Whatever happened to LOVE SONGS (Part II)

What EVER happened to Love Songs?! (Part II)

Originally posted on MYSPACE (March 16, 2008)

Hey Guys!

This installment features the fabulous L.T.D. (which stands for Love. Togetherness. Devotion)L.T.D. featured the Super-Awesome Jeffrey Osborne. He was the lead singer of L.T.D. before he went solo. My mom played the following song until the grooves of the record were GONE. In honor of my mom and her amazing taste in music, allow me to bless you with the lyrics to:

"Share My Love"

by L.T.D.

From the album: Devotion

Won’t you share my love?

Won’t you share my love?

I’m so tired of being lonely

I want to be loving you only

So many girls have crossed my path

But I could not last

I needed you

You pick me up when the world’s down on me

You ease my mind when I’m feeling shaky

I can do no wrong with you by my side

Welcome to my life

Come on and share my love

Be a part of my tomorrow

Put an end to all my sorrow and pain

Come on and share my love

Won’t you share my love?

Won’t you share my love?

And now you’ve given me new inspiration

Without you in my live I have no direction

Together we can build a world full of joy

I promise you we will if you just share my love

Till the stars fall from heaven

Oh, my darling, stay right here with me

So you can share my love

I don’t want to leave you ever

Let’s spend our lives together always

Stay and share my love

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Does it get better than that? I don’t think so!

As always, please chime in with your comments and favorite lyrics. Not just the song titles folks. Bless everybody with the actual lyrics, could ya?

Until then...

God Bless,

~yvette nicole :)

What EVER happened to Love Songs? (Part I)

Originally posted on MYSPACE (February 27, 2008)

Hey Everybody,

Okay, so I've been thinking about the sad state of music lately... primarily the demise of love songs.

Some of you youngin's might be thinking, "What are you talking about Miss Yvette? (don't you love how younger people put a Miss in front of a woman's name? tee hee... but I digress) There's lots of love songs!" And I would say, "No, young grasshopper, sadly, what you guys consider love songs are just lust songs or worse, sex songs."

FYI: Songs where the singer asks when he can "get it" or ones detailing what he'd like to do once he does have nothing to do with love. I hate to sound like I'm 500 years old, but this generation is missing it. You've totally missed out on what those of us who came of age in the 80's know... love songs are the bomb.

To school you, youngsters... and to remind you twenty and thirty-somethings who may have forgotten... I'm going to be digging up lyrics from some of the songs my mama used to play when I was a kid. This is the good stuff I grew up listening to. That's right, young whipper-snappers, I'm talking about REAL music!

This will be a multi-part series of blogs... so pace yourself. I present Part I of: What EVER happened to LOVE SONGS?!This installment features:

THE O'JAYS

(That's right, Gerald LeVert's daddy and 'em) and their CLASSIC... "Darlin', Darlin', Baby..."

You're my darlin', darlin' baby
You're my darlin', darlin' love
You're my darlin', darlin' baby
I said you're everything I ever hoped for in a woman
And as long as I may live

Ooh, you're my darlin', darlin' baby
You're my sweet and tender love
You're a very special lady
I said you're the one that I always dreamed of in a woman

I'll give all that I can give

I'll give you plenty love
Because you deserve the best
You should have everything a queen sittin' on a throne should have
You deserve to have it all
And I'm gonna do my best to give it to you, to give it to you, to give it to you

Ooh, you're my darlin', darlin' baby
You're my sweet and tender love
You're a very special lady
I said you're everything I ever hoped for in a woman
And as long as we may live

I'll give you plenty love
Because you deserve the best
'Cause you're better than the rest
You're my queen on a throne, the one that I want to own
And all the things that you desire
I'll do my best to give it to you, to give it to you, to give it to you

Ooh, you're my darlin', darlin' baby
You're my sweet and tender love
You're a very special lady

*****
Okay, so that, "one that I wanna own" part is a little outdated, but everything else is on point! And not because he's talking about all the things he wants to give her. This isn't about "Gold-digger" love.

The beauty of this song is that this man loves this woman SO much that he dreams of giving her everything she desires (it doesn't matter if he actually can or even if she's the kind of woman who'd want him to give her things... not all women are like that, by the way.) It's the thought that, "Ooh, if I could, I'd give you the world, baby! That's how much I love you!"

It's like in "It's A Wonderful Life" George Bailey tells Mary that if she wanted it, he'd lasso the moon for her. Mary didn't want the moon. Mary wanted George. But it had to be nice for her to know that George wanted to give her the moon. Ya gotta love that! That's love!

In the song, the point is that he loves her so much that he wants her to have the best. He says that,"she should have everything a queen sitting on a throne should have!"

Say what, now?

He's saying she's a Queen!

And again, I say, it's not about things. Who cares about things. It's not about treasure. It's about being treasured! He treasures HER! That's what I'm talking about. That's love!

Okay, that's it for part one. Chime in with your thoughts about it all, would ya? And share some "vintage" love songs that you love as well!

God Bless,

Yvette Nicole :)

A little Sunday Morning Encouragement...

Originally posted on MYSPACE (April 20, 2008)

Hey Everybody,

As you all know, I LOVE quotes.

Consider this blog the: "Why so glum, chum? You're fabulous!" edition of my favorite quotes. :) There's a great song by Fred Hammond featuring a singer named Pam Kenyon called, "I Anoint Myself" and it's all about telling yourself what God thinks about you. Reminding yourself that all will be well on those days, at those times, when you just don't feel it.

So my friends, on those days when you're feeling a little "less than" may these simple yet profound thoughts encourage you! Use them to "Remind" yourself! There's also some great inspirational quotes about following your dreams.

It's all good stuff, but this post is a little long, so pace yourself.

God Bless,
Yvette

***********

"There is more inside you than you dare to think" - David Brower

"You are an unrepeatable miracle" - Diane Roger

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be." - William Shakespeare

"Great hopes make great lives" - Dan Zadra

"Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you." -Marsha Norman

"Your heart often knows things before your mind does." -Polly Adler

"Make your own trail!" - Katharine Hepburn

"Life is too short and too wonderful to waste time doing things you really don't want to be doing." - Bruce Isaacs

"What do you pack to pursue a dream? And what do you leave behind?" -Sandra Sharpe

"When you were born, God said, 'Yes!' " - Unknown

"Nature never made a nobody..." - Melvin Chapman

"Everyone has a unique role to fill in the world. Everyone, including you and perhaps especially you, is indispensable." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

"There are many wonderful things that will never be done if you do not do them." - Charles D. Gill

"Talents, small or large, are God-given. They are a sacred trust." - Paul Robeson

"One of the marks of a gift is to have the courage to fulfill it." - Katherine Ann Porter

"What you do matters. All you need is to do it." - Judy Grahn

"What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?" - Dr. Robert H. Schuller

"A great goal in life is the only fortune worth finding." - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

"Let me listen to me and not to them." - Gertrude Stein

"They'll tell you, 'Quit now, you'll never make it.' If you disregard that advice, you'll be halfway there." - David Zucker

"As a dreamer, you will be laughed at... Thank them!" - Unknown

"What great achievement has been performed by the one who told you it couldn't be done?" - Melvin Chapman

"Most people see what is, and never see what can be." - Albert Einstein

"If people don't agree with you, so what? If people agree with you, so what?" - Dr. Robert Anthony

"Don't let other people tell you who you are." - Diane Sawyer

"There is only one you. God wanted you to be you. Don't you dare change just because you're outnumbered!" - Charles Swindoll

"Talk back to your internal critic." - Robert McKain

"The greatest gift you will ever receive is the gift of loving and believing in yourself. Guard this gift with your life. It is the only thing that will ever truly be yours." - Tiffany Loren Rowe

"Hell would be if God were to show me the things I could have accomplished if only I had believed in myself." - Unknown

"Think for yourself. No one else is qualified." - Frank Vizarre

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child, listen to the don'ts--listen to the shouldn'ts, impossibles,the won'ts--listen to the never haves, then listen close to me--anything can happen, child. ANYTHING can be." - Shel Silverstein

"You must take your chance." - William Shakespeare

"Ain't no chance if you don't take it." - Guy Clark

"Every day you sit back and wait for something to happen is another day lost." - Jennifer Flavin

"There is the risk you cannot afford to take, and there is the risk you cannot afford not to take." - Peter Drucker

"The real moment of success is not the moment apparent to the crowd." - George Bernard Shaw

"No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our lives are made." - Agnes De Mille

"Be assured that any worthwhile action will create change and attract support." - Philip Marvin

"What convinces is conviction." - Lyndon Baines Johnson

"Bad things don't happen because you care, they happen when you don't care." - Elizabeth Matthews

"We're not sent into this world to do anything into which we cannot put our hearts." - John Ruskin

"The five happiest people I have ever met had this strange little quirk of referring to their jobs as a 'calling.' " - Eric Sevareid

"If it doesn't absorb you, if you don't love it, don't do it." - D.H. Lawrence

"Do not fear mistakes. There are none." - Miles Davis

"I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot... and missed. I have failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"Never mistake a clear view for a short distance." - Mark Spain

"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." - Beverly Sills

"No calling on earth is insignificant if it is accomplished with pride and artistry." - Gil Atkinson

"We are not here merely to make a living. We are here to enrich the world with a finer spirit of hope and achievement--and we impoverish ourselves if we forget the errand." - Woodrow Wilson

"Believe that there's light at the end of the tunnel. Believe that you may be that light for someone else." - Kobi Yamada

"We relish the news of our heroes, forgetting that we are special to someone, too." - Marva Collins

"If you don't look out for others, who will look out for you?" - Whoopi Goldberg

"To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart, and to sing it to them when they have forgotten." - Thomas Chandler

"Treasure the one who is thinking of you when all others are thinking of themselves." - James Gunn

"We are the ones we've been waiting for." - June Gordon

"Everyone has an opportunity to be great because everyone has an opportunity to serve." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"We are here to add what we can to, not to get what we can, from life." - Sir William Osler

"Realize how good you really are." - Og Mandino

"Assume that people are good until you actually and specifically learn differently. And even then, know that they have potential for change and that you can help them out." - Leo Buscaglia

"We can't move ahead if we're trying to get even." - Frank Tyger

"The most powerful agent of change is a change of heart." - B.J. Marshal

"Let no one come to you without leaving better." - Mother Teresa

"The whole idea of living is to believe the best is yet to come." - Peter Ustinov

"If you're going through hell, keep going." - Rob Estes

"In the face of uncertainty, there is nothing wrong with hope." - Bernie Siegel

"In times of difficulty, you may feel that your problems will go on and on, but they won't. Every mountain has a top. Every problem has a life span. The question is, who is going to give in first, the frustration, or you?" - Dr. Robert H. Schuller

"Don't ever lose hope. It works." - Jewel

"You are never powerless." - Jane Seymour

"Most people don't know how brave they really are." - R.E. Chambers

"A bad attitude is the only true handicap." - Scott Hamilton

"There is no such thing as no chance." - Henry Ford

"The bible says, 'All things are possible.' I believe that." - Dolly Parton

"Never give up. This may be your moment of miracle." - Greg Anderson

"If you're going to doubt something, doubt your limits." - Don Ward

"It gets dark sometimes, but morning comes... keep hope alive." - Jesse Jackson

"Still I am learning." - Michelangelo

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are." - Mary Jean Irion

"By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before." - Edwin Elliot

"At the end of life, our questions are very simple. Did I live fully? Did I love well?" - Jack Kornfield

"Each day silently affirm that you are the type of person with whom you would want to spend the rest of your life." - Bob Moawad

Life is too short... yet it’s too long...

Originally posted on MYSPACE (July 18, 2008)

I get reflective whenever folks leave. I'm talking about leaving the world, not just my life... though I get reflective when folks leave my life too, but I digress... Death, and the finality of it, gets me to thinkin' about life. How short it is. And yet, how long it can feel. All that thinkin' led me to this insomnia fueled blog. (Durn, Insomnia!)

Sidebar: what's with all the "thinkin's" and "gets me to's". Am I a Southern Belle all of a sudden? Jeez! I blame the insomnia.

Allow me to present to you two simple top 10 lists about the "too shorts" and the "too longs" of it all...

Life is too short to:

1) prioritize those who don't prioritize you.

2) hold on to grudges.

3) hold back on saying "I love you" to those you do.

4) put up with bad treatment, even from "friends".

5) not follow every dream you have... as long as it's legal. ;)

6) not honor your "truth".

7) hold on to those who've let you go... literally and figuratively.

8) lie to yourself about what your heart is telling you... the good and the bad.

9) not count your blessings.

10) not know God for yourself.

Conversely...

Life is too long to:

1) not floss... I'm talking teeth. The other "flossing" you SHOULD let go of.

2) stay in a job that doesn't feed your spirit.

3) stay in a relationship that steals your joy.

4) not eat right and exercise.

5) not be safe... I mean this in EVERY way.

6) choose a mate solely based on looks, weight, age or one of the other "shallows".

7) walk away from someone you "click" with.

8) not fight for what you believe in.

9) cast a vote without being completely informed.

10) give up on love... and the possibility of it "finding" you.

Your thoughts? Your lists? Your remedies for insomnia? I'm open to whatever you got! Let's dialogue! :)

~yvette

Maybe...

Originally posted on MYSPACE (July 1, 2008)

Hey Everybody,

My friend Traci sent this to me. She doesn't know who wrote it, neither do I. But it was such a blessing to both of us that she emailed it to me and I'm posting it in this blog. May it be a blessing to you. And if anyone knows who originally wrote it... please let me know, I'd love to give credit to the person who deserves it!

Have a blessed day, you guys!
~yvette

PS... my favorite is: "Find the one who makes your heart smile"... isn't that just the BOMB?!

*************************************************

Maybe...

Maybe . . We were supposed to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that, when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

Maybe . . When the door of happiness closes, another opens; but, often times, we look so long at the closed door that we don't even see the new one which has been opened for us.

Maybe . . It is true that we don't know what we have until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it arrives.

Maybe . . The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Maybe . . the brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; after all, you can't go on successfully in life until you let go of your past mistakes, failures, and heartaches.

Maybe . . You should dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go, be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you dream of, and want to do.

Maybe . . There are moments in life when you miss someone -- a parent, a spouse, a friend, a child, your girlfriend/boyfriend -- so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real, so that once they are around again you appreciate them more.

Maybe . . The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

Maybe . . You should always try to put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that something could hurt you, it probably will hurt the other person, too.

Maybe . . You should do something nice for someone every single day, even if it is simply to leave them alone.

Maybe . . Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart; but if it doesn't, be content that it grew in yours.

Maybe . . Happiness waits for all those who cry, all those who hurt, all those who have searched, and all those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of all the people who have touched their lives.

Maybe . . You shouldn't go for looks; they can deceive; don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one who makes your heart smile.

Maybe . . You should hope for enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy.

Maybe . . You should try to live your life to the fullest because when you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling, but when you die, you can be the one who is smiling when everyone around you is crying.