Journey's "Open Arms"

Mama's favorite band of ALL times!!!! I remember being a sophomore in high school dancing to this song at a school dance with my boyfriend, Christopher Hill (What a cutie!). Notice Steve Perry's (THE Steve Perry) white Nike's. Holy cow! I had the exact pair as a freshman...popular shoe back then!

Here is THE Steve Perry...no one like him:



 ...and here is what I saw one rainy September 2012 night at the Bangor Waterfront Pavillion. Arnel Pineda's pretty good, huh?



Lyrics

Lying beside you here in the dark

Feeling your heart beat with mine
Softly you whisper, you're so sincere
How could our love be so blind?

We sailed on together
We drifted apart
And here you are by my side

So now I come to you with open arms
Nothing to hide, believe what I say
So here I am with open arms
Hoping you'll see what your love means to me, open arms

Living without you, living alone
This empty house seems so cold
Wanting to hold you, wanting you near
How much I wanted you home

But now that you've come back
Turned night into day
I need you to stay

So now I come to you with open arms
Nothing to hide, believe what I say
So here I am with open arms
Hoping you'll see what your love means to me, open arms

Love,
~Mama

Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me"

I have always loved Bonnie Raitt's raspy, soulful voice. This song is simply lovely, for no other reason than that. I love singing it!



Lyrics

Turn down the lights, turn down the bed
Turn down these voices inside my head
Lay down with me, tell me no lies
Just hold me close, don't patronize, don't patronize me

'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
You can't make your heart feel something it won't
Here in the dark, in these final hours
I will lay down my heart and feel the power
But you won't, no, you won't
I can't make you love me if you don't

I'll close my eyes, then I won't see
The love you don't feel when you're holding me
Morning will come and I'll do what's right
Just give me until then to give up this fight and I will give up this fight

'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
You can't make your heart feel something it won't
Here in the dark, in these final hours
When I lay down, I'll feel the power
But you won't, I can't make you love me if you don't

Love, ~Mama

Albums I Played to Death

In the late 70's, my parents gave me a little blue record player for Christmas. It consisted of the main turntable with a plastic hinged over, and two small, square speakers. I kept that thing all through high school--although I'm pretty sure I didn't actually show it to anyone. I was rather kiddish. Alas, that record player and I spent many, many hours together upstairs in my bedroom...me, either laying on my bed reading, or dancing and singing to every lyric. I remember playing four (vinyl) albums in particular (which cost about $6 each back then):

Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall" (released in 1979)

Donna Summer's "On the Radio: Greatest Hits, Volume I and II (released in 1979) 

"Saturday Night Fever," titled the same as the movie (released 1977) 

Abba's "Dancing Queen" (released in 1976)

~Mama

"Same Love" by Ryan Lewis and Macklemore (2013)

I was driving yesterday when this song came on the radio. I turned it up loud 1) because I really like Ryan Lewis and Macklemore's music (go ahead and make fun if you must), and 2) because I LOVE this song...its lyrics..the compilation of the instruments...Mary Lambert's chorus...her voice. As a side note, she wrote and performs "She Keeps me Warm"--an expansion of the chorus she sings in "Same Love." I find her stunningly beautiful.

I could listen to "Same Love" over and over--and sometimes I do.


Same Love Lyrics

When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay
'Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight
I told my mom tears rushing down my face
She's like "Ben you've loved girls since before pre-k tripping, "
Yeah, I guess she had a point, didn't she?
Bunch of stereotypes all in my head.
I remember doing the math like, "Yeah, I'm good at little league"
A preconceived idea of what it all meant
For those that liked the same sex
Had the characteristics
The right wing conservatives think it's a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition
Playing God, aw nah here we go
America the brave still fears what we don't know
And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago
I don't know

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
I can't change
Even if I try
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm

If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
"Man, that's gay" gets dropped on the daily
We become so numb to what we're saying
A culture founded from oppression
Yet we don't have acceptance for 'em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference!
Live on and be yourself
When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren't anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same, but that's not important
No freedom till we're equal, damn right I support it

(I don't know)

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm

We press play, don't press pause
Progress, march on
With the veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
Till the day that my uncles can be united by law
When kids are walking 'round the hallway plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are
And a certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all
But it's a damn good place to start
No law is gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever God you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it's all the same love
About time that we raised up

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
I can't change
Even if I try
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
Love is patient
Love is kind
Love is patient
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
Love is kind

Lovingly and Accepting,
~Mama