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Rating: Let's go back to the somewhat more recent past, precisely to 2004.
I want to introduce you to one of my contemporary female voices, an artist unknown to the masses: Amel Larrieux.
Born Amel Stowell, endowed with charm as well as talent, after debuting with the Groove Theory project in '95 and the commendable solo debut "Infinite Possibilities" (2000), in 2004 she released her second album "Bravebird". This work, compared to its predecessor, is more varied and at times winks at ethnic and folk.
This artist's vocal skill emerges in the atmospheric For Real and in the funk-r&b of Congo, both embellished with impeccable choruses and trills. Folk atmospheres in the disillusioned Sacred, where Amel expresses her discontent towards the ills of today's society, while All I Got amazes with its suggestive mood and optimistic lyrics. Unmissable are also the funk-jazz of Say You Want It All, with a lively brass section, and the soft-soul of We Can Be New.
"Bravebird" is an album that can enchant those who already appreciate artists like Erykah Badu, Meshell Ndegèocello, or Sade as well as fans of new sounds.
In an era like the 2000s, dominated by glossy productions and violent, misogynistic hip-hop, Amel Larrieux stands out for her class and her magical, velvety vocals reminiscent of great soul-singers of the past as well as for profound songs, intimate but never rhetorical or sentimental.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 For Real (03:46)
I can run, I can race for hours and hours and don't stop
I can float I can fly to the highest
mountain top I can breathe you, I can drink in your laugh
I can live on your smile I can trip and if I can fall into your arms I can
stay there my whole life
I can live
I can love
I can be better with you,
For real
I can hear
I can feel
I can see
I can tell,
you are for real
2x
I can stare, I can memorize your face, your hands, your hair
Every part of you I can cut off any loose ends and not even wanna keep a few
I can speak to you so honestly i can't even run any game
I can hear a million angels singing in my ears
When I say your name
I can live
I can love
I can be better with you,
For real
I can hear
I can feel
I can see
I can tell,
you are for real
2x
I can't smile, can't dream like a child
Can't feel safe in this wide world without you
I can't go can't disturb this flow
Can't begin to know what I would do
I can't see, can't find strength to be
rather not be me without you
I can't even deal, I can't even feel , without you I'm not real
I can live
I can love
I can be better with you,
For real
I can hear
I can feel
I can see
I can tell,
you are for real
2x
02 Bravebird (04:28)
In a land far away where the sun doesn't spare a soul
and a twisted tradition has a girl in a strangle hold
Lies a desert with the footprints
of little girls with a secret
of a pain
that you and I could never know
Little feet running fast as they can like the bird in flight
through days of sand with a fire in the sky
And through indigo nights
she runs away from a life spent
Being witness to other unwilling participants
of a pain
that you and I will never know
[Chorus]
Your'e a bravebird (bravebird)
of the rarest kind (kind)
You may be one of the walking wounded
but still you fly
You're a bravebird (bravebird)
you put yourself on the line
When you shared your secret with the world
You saved another mother's child
As she speaks, you can tell that the
words are not easy to say
They hold the power to transport her back to that impossible day
but she hasn't any regrets
cuz' she won't become a woman with a secret
of a pain
that you and I could never know
you and I could never know
you and I could never know
[Chorus]
09 Congo (04:40)
Now could we go to the square they call Congo
I need to go and lay my feet upon the stone
Where the first of us stood before, before, before
Where we came and played to revive our depleted souls
Where we went to forget our freedom was not our own
Where we went to hold onto the memory of way back home
Now could we
Now could we
Now could we go
Get to cong, get to cong congo
Get to cong, get to cong congo
Repeat
Now could we go to the square they call Congo
I need to go and lay my feet upon the stones
Where the first of us stood before, before, before
Where we made music in remembrance of human bodies sold
Where the sound of an old pain became a new music of hope
Where they paved me a road so I could get to congo
Now could we
Now could we
Now could we go
chorus
And I would not be here today if they had not been
so displaced so displaced
But still
But still they made time to sing and play a song
A song in congo
chorus
10 Sacred (03:44)
Is there nothing sacred anymore?
when celebrities are deified
and we're still calling some countries third world
and crimes against little ones
are punished with little laws
and girls are taught to hide their curves
as though they're flaws
and other girls are taught to expose them
but not own them
and boys are taught they can own it all
Is there nothing sacred anymore?
in the 21st century
and I still get followed 'round in stores
and governments are using our money for
reasons other than what they say they're using it for
and small countries fold as their
big debt keeps on growing and
silent pain is golden under the guise of religion
and boys are taught they can own it all
Is there nothing sacred anymore?
well maybe there never was, at all
11 Say You Want It All (04:02)
you say you want it all
to dip your fingers in the green
you say you want it all
the sun, the moon and what's in between
you say you want it all
you want the world to know your face
baby haven't you heard
every star can be replaced
ride the product line
hop in your box but don't protest
you just been signed
to the three ring bull*!? business
it's a players ball
and the pimps come in black and white
and that's about all as I turn in this song to
my pimp tonight
chorus
oh, you
ask me how
you can win
how many walls you gon' have to break down
to get in
oh, oh, oh
as you're steady pushin through
oh, oh, oh
don't let it be breakin' you
same who have it all
are one big shiny lie
they're selling us a story they know that
we're gonna buy
but don't you let them fool you baby
they can't sleep at night
their mirror shows a reflection of a person
that they don't like
ride the product line
hop in your box but don't protest
you just been signed
to the three ring bull!?#* business
check you're brain at the door
then hang it up with you're orginality
I can't say no more
'cause if I do then they won't let you hear from me
chorus
there ain't no real love up in here
there ain't no
there ain't no real love up in here
there ain't no
if you're lookin for real love up in here
if you're lookin for
gotta bring your own real love up in here
bring your own
chorus
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