tender tuesdays 002

When I imagine music artists recording their albums, I usually think about two things: the artist and the instruments. I think this vision goes back to when I was a younger teenager imagining the ways that sounds and lyrics could blend together to make a perfect song. Partially I think The artist themself is the leader of this grand production of putting together 12 songs for sale and listening. But I never envisioned why the lyrics were chosen. Why there was a certain mood created with percussion or strings. Why creating an album might be, to put it in Solange's words about her older works, "breakdown" inducing. And I never sought this information out. Mainly, I was content with memorizing lyrics that I thought had hollow meaning. I mean how many times can you listen to a pop hook without thinking that the most fun part about it is how fast you can memorize the lyrics? 

I'd never considered any of those things until recently. With the drop of Solange's A Seat at the Table and my own growth of musical exploration, it became more apparent that music is not only a form of entertainment and art, but a way that one can express themselves and delve deeper into their own trauma. This week I played "Where Do We Go," one of my personal standout tracks from the album. Besides the killer piano line and drum kit, the lyrics were a big part of why I was so drawn to it. With her album being such an exploration of home and identity in society, I feel as if when she croons out "I don't know where to go" or "don't know where to stay," you can really feel her longing for understanding.