It was the first time you heard a particular note, drum beat or electronically created sound that made your ears tingle, your heart skip a beat and resonated with your soul. This is “My Song” – a series where the music that makes the person is spotlighted. James Bullock writes about a song that encourages him even when he wants to give up on his dreams.
This year marks the ten-year anniversary of an album that has become one of my favorites of all-time, Cunninlynguists’ “A Piece of Strange”. The incredibly profound album about succumbing to and overcoming the allures of sin through various means and reasons enchants me just as much now as it did when I first listened to the record. Yet, some of the topics and themes that make “A Piece of Strange” what it is aren’t too hard to piece together or even understand. One of my favorites comes near the album’s tail-end, “What’ll You Do?”
With a sampling of Melanie Safka’s “Leftover Wine” playing across the track, Deacon the Villain raps about rapping and the pursuit of turning passion into profit. Deacon recounting a conversation he had with his father about the hardships of putting his heart, soul, energy and own money into something, while emotionally and personally fulfilling, isn’t beneficial financially and the artist’s innermost thoughts being vocalized resonates with anyone trying to achieve a dream with the only guarantee of hope being what keeps one going. For Deacon and many like him (even yours truly), the question about whether or not one can go on working toward something that might not pay off can only be answered by the individual. Does one “lay it down” and put aside passion for financial stability even if it leaves a person living with a life-long “what if…?” Or does that person “lay it down” with the intent of never giving up even if it means not taking the easy road and living a life of constant struggle?
