Now we go to 1988. I never owned an album by Yazz but I loved some of her tracks, especially "Stand Up For Your Love Rights" and "The Only Way Is Up". Hearing this song after all these years/decades was fun! I still love the beats and the groove of this song. I also love the melody as well as the lyrical content.
The funny part of the story comes now... Everyone who was around in the 80s knows that torn clothing - especially jeans - were the "in" thing. I remember personally re-modelling my trousers and shirts one night. I could say I was being creative but maybe the right word would be I was being nuts! Hahaha! The design was far from brilliant! Anyways, this particular night took place during one Friday or Saturday - can't remember which - and my parents had gone away for the weekend so I was alone. I was watching some VHS-tape where I had taped my favorite music. Yup, I lived back when VHS was a big thing! I guess somewhere along the line I decided to do some amateur fixing in the name fashion. At the end of this creative outburst, I had (at least) a pair of ruined pants and two hideous t-shirts that I could never wear in public. Hahaha... Let's just say the makeover was not the least bit successful. But the whole thing worked as great entertainment even if the ending was disappointing. I even remember dancing around in those crazy pants, pretending to be a big big star! I wanted to be a singer at the time. Oh dear, I am making such a fool of myself, haha! Well... frankly I don't give a damn! One has to have a sense of humour when going through life. The capability to laugh at oneself is one of the most important things to overcome many things - including traumatic childhood memories, haha!
There's another personal connection to this song as well. In a way I can go as far as saying this song is a part of my sexual identity. It came out around the time I was beginning to discover being gay and since it was a declaration about standing up for ones love rights, it hold in the ideals I felt to be true at the time. It made me feel proud of loving, no matter if it was a different way of loving. I did not come out of the closet for a long time but this song (in part only of course) strengthen my self-esteem and helped me to accept my sexual identity. I never really fought against being gay. During the time when I was a bit confused and had not realized why I didn't feel attracted to girls, I tried to be a straight of course - but I never battled with my sexuality nor felt that I was somehow flawed because I was different. It was easy to accept myself in the end. I was me, the way I was meant to be, nothing more, end of story.
This song also expressed other thoughts I had about life - and even today I can still agree with the lyrics entirely. As I may have mentioned earlier, lyrics have always been important to me. I have to say they are getting more important the older I get. It's been more than intriguing for me to do this blog and look back at the songs of my life. More than anything, I've noticed how my personal philophies, ideas, beliefs, identity and my whole character keeps reflecting from the songs I've listened to, the songs that I've felt close to. They really do tell my story in many ways and it makes this journey even more interesting for me - hopefully also for you.
Here are the lyrics to "Stand Up For Your Love Rights":
The funny part of the story comes now... Everyone who was around in the 80s knows that torn clothing - especially jeans - were the "in" thing. I remember personally re-modelling my trousers and shirts one night. I could say I was being creative but maybe the right word would be I was being nuts! Hahaha! The design was far from brilliant! Anyways, this particular night took place during one Friday or Saturday - can't remember which - and my parents had gone away for the weekend so I was alone. I was watching some VHS-tape where I had taped my favorite music. Yup, I lived back when VHS was a big thing! I guess somewhere along the line I decided to do some amateur fixing in the name fashion. At the end of this creative outburst, I had (at least) a pair of ruined pants and two hideous t-shirts that I could never wear in public. Hahaha... Let's just say the makeover was not the least bit successful. But the whole thing worked as great entertainment even if the ending was disappointing. I even remember dancing around in those crazy pants, pretending to be a big big star! I wanted to be a singer at the time. Oh dear, I am making such a fool of myself, haha! Well... frankly I don't give a damn! One has to have a sense of humour when going through life. The capability to laugh at oneself is one of the most important things to overcome many things - including traumatic childhood memories, haha!
There's another personal connection to this song as well. In a way I can go as far as saying this song is a part of my sexual identity. It came out around the time I was beginning to discover being gay and since it was a declaration about standing up for ones love rights, it hold in the ideals I felt to be true at the time. It made me feel proud of loving, no matter if it was a different way of loving. I did not come out of the closet for a long time but this song (in part only of course) strengthen my self-esteem and helped me to accept my sexual identity. I never really fought against being gay. During the time when I was a bit confused and had not realized why I didn't feel attracted to girls, I tried to be a straight of course - but I never battled with my sexuality nor felt that I was somehow flawed because I was different. It was easy to accept myself in the end. I was me, the way I was meant to be, nothing more, end of story.
This song also expressed other thoughts I had about life - and even today I can still agree with the lyrics entirely. As I may have mentioned earlier, lyrics have always been important to me. I have to say they are getting more important the older I get. It's been more than intriguing for me to do this blog and look back at the songs of my life. More than anything, I've noticed how my personal philophies, ideas, beliefs, identity and my whole character keeps reflecting from the songs I've listened to, the songs that I've felt close to. They really do tell my story in many ways and it makes this journey even more interesting for me - hopefully also for you.
Here are the lyrics to "Stand Up For Your Love Rights":
Stand up for your love rights/ Stand up for your love rights
Do it, do it, do it, do it
Now don't be afraid/ Don't let things stand in your way
Now you've reached a time in your life/ When you just can't take no more
Are you ready to leave/ 'Cos you can no longer breathe
You can't hide or disguise/ What it is that you want to change
Don't hold back/ Make up your mind/ Don't hold back
Stand up for your love rights/ And don't you feel ashamed
Stand up for your love rights/ Do it, do it, do it, do it
Now don't take what you don't want/ Just take what you need
It's your right, don't be frightened to fight it/ Take your time to choose
Yeah, when you're ready to leave/ Make up your mind and believe
Don't you run from the truth/ It's no use, 'cos it's all you'll need
Don't hold back/ Make up your mind/ Don't hold back
Stand up for your love rights/ And don't you feel ashamed
Stand up for your love rights/ Do it, do it, do it, do it
Stand up for your love rights and enjoy it
Stand up for your love rights
No comments:
Post a Comment