The 2023 A-to-Z blogging challenge theme is resilience. Resilience is the ability to get back on our feet and keep going after life knocks us down and kicks sand in our faces. Resilience is how the psyche survives and copes, but resilience doesn’t necessarily wear a cape of positivity.
The 26 songs I’ve chosen show us, musically, what resilience looks (sounds?) like. I’ll offer a reflection of the resilience in each song. The songs are alphabetical by the artist’s first name or the group’s name, except for M, O, U, and X.
D is for Diana Ross and You Can’t Hurry Love.
You Can’t Hurry Love was released by the Supremes, with Diana Ross providing lead vocals, as a single on the Motown label on July 25,1966. It was in 1967 that the Supremes were renamed ‘Diana Ross and the Supremes’.
Here we have the narrator (daughter) lamenting the lack of love in her life I need love, love to ease my mind. Can you picture her mother shaking her head and telling her daughter that she can’t hurry love and that she has to wait and trust that love will show up at the right time no matter how long it takes?
But then, the daughter lets us know she’s apparently had her heart broken several times to the point that she fears she’ll never find another person who loves her and makes her feel alive again. Again being the important word.
The daughter is so despondent, in fact, she says the only thing that keeps her going when she gets really down is her thread of hope that true love will eventually come her way. But darn it, how long is this going to take? Both patience and hope are running on empty.
The crux of this song is here:
She says her heart will break from sheer loneliness. She desperately doesn’t want to live her life alone. She yearns for a soft voice to talk to her at night and tender arms to hold her tight.
She’s clutching hope with both hands that she’ll find true love before she weakens and ‘settles’ for someone just to keep from living out the rest of her life alone.
An aspect of resilience is resisting the urge to succumb to something that isn’t good for us or is unworthy of us. Mama is the daughter’s resilience cheerleader who encourages her to be patient and trust that things work out the way they’re supposed to.
Mama’s advice, You can’t hurry love, is the daughter’s resilience mantra, when she wants the instant gratification of a love that won’t be gratifiing, or satisfying, in the long run.
*Heart and Arrow by meneya
Until next time,
Kaye Spencer
writing through history one romance upon a time
I first encountert that song in Phil Collin’s version and always loved it 🥰
Phil Collins’ version is really good, too. I like just about anything he sings.;-)
Me too, even though I don’t know much about his later work 😊
Great song.
Ronel visiting for D:
My Languishing TBR: D
Dichotomy of the Sasabonsam
I will now listen to this song in a different way from now on! Zulu Delta
Great perspective and song choice. You’ve definitely expanded my idea of resilience with this one.
Thanks Deborah! It’s always fun to try something a little different! Zulu
I love this song and I really enjoyed reading your take on it. Good luck with the rest of the challenge!
My D post
You’re spot on with that assessment. The lyrics really are emphasising the importance of waiting. Settling will result in no one being happy