A Place Where Love is by Andy Bey
To me this song
inspired a sense of community and love. Andy Bey, along with many other African
Americans, were fighting for their equal rights as citizens. A lyrical line
that stood out to me was “You live your life here. And it’s a sad, sad story; That
each one, of us, awaits a day of glory” I think Andy may have been referring to
his struggle in life as a young black man fighting to be seen as an equal. The
specific line ”Brothers and sisters, I wish they would be, A place where love
is” I feel is spot on to his wish that everyone could be considered brothers
and sisters and just love each other for who they were.
This song was released in 1974 on Andy Bey’s Album Experience and Judgement. It is a
considered of the genre Jazz but it is soulful music that has been loved by
many and inspired many other rhythm and blues artists in the industry. This is song
written from the soul. I think that many R&B artists may have been inspired
through his work. Not only this song but other from his album seemed to have
been written from his heart and through his experiences. A more recent artist in
the industry I feel may have been inspired by Andy Bey is Rahsaan Patterson.
His music holds a similar style to Beys and though it flows in a more
contemporary way his lyrics are about his own experiences. I have type the
lyrics as I listened through the song in case some of you would like to listen
as well, there was no lyrics for it online. I did miss a small part because I could
not understand exactly what was being said but for the most part I think it is
correct.
You live your life here
And it’s a sad, sad story
That each one, of us, awaits a day
Of glory
But why? but why
Do you think flowers die?
Why do you think babies cry?
For people like you and me
Brothers and sisters, I wish they would be
A place where love is
Each generation, believes it will have a new day
But it can only suffer what we had today
But somehow, since white dessert has sand
And a woman has never felt the warmth of a good man
But why, do you think flowers die?
Why do you think babies cry?
For people like you and me
Brothers and sisters, I wish they would be
All of us sharing, 100 years a day
And we can’t even get together to change the hand of fate
But why, why
This is why, and for some reason we each grow old
I thought this was a future
But its only history
Brothers and sisters, I wish they would be
A place where love is
A place where love is
I really like how you compared Andy Bey to the way Rahsaan Patterson sounds in his music. I think it is really amazing how music can transcend time and that artist today can be influenced by the sounds that were created 30-50 years ago. In addition, I would agree with your analysis that this song is talking about the unequal treatment of African-Americans. This song could have been used as a way to uplift people and make them recognize their past and move towards a better future.
ReplyDeleteThe lyrics to this song are really moving about the unequal treatment and it is interesting the way you compare the artist Andy Bey to Patterson. It's important to recognize the current day music and artists get inspiration and such from older artists.
ReplyDelete^ comment by Michelle Rim
DeleteI think the idea of community is universal and that it unites many cultures under a peaceful and love-filled place. It is important to keep that in mind and songs like this that are positive usually come from a darker place and lift others up which is a good thing to do.
ReplyDelete