For my biology class in ninth grade, we had to do a science project. I love music and so I decided to do an experiment where I had people listen to music while they played cards, and then I wanted to see if listening to music helped them memorize the cards. I mainly just did it for myself, not really for the grade or to submit for science fair, because I love music. I checked out a ton of music CDs from the library and just listened to each and every one. I loved hearing these artists. Even before I did the science fair, I was into listening to various albums by artists, and I loved listening to the entire CD from start to finish. Each has their own unique style, and each artist has their own influences for their music. One album I really love is Christina Aguilera’s Back to Basics. One summer before ninth grade, I watched a lot of MTV and knitted scarves, hats, and other things, and I remember watching Christina Aguilera’s music video for “Ain’t No Other Man”, which is a song from her Back to Basics album. It definitely had a different feel from her 2002 album, Stripped, because the songs on her album Stripped deal with a lot of topics like relationship abuse, sexuality, and trying to be yourself in a society that tells you that you need to fit in. It just felt very raw and personal, and a lot of the songs made me cry because there were definitely times when I felt like I wanted to fit in and felt bad for being different. Christina’s song “The Voice Within” always moves me to tears because it’s about trusting yourself even when society tells you that you are not enough. It is a very moving song. Honestly, I kind of wish I had listened to this album when I was in sixth and seventh grade because I really struggled to love myself and I had bad depression. When you are depressed, you feel worthless and like no one cares about you. I listened to the album in my 30s, though, and it still hit hard because even though I am an adult and no longer a teen, I still struggle with low self-esteem and insecurities.
There were a few songs from the Back to Basics album that were sad, like her song “Hurt.” The music video for that song is absolutely beautiful. I remember watching it for the first time that summer before ninth grade and it was a really touching music video. Christina Aguilera plays a young woman in the 1940s who is grieving the death of her father, and she is performing in a circus and sees the vision of her father as she takes autographs and does circus stunts, and wrestles with a lot of regrets about not being able to mend her relationship with her father while he was still alive. At first, I thought the song was about Christina Aguilera’s father, but I looked on Wikipedia and the song was actually inspired by the death of Linda Perry’s father (Linda Perry was one of the songwriters of “Hurt.”) The song kind of reminded me of this song I heard a lot on the radio growing up by Mike + the Mechanics called “In the Living Years,” which is about a son regretting not patching up his differences with his father while his dad was still alive, and dealing with the grief of losing his dad. As a five-year-old, I didn’t really understand much about grief because my parents were still alive and I hadn’t lost anyone close to me. I think I just loved the song because the singer’s voice was so incredible and it was a very beautiful song. As I got older and listened to the song more than once and looked up what the lyrics were about, it took on a much deeper meaning. Even though my parents are still alive, a lot of my friends have lost their parents, and I can’t really fathom what it is like to lose a parent. Going to my friends’ memorial services for their parents is a sad experience. It makes me reflect on my relationship with my own parents and how I can enjoy the time I have with them. It also makes me reflect on my own mortality. Even though I am in my 30s, I do not want to take that for granted anymore. In my 20s, I thought if I hated life, I would just kill myself and things would be easier. But getting older made me realize that all the stuff that I struggled with in my 20s was going to be different as I got older. I am really glad my parents have supported me because I struggled to fit in and wondered if I was doing something wrong by having different interests than my peers, but my parents have always encouraged me to follow my own path even with all the difficulties that come with forging your own sense of self and your own path in life. I really appreciate them for respecting my individuality even when I didn’t feel like I had anything unique to offer to society. Even when our relationship with our parents is complicated, they gave us life and there is still that deep inexplicable bond between parent and child. Of course, everyone experiences grief differently, and I am not going to know what grief of losing a parent is like until the time comes when my parents pass away. I really want to make the most of my time with my parents while I can.
I really love the other songs on the Back to Basics album. There is one song called “Here to Stay” that makes me think of this poster I saw for the movie Babylon, and it shows Margot Robbie crowd-surfing at a party in Hollywood in the 1920s. It is a glamorous-looking poster and Margot is drunk and high and enjoying the party. (I haven’t seen the movie, but I heard it is actually dark and depressing.) The theme of Back to Basics is very 1940s circus, and the music videos feature a lot of things from the 1930s and 1940s. “Candyman” is a really awesome fun song, and the music video shows Christina Aguilera dressed in these 1940s outfits as she sings about finding a young WWII soldier hot and how she is sexually interested in him. I love reading historical fiction and learning about history, so I really love the 1940s theme of Back to Basics. She has a great song on the album I still remember called “Understand” and I love it because it is in the key of G major and I love G major. During the chorus, she sings in the key of E minor, which is a sad key that I really love. For some reason I love listening to songs over and over again, and I listened to “Understand” and every time I thought of the song in my head, I would start crying. I think I would cry because Christina’s voice is so soulful and beautiful. There is an amazing performance of Christina Aguilera singing “At Last” by Etta James on her Stripped tour, and it is raw and beautiful. Etta James was a huge influence on Christina Aguilera’s music, and Christina even got to perform “At Last” at Etta James’s funeral. When she hits the end of the song, “for you are mine,” she just belts out the “mine” part and just holds that note for a good long minute or two before finishing with “at last.” Her performance of “At Last” reminded me of Joss Stone’s performance with Motown singer Gladys Knight. These two young women love soul music, and as a young person who loves old soul music, I would get goosebumps whenever I heard Christina and Joss singing these old Motown songs because they were so powerful and raw. I could really tell that these young ladies feel the music with their lives.
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