Thanks to Spotify, my husband and I were discussing our favorite songs from our high school days. I’m about to date myself (and hubby) but that’s ok. I’m turning 33 this Saturday and I’m totally cool with it. It was fun looking up songs from the 1980s and 1990s on Spotify.
Once song we mutually love is Blessid Union of Soul’s hit single “I Believe“ from their first album Home.
“I Believe” tells the story of lead singer Eliot Sloan’s former relationship with “Lisa.” Lisa’s father disapproved of their interracial relationship (Sloan is African-American) and eventually the two broke up. You can hear more of the story during the band’s interview segment from the Regis and Kathy Lee Live. (Be prepared from some 90s hair!)
My husband and I had not yet met when the song became popular. Both of us knew in high school that we were attracted to people of different races. That’s one of the reasons it appealed to me. I knew that if I ever fell in love with a black man, my family would disown me. I wasn’t being a dramatic teenager. I knew in my heart that even dating a black man would cause a rift in our family. In fact I didn’t even tell my parents I was dating a black man until I decided to marry him.
As a teenager, it’s impossible to believe that someone could understand the angst I was feeling, but Blessid Union of Souls had been there. Sloan had experienced something I knew would happen in my future-if I followed my heart and my loyalty to my family.
It’s a song about love. It’s also about strength and being forced to make a difficult choice. “Lisa” was forced by her father to choose between Sloan or her college tuition. (Read more background in this interview on Celebrity Cafe.) Obviously since they were no longer together when Sloan wrote the song, we know who/what she chose.
Not only was the song about having faith in love, but it was also about racism. The lyrics in “I Believe” called to me. For me, the most powerful lines are:
I’ve been seeing Lisa now, for a little over a year
She says she’s never been so happy, but Lisa lives in fear
That one day Daddy’s gonna find out that she’s in love
With a nigger from the streets
Oh how he would lose it then, but she’s still here with me
Cuz she believes that love will see it through
One day he’ll understand
He’ll see me as a person, not just a black man
I know that the word “nigger” is a loaded word for African-Americans. There’s even a book about it. I don’t purport to understand all the emotion and connotations associated with it, but I do understand how hurt I feel when I hear words like Jap, Chink, or gook directed at me.
That being said, when the song aired on the radio, the word “nigger” was replaced with “brother.” I hated that this change was made. The intensity of the racism felt diminished. I didn’t feel the hate and ignorance from Lisa’s father like I did with the original lyrics. The impact of Sloan’s situation seemed less, racist, for lack of better term. I guess “I Believe” would have not received as much air time and possibly not become a hit single if it hadn’t been censored.
So where do we draw the line between an artist’s creativity and freedom of speech and propriety?
Would the song have provoked more conversation about interracial dating if it had not been censored?
Hubby and I have created a. Check it out.
This post was inspired by Deborah Reed’s debut novel Carry Yourself Back to Me . The novel follows heartbroken singer-songwriter Annie Walsh as she digs into the past to exonerate her brother from murder. As a member of From Left to Write book club, I received a copy of this book for review. You can read other members posts inspired by Carry Yourself Back to Me on book club day, October 3 at From Left to Write. Author Deborah Reed shares a mentioned in her novel or those that share the vibe of the book. Affiliate links are included in this post.