Foreword:
I’m not sure why I’m even writing this. Perhaps it’s pure nostalgia and I’m being swept up in the wave of memorial status updates sweeping facebook today. Either way, some thoughts.
____________________________________________________________
I never bought a Whitney Houston album. Hell, I didn’t have to. She was everywhere, on every radio, every station, every boombox, every elevator and shopping mall, every bar and restaurant. To this day, I know her songs by heart and can sing them with the same emotional angst I had when I was 11 years old. My friends and I choreographed elaborate dances to “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”, “How Will I Know” and “So Emotional”. My first slow dances were to the sounds of “Didn’t We Almost Have it All” and “Saving All my Love For You”. When it was time to make the inevitable break-up mixed tape, the sweet and soulful sound of “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” usually found it’s place in there…and rightly so. Can they find their way home?
Then I grew up and went to college. That equaled more angst, existential crisis and lessons to be learned the hard way. In our dorms we danced to “I’m Every Woman”, feeling empowered and independent. The movie “Waiting to Exhale” came out around that time and it was a favorite of the girls in my dorm. And I admit, I didn’t hate the movie and didn’t grumble when the soundtrack was drifting through the hallways, sprinkled with the laughter erupting from animated games of Spades and girls doing each other’s hair. Romantic interludes were conducted to the sounds of “You Give Good Love” and another horrible relationship meant turning to Whitney again and looking to her comforting voice in the sounds of “Heartbreak Hotel”, “Why Does it Hurt So Bad” and “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)”. Whitney was right, there does come a point when we exhale.
As an adult I have watched my friends get married and dance to the sounds of the very tender “I Believe in You and Me”. At work, Whitney’s one-of-a-kind voice could be heard emanating from the Hair & Makeup rooms in the studio, getting the day off to an upbeat start. One of the most inspirational songs you will ever hear is “One Moment in Time”, a song attempted by many but never outdone by Ms. Houston herself. I won’t even comment on “I Will Always Love You” because she only passed yesterday and I’ve already tired of hearing it. I guess that’s my comment.
In the end, I can’t help but think that if she hadn’t met or fallen in love with Bobby Brown that her life would have taken a completely different trajectory. I know, I know, we all have to accept responsibility for our own actions. But toxic relationships can make us do toxic things to ourselves, and that is all I will say about that.
No, it’s not a shock that she has passed, it’s just really sad because she was truly an amazing talent and a pop culture icon that has been ever-present in the soundtrack to my 34 years on this earth thus far. There were great messages in all of Whitney’s music but I’m steering clear of the weepy, emotional ones and saving them for the the news clips and tributes that will be flooding the airwaves. Instead, I’d like to remember one of Whitney’s more upbeat and motivational songs,”Love Will Save the Day”, a message that hopefully those close to her can take solace in.
When you’re feeling down and out
And you’ve got troubles on you mind
Love will save the day
When you’re feeling full of doubt
And fear has got you in a bind
Love will save the day
When your worlds falling apart
All you have to do is say a prayer
And love will save the day
There’s an answer in your heart
So let your light shine on my dear
And love will save the day, love will save the day!
Nothing extremely poetic here, just something to leave your heart feeling a little better and maybe a little less emptier.
___________________________________________________________
Afterword:
Yes, it is shocking what love can do. You didn’t ALMOST have it all Whitney, you did have it all. Bobby Brown just fucked it all up for you.