Macklemore

I am going to be one of those people that says I was a fan before everyone was a fan. It's annoying. I get it. But in this instance, it's totally true. When I heard And We Danced, I laughed so hard and LB and I started searching for his other music. What we found was beautiful. So I am sharing which two songs I wish Macklemore was known for (in addition to Same Love which makes me cry happy tears) and his newest jam. The first is about addiction... straight up. (Warning: If you have struggled with addiction this video may bring up difficult memories for you. Drug use is alluded to.)

Everyone in my family has struggled with addiction and this song just encapsulates the struggle. The uncertainty, the root causes of it, and the straight up fear. Because not being able to depend on yourself to get yourself from one day to the next is incredibly scary. Watch the video of this one... it's powerful... and definitely some of Macklemore's best work. A wake. No video for this one, but that's good cause the lyrics are all that matters here.

This verse is my favorite from A Wake:

Now every month there is a new Rodney on Youtube It's just something our generation is used to And neighbourhoods where you never see a news crew Unless they're gentrifying, white people don't even cruise through And my subconcious telling me stop it This is an issue that you shouldn't get involved in Don't even tweet, R.I.P Trayvon Martin Don't wanna be that white dude, million man marchin' Fighting for our freedom that my people stole Don't wanna make all my white fans uncomfortable But you don't even have a fuckin' song for radio Why you out here talkin race, tryin' to save the fuckin' globe Don't get involved with the causes in mind White privilege, white guilt, at the same damn time So we just party like it's nineteen ninety nine Celebrate the ignorance while these kids keep dying

And this last one appears to be his newest jam... a collaboration.

Again, brilliant writing:

Let me ash my issues Ashtray is this asphalt American spirit Black coffee, conversations and a passport When God gives you everything, everything That you ever asked for and it still looks a bit different Than when you pictured it on that back porch And I'm gone world traveller all I got is my songs When the nights start blending into one another and I don't recall Tom Petty in this motherfucker All I wanna do is free fall Yeah free fall And I'm so caught up I'm caught up, I'm caught up And I'm so tired, swore that I wouldn't Stare into the light And guess who tried it Shit I'm blinded by this lime light This lime light, it's all night, it's all day These bright lights, these bright lights Once you turn 'em on You can't walk away, don't die here Don't die here I came too far, I'm too great But I'm too scared and I'm too afraid To stare this world into its face I'm almost home, I'm driving lost My eyelids closed, light turns to grey The cameras off, the show is over You close the curtains and just escape

I have never thought that beautiful writing was reserved for books or poetry. Or that it solely belonged to those overwrought love ballads. This "rap" music is all love and lessons and truth. It's what makes Macklemore who he is (besides being raised in Seattle of course).

Flight... feeling it

Grief: Tonight Lb and some of our favorite couple friends went to go see Flight.. the new Denzel flick. While it was an okay movie, it really hit a nerve with me at a couple of points. First, there was a funeral scene and one of the people said, "She looks so good, I just wanted her to wake up." That is exactly what I have said to LB after I got back from Trenton's funeral. That one stung. I am just left wondering, when does it stop hurting like this? I think about him all the time and miss him. I miss knowing that he was out in the world for me to reach out to if the time was ever right. I miss knowing that there was someone who had lived my experience with me. And then I feel stupid for missing someone I stopped knowing when he was 19. But, he is my brother and I miss him.

Addiction:

The rest of the movie was mostly about Denzel's struggle with alcoholism. The movie did a phenomenal job with showing the pull of addiction, but really was difficult to see him throw away everything because of his drinking. I also love the AA/NA meetings scenes. I have been thinking lately of going to an al-anon or narcotics anonymous meeting... whichever one is the one that is the support group for families. I feel like I understand addiction on a more tangential level and know some of the symptoms, but would like to have a whole picture... for my own reflections and for any addiction stuff that may come into my life down the road... We all have addictions at some level. I am addicted to perfection and TV. In that order. :) I have friends now and will have in friends in the future that will struggle with some sort of addiction: keeping up with the Jones family, always having FOMO (fear of missing out), always needing the latest and greatest X thinking it will make them happy, judging oneself or others, never being satisfied, and one of my personal favorites... the addiction to the story. Addicted to the story we tell ourselves and others about ourselves. Letting go of the story is SO hard to do because it is how we have been taught to show up for other people.