he is a genius

This morning, 3LW, Alan Jackson, Alexi Murdoch, and Alicia Keys woke my sorry body up on the way to work.

So far, in my search for all things that might speak at all of God and help me find/see/touch Him, these 4 musicians/bands are my morning's leads.

3LW's "Baby, I'ma do right" is admittedly not a work of genius. But I love it regardless (honestly, I'm not sure how many things I love that ARE in fact works of genius. Moreover, In the summer of '02, a few of my best girlfriends surprised me with a karaoke machine for my birthday. The original cd gave us an opportunity to sing with Destiny's Child, Brittany Spears, and 3 Doors Down. I loved it. Months into owning it, my addicition had only grown. Fortunately, my roommate Brenda was kind enough to indulge my love for "the singing machine" and went so far as to contribute a few cds here and there to our ever-expanding collection.

The best cd, I admit, was MTV's R&B karaoke album which compiled "hits" from Usher, Alicia Keys, and yes, 3LW. Brenda and I performed it well, she accepting back-up and letting me out front with the breakdown of ...

So what, playa chill now
So how you found out,
Honey, gonna break it down down
You say it ain't no thing but what's my name
Kee-lay, Kee-lay,
Look me in the face and tell me what's the
dee-lay, dee-lay
Oh you gonna go shade now, But I'm paid now,
I know that you hate that,
Oh you got it goin' on now
You can go on now
Cause I got you for my back Say that
You can do whatever to me and be together with me?
Now think you're better than me? No more, never for me.

When the song first came out, I was back in Mpls over a Christmas break during college. I loved that song. It was somehow terribly empowering. And years later, getting to own it with a microphone was like, oh yeah. holla.

For real, though. Even though Brenda and I sang the song pretty often together when we were at home relaxing with company, I secretly loved the afternoons when I'd beat her home and have some time alone with that song on repeat. I felt sneaky, playing it without her, but couldn't resist the temptation. Like it was my own punching bag song. I think the way it starts out so sweet and timid and then blows into this, "so what playa chill now" business, well, it made me feel surprisingly powerful.

Alan Jackson I love because I love the Sundance Saloon and my HS friend Erin who invited me & Bren there for the first time to go country line dancing. And I love him because I love country music because my college friend Erin made me a mix tape of country ballads that are dreamy.

And I love Alexi Murdoch for reasons I've explained in many, many blogs. Seriously, he rocks.

And, finally, I love Alicia Keys because of one song in particular which I played on repeat for hours on the flight to Beijing last year. I remember everything of that flight and if I close my eyes long enough, I can picture the lighting inside the plane, see the cover of the magazine held by the student next to me, smell the nastiest airplane food ever. I can reread two notes I had with me, from dear friends, and feel the weight of my love for them settle heavy on my soul. The song lulled me to sleep and woke me up.

Some people want it all, but I don't want nothing at all
If it ain't you baby, if I ain't got you baby.

The song was with me even when my borrowed iPod was out of reach. It played in my head most memorably in Suzhou. I could have moved there. And oh, I really thought about it. Just to be away, to live in this completely foreign place and learn to love their nasty bandaid tea. I even dreamnt of going to the airport with the group and deciding to stay behind.

Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything,
But everything means nothing if I ain't got you.

I love music. And I love that God created it. And I love that He can bring such beautiful memories to mind with it. I swear. It's genius.