lauryn hill - just like water

*since i found out more people read it than originally thought, i think i should update more often.

Today's featured artist is Lauryn Hill!

yesterday i took another random cd off the tower and it was lauryn hill's mtv unplugged session. it's one of those 2 cd sets, and i think she did this before she completely disappeared into a prolonged hiatus from the music biz.

anyway, my most favorite song on the 2 disc set is from disc 1, entitled "just like water". i think she does the entire unplugged session with just her guitar. lots of narrative and explanation inbetween songs, in which she's funny and sets the mood for the next song. well, if you really listen to her talk, she has a lot of references to God and how He's impacted her life... you'd think she was a Christian artist like Amy Grant or Rachael Lampa. well, she doesn't always outwardly show that in the lyrics of her songs... like this one.

this song sounds like she can be talking about the love of her life, but i interpret this as the "he" really being "He"... God. I just interpreted this from her personality and all her references.
either way, i love how she writes. like, verse 1 sounds a lot like how finding Him has put her into a state of peace and childlike trust and surrender. it's so image inducing, you can't help but try to put her words into action through mental images. loaded with symbols, it's actually kind of dense and heavy.

musically it's a lot easier to listen to the instrumentals. it's a simple sounding guitar picking pattern just moving up and down the neck of the guitar but it kind of gives it that "watery" kind of sound, rising and falling gently, not too abrupt. i think this is how simplicity is beautiful.

unplugged sessions like this always show how great an artist is. because the songs are stripped of its glitz and glam, leaving "raw" structure of music and you can't help but pay more attention to the words, instrumentals, and vocals. there aren't other parts out there to distract you from the essence of the song, which is why everyone should have an unplugged session. it would distinguish the true artists from those who are posers. haha well, at least i think. not to mention, you see them for who they are as a person in which more than just one side of them is shown to the audience. great stuff!

lol i also like how when the audience is going wild at the end of the song, she asks them if they're getting paid to clap like that. haha

"Just Like Water"

[Verse 1]
Moving down the streams of my lifetime
Pulls the fascination in my sleeve
Cooling off the fire of my longing
Boiling off my cold within his heat
Melting down the walls of inhibition
Evaporating all of my fears
Baptizing me into complete submission
Dissolving my condition with his tears

[Chorus]
He's just like the water
I ain't felt this way in years
He's just like the water
I ain't felt this way in years

[Verse 2]
Coursing through my senses, he's prevailing
Floating through the space of my design
Drowning me to find my inside sailing
Drinking in the mainstream of his mind
Filling up the cup of my emotions
Spilling over into all I do
If I only I could get lost in his ocean
Surviving on the thought of loving you

[Chorus]
He's just like the water
I ain't felt this way in years
He's just like the water, the water
I ain't felt this way in years

[Verse 3]
Bathing in the fountain of his essence
He causes my expression to remain
Humbled on a mountain by his presence
Washing my intentions with his name
Sealing off the floodgates of his passions
Saving all his liquid for his own
Moisturizing me to satisfaction
In my imagination? No no!
He's pouring out his soul to me for hours and hours
Drawing out my nature with his hands
Yearning I'm so thirsty for his power
Burning to be worthy of his land

[Chorus]
He's just like the water
I ain't felt this way in years
He's just like the water
I ain't felt this way in years

[Ad Libs Remainder]
Cleaning me
He's purging me
And moving me around
He's bathing me
And he's claiming me
And moving me around
Around and around and around
And around
Watching me, claiming me
Moving me around
He's purging me
He's been cleaning me
And moving me around
And around

link coming soon!