The Music That Inspires Me W/O

**I submitted early because I’ll be out of town, the rest of the entries will be posted 2/3/02**


I knew that when Paul started this write-of that I would join. Music is after all inspiration. It can inspire one to smile, to cry, to laugh, to get angry – to a myriad of emotions. I decided it would be best suited to write about an album that I always go back to – a faithful. One that inspires me to a range of things, causing memories good and bittersweet, but manages to encompass my feelings. As I write the 54th review on this album, I know that it is an album that has inspired and influenced many.

Who would have ever believed that anybody’s debut album could receive this much critical and consumer success? And how is it possible that one album could make virtually a nation of people wait with baited breath until she would bless us with another opus? I can’t think of one and that is why I’ve chosen The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

For me the album encapsulates love, joy, life, pain, fear and disappointment. On the album, Lauryn Hill is vulnerable to the point that you feel that you could be sitting in a room with her discussing your woes, and she’s putting them to music.

As someone who has repeatedly stated her disdain for interludes, this would be my only “con” if I were to list one. Hill chose to do short “skits” with children in a classroom setting where they talked openly about love and life with their teacher. Although the skits are tone appropriate, I think sometimes they hinder the flow of the album.

Much has been written and said about who this album is really about. If you believe that the songs are about a relationship between L-Boogie and Wyclef Jean that soured – that’s fine. If you believe they’re about someone else – that’s fine too, but the fact remains that the emotions within these songs (or the majority of them) couldn’t come from someone in love but someone with a broken heart and spirit.

”It’s funny how money change the situation/ Miscommunication lead to complication/My emancipation don’t fit your equation/I was on the humble, you on every station”
Lost Ones to me is a song that is dedicated to someone who has crossed you. Who you want and need to understand that you will be okay despite their best efforts to see you fail. That to me is the consummate break-up, I don’t need you song and sets the tone for the album.

”Is this just a silly game?/ That forces you to act this way/ Forces you to scream my name/ Then pretend/ That you can’t stay/Tell me who I have to be/ To gain some reciprocity/See no one loves you more than me/ And no one ever will”
This song, Ex-Factor is the only song in the world that makes me cry. Perhaps it is because I understand what it is like to be in this position. To love someone with such intensity and not have them understand the complexity of your emotions. Maybe it’s just because Lauryn has so much soul herself behind the vocals that it just reaches out to me, nevertheless it is my album favorite.

”Unsure of what the balance held/ I touched my belly overwhelmed/ By what I had been chosen to perform/ But then angel came one day/ Told me to kneel down and pray/ For unto me a man-child would be born”
Although I am not a parent, I can imagine no greater joy than to know one is going to become a parent. To Zion is a love song to Lauryn’s then unborn son by the same name. The song features Carlos Santana and is absolutely beautiful. It’s about Lauryn’s struggle to decide whether she should sacrifice her career for motherhood and the mental and emotional battle that ensues. To grow up one day and have this song dedicated to you on an album that has been immortalized in music history has to be pretty cool too.

”Come on baby, light my fire/ Everything you drop is so tired/ Music is supposed to inspire/ How come we aint getting no higher?”
If Superstar isn’t directly aimed at Wyclef than I’m stone cold crazy. A song that basically questions his ability and talent is wrapped in a nice, sweet, mid-tempo song – that if you didn’t listen to the lyrics you would never know was pretty lethal as far as dismissal.

”When it hurts so bad/ Why’s it feel it so good?/ I loved real, real hard once/ But the love wasn’t returned/ Found out the man I died for/ He wasn’t even concerned/ I tried, and I tried, and I tried/ To keep him in my life/ I cried, and I cried, and I cried/ But I couldn’t make it right.”
This excerpt is taken from When It Hurts So Bad and I think the lyrics speak for themselves.

“One situation/ Involved a young man/ He was the ocean/ And I was the sand/ He stole my heart/ Like a thief in the night/ Dulled my senses/ And blurried my sight/ And I used to love him/ But now I don’t”
This duet features another powerhouse in soul music Mary J. Blige. Sounds like two brokenhearted women got together and layed it down on this one. On a personal note, if anyone has ever had their heart broken, they would understand this one, and if you can’t relate - YOU’VE NEVER HAD YOUR HEART BROKEN

This album is not all bitter love songs though, there is a tone of forgiveness and understanding that sometimes things just aren’t what we want them or hope them to be no matter what.
”Forgive them father for they know not what they do/ Beware the false motives of other/ Be careful of those who pretend to be brothers/ And you never suppose its those who are closest to you/ They say all the right things to gain their position/ And use your kindness as their ammunition/ TO shoot you down in the name of ambition.”
This song is aptly titled Forgive Them Father and even though it seems scathing it is about reconciling one’s emotions. It’s completely amazing that one woman has managed to take my heart and put it on an album. Taking you from a turbulent relationship to self reflection.

”Now they skies could fall/ Not even if my boss should call/ The world it seems so very small/ Cuz nothing even matters at all”
Nothing Even Matters f/ D’angelois a song is about falling in love again. About understanding the need to move forward and to understand that love is greater than pain, but only if you let it be.

”My world it moved so fast today/ The past it seemed so far away/ And life squeezes so tight that I can’t breathe/ And everytime I’ve tried to be/ What someone else thought of me/ So caught up/ I was unable to achieve”
This song is beautiful, it’s made to sound like it’s playing on vinyl and if the lyrics don’t tell you anything about it, you’re crazy. Reconciliation is the hardest part of ending a relationship and moving to a new phase in your life, and that’s what this is all about.

All the songs I’ve chosen to highlight are essentially mid-tempo or ballads. There are other things to be offered on the album. I’ve focused heavily on the lyrics of this album, but that is not to say that the production is not spectacular. The music, the timing, everything hits the mark on this album, it just doesn’t go wrong.

In case you didn’t get enough, L-Boogie gives you not 1, but 2 bonus tracks. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You and a beautiful remix of The Sweetest Thing on which Lauryn begs that she will be all of the things that she knows she needs to be in another relationship
”Let me patient/ Let me be kind/ Make me unselfish/ Without being blind/ Though I may suffer…” The perfect end to the perfect album.

Track Listing
1.Intro
2.Lost Ones
3.Ex-Factor
4.To Zion
5.Doo Wop (That Thing)
6.Superstar
7.Final Hour
8.When It Hurts So Bad
9.I Used To Love Him
10.Forgive Them Father
11. Every Ghetto, Every City
12.Nothing Even Matters
13.Everything Is Everything
14.The Miseducaton of Lauryn Hill
*2 Hidden Tracks 15, 16

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I’ve never written this much about ANY album, so this one is special to me and I wanted to shout Paul out for giving me the opportunity to share this. Make sure you check out the other participants in this write off. They are: Paulyoungotti, Aerocat, Cripper, DVON, Elsa70, Girlboxer5, Jag2112, Kuueleimomi, Lynzzpop, Madtheory, MattA75, Search66, Swanton00, Tigger500, Xiphoid -------- Make sure that you check out all of these talented people