Jacqui Lee caused quite the stir when she threw her 16 year old heart hard onto the stage of The Voice to sing Cry Baby. The audience went wild for this girl who claimed she’s never experienced true love, yet owned the soul shattering sounds previously performed by Janis Joplin. Was she faking it?
I don’t think so.
Of course, on stage there’s a whole lotta drama needed to put on a good show. But there’s got to be a truthful connection for an uninhibited expression of the soul. Same goes with real life. It’s about finding ways to connect and express our unique experience. So when Jacquie Lee belted out …
Ain’t nobody ever gonna love you
The way I try to do ?
Who’ll take all your pain,
Honey, your heartache, too ?
And if you need me, you know
That I’ll always be around if you ever want me
she found the hook to reel in her teenage soul. And then of course, she had to turn up the volume for millions of viewers to see.
Remember when Empire State of Mind was allover the radio? Clearly, it wasn’t only NYers who put that song at Number 1.
New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There’s nothin’ you can’t do
Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York, New York,
New York
I’ll always hold a permanent place in my pump-up playlist for that tune.
Then there’s the unexpected hitmaker, Lorde. In the song Royals, her 17 year old fantasy-rebelling lyrics resonate pretty easily with most teens…maybe even adults. (See how fun it is to sing along with this one!)
But every song’s like gold teeth, grey goose, trippin’ in the bathroom
Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin’ the hotel room,
We don’t care, we’re driving Cadillacs in our dreams.
But everybody’s like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece.
Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash.
We don’t care, we aren’t caught up in your love affair.
So, really it comes down to what are we giving our souls to grab onto? Is it something authentic to who we are?
Watching 5 year old G sing her heart out to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ Same Love is a show in itself. Her tiny face scrinches up in pure passion for a message she’s not really clued into. Yet there’s no doubt her little heart is singing true to her soul.
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love, my love, my love
She keeps me warm
Do you think people fake it to make it? Or do you think they’re finding ways to truly express their souls?
Isn’t that part if the art form? Maybe not the technical understanding of feeling the love or loss but for these young and up & coming they have a real passion for what they are doing they love it. Maybe it’s the passion of doing what they love that comes through on that stage not an understanding if where that original song may have been written from. I haven’t seen the singers but all the sings you list are all ones that inflict emotions in me as well. I love Lordes voice
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I agree they’ve got the passion for performance so perhaps that’s what becomes the root of their true expression. Lorde’s voice is awesome! And it’s really great she’s getting so huge — I think she’s much better than a lot of the other stuff that’s played on the radio these days. It’s so nice “hearing” from you!
A thoughtful post ! I think one’s yearning for love can make someone express themselves just as passionately as one who has already experienced it. Cheers !
So the yearning creates the passion — I can see how that would be an expression in itself. Thank you, muscleheaded!
🙂 cheers!!!