Can't Imagine Going Through It Without Soul Music



I’ve been up and I’ve been down, I’ve had my feet swept off the ground by a world that just picked me up and threw me away...
A little variation on Miki Howard, but that’s what life has been like for me and many others on many a day. There have been days when I’ve felt dejected, deflated and defeated, feeling like I up was too far to go and down felt right. Then I’d go digging through my CD collection to find a song to fit my mood; flipping through the likes of Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Teddy Pendergrass, Luther Vandross, Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, Anthony Hamilton and Marvin Gaye to find something just right, something that says everything I need to say. That’s Soul music. It’s music that draws directly from your Tuesday or her Thursday, even my Saturday night. It’s what folks have used for years to get through troubled times and celebrate the good, as few and far between as they have been for some of us, because of the emotions evoked by the music.

People get that feeling from Soul music, Country, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Gospel and even Hip-Hip. It’s the connection to the lyrics, the spirit of the drum, the melody plucked on a guitar, the lasting impression of someone telling your life to the world. I couldn’t imagine this life of mine without the music I’ve grown, loved and depended on for nearly 33 years.
When I first set out to identify my favorite songs, I knew what number one was immediately, but completed the rest of the songs was a task. I love words, so a beautifully written song wins me over every time; I could listen to hours upon hours of music acapella (or acapulco as Martin Payne would say), as long as the singer’s voice was tolerable. So, the songs selected on my list have been songs I connect to lyrically, words that touch my soul and a few really good vocal performances. Even the Hip-Hop songs on my list fit these requirements and have beats that I love, which was a requirement for their inclusion on my list.

The songs selected have been my life. I absolutely mean that, I don’t go a week without listening to at least 15 of that top 25; I sing them in the shower, in my office at work, in the car, when I’m home alone, these have been the songs that have scored the world according to Teef. In the following posts I will unveil my favorite songs of all-time and give the reasoning behind their selection and how they make me feel.

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