little solitude that left me feeling grateful. There will be times when you hear the sweet sounds of a lullaby, the rushing sounds of panic, the soulful sounds of joy, and the passionate sounds of hope.
As I was writing this, I came across a message from a devotional I was reading that made me feel rejuvenated. It said, “Being grateful helps us learn to change the station away from that soundtrack of complaint and instead teaches us to focus on the many blessings God gives each day, both big and small.” It went on to say, “Gratitude doesn’t mean plastering a big smile on your face and pretending that an aggravating situation is no big deal.” WHOA, what a timely message.
While it seemed like the bottom was beginning to fall out last week, I took several breaths and exhaled the stressors and demonic toxins that were trying to snatch my moments of solitude, joy, and gratitude away. I learned that the everyday challenges of life, although it’s not an easy pill to swallow all the time, teach me to sing a new song through the soundtrack of life changes.
When I was taking a Zumba class years ago, there were so many songs that I fell in love with. Yet, even if I didn’t know the words to the song or it was sung in a different language, I was smitten by the visual presentation of the video if it was available.
After hearing this song and then coming across the video for the song “Chaiyya Chaiyya” I was absolutely mesmerized by the balance and performances of those dancers on that moving train (I understand there were no special effects involved in the making and filming of this song). The song “Chaiyya Chaiyya” from the Bollywood movie Dil Se was shot on a moving train, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, in Tamil Nadu, India. So, this is one of my go-to songs that I warm up to when my joints want to think about aching. Sorry Charlie, no aching for you today, and tomorrow ain’t lookin’ too good either! I guess by now you understand why I am a move-it, shake-it kind of girl. Rhythm and rhyme are in my blood! 🩸
I used Google Translator to get the meaning of the lyrics, but I am not sure of its accuracy. So, for the time being, I am just engulfing myself in the arms of Chaiyya Chaiyya, as my hips have a mind of their own! Let’s dance to the music of romance. · Let’s dance under the shadow of love. If you don’t move your body in some form or fashion as you listen to this song, quickly check your pulse…you might be dead! 😜 Enjoy!
*This song from the A. R. Rahman Forever album is voiced by famous singers Sukhwinder Singh, and Sapna Awasthi. The lyrics of Chaiyya Chaiyya song from the A. R. Rahman Forever album are written by Gulzar.
Short attention spans – more errors – takes longer to do something – stress increases…Nope, not today, and tomorrow ain’t lookin’ too good either! My mother used to say, “A hard head makes a soft behind,” so you can rest assured that when she said this we were forewarned and treading softly!
Chaka Khan made so many incredible hits, but this one received less air time in 1981, although the message resonates with wise advice. Live, love, learn and grow. Lyrics follow the video to refer to, so let your hips groove right where they are! Have a FANtabulous day!
Heed the Warning Lyrics by Chaka Khan
There are so many things in life to know Cause someone says it’s right don’t make it so This is someone somewhere who’s taking notes There’s someone telling lies sowing wild oats When you are moving fast, you can succeed Just how long can you last at twice the speed
Here’s a warning: two wrongs don’t make a right Heed the warning, and everything will be alright I’ll keep good meter, and I’ll take my time I’ll try to stay in beat and live in rhyme I know from love I came, to love I’ll go I’ll live and learn and love and try to grow When you are moving fast, you can succeed Just how long can you last at twice the speed
The power of believing. The power of unwavering faith. The power of watching miracles happen.
When we typically think about what a miracle is, we usually think of occurrences attributed to a supernatural cause. My husband and I were watching the movie “The Girl Who Believes in Miracles” over the holidays, and it was truly a heartwarming tear-jerker. While this movie had a religious overtone about believing in God, the message it conveyed was so much more than that.
When I think about a miracle, I don’t always think about the restoration of healing with health-related challenges per se. To me, miracles can be the mending of relationships that seem forever broken, a change where the unexplained and unbelievable make you pause from curiosity and surprise, or where the unexpected makes you scratch your head wondering how and why. For me, miracles are those little indicators that prove we may never understand the scope and operation of how miracles happen, we simply applaud these blessings when they do.
Can a miracle happen by simply praying and believing from your soul that this could be possible? I think it can. Sometimes there is no scientific or logical reasoning for miracles. There is something that changes with a turn of events which makes what we witness look profound and leaves us awestruck; the unexpected; what seems impossible but happens. What does a miracle look like to you? What does a miracle sound like to you? Miracles happen around us all of the time, whether we look for them, see them, or not. If you wish to look at this movie, I included the YouTube link below if you have never seen the movie. 🙏🏽
From Behind the Pen 