Sunday, March 4, 2012

This song exists - and I am not the only one who knows it.

A few years ago, some roommates and I were in a car and I started talking about the classic Blessid Union of Souls song, "I Believe." Neither of these girls had ever heard the song before. "What? How is that possible? It was a popular single. It was all over the radio in the mid 90's." They still had no idea what I was talking about. I busted out one of the verses,

"I've been seeing Lisa now for a little over a year
She said she's never been so happy but Lisa lives in fear
That one day daddy's gonna find out she's in love
With a brotha* from the streets
Oh how he would lose it then but she's still here with me
'Cause she believes that love will see it through, one day he'll understand
And he'll see me as a person not just a black man
'Cause I believe that love is the answer"

Yes. I sang the whole verse and started the chorus, and they still had no idea what this song was. 

Fast forward to yesterday, when I said "all we do is eliminate our future with the things we do today" and the person I was with looked like they sort of knew that I was quoting something, but didn't know what. (Kind of like the face I give people all the time.) I said, "I Believe." "Blessid Union of Souls." Nothing. I then sang the chorus. NOTHING. I repeated my claims that it was a very popular song in the mid 90s. Still nothing. We moved on.

But right now, to all of these friends, I would like to say, this is a real song. It reached #2 in the top 40 in 1995. I wasn't making any of that up.



Now, while this isn't a major favorite of mine, it is a major guilty pleasure and I know all of the lyrics.** My main point is that I was a very impressionable radio listener at 12, and I totes jammed out to it, because it totes exists.


*RADIO EDIT
**Even what Eliot Sloan*** whispers at 4:02. Which reminds me of the "Footloose" wailing which several of you don't believe me is there. It is. I'm not crazy.
***I did not know his name before finding the wiki page. I promise.

4 comments:

errin julkunen-pedersen said...

dear molly,

not only do i know this song exists, it was one of my nineties favorites.

sincerely,
miss errin

Britt said...

I also love, love, love this song! And used to just listen to the whole CD and cry my broken heart out ;)

Kamster said...

I LOVE this album, first of all, and while I may not know who The Who is still, even after attending their concert, I DO know this song and love it and sing it to my stuffed animals at night. Also I think you got the lyrics wrong. I actually listened to this song, I am not making this up, only 4 days ago on a road trip home from California. More than once. I put it on repeat.

Deanna said...

Ohmygoodness. I feel like this a lot when it comes to 90's things these days. What's wrong with people?