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Things I Imagined

the cooling waters of Solange's neo-soul

By Marquis D. GibsonPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Solange, Things I Imagined still from When I Get Home visual album, 2019

We all enjoy the moments when the world feels as though it’s pressing a weight on our chests right? The times when every voice in our head is loud and heavy or when the emotions whirlwind their way through our nervous system resulting in waves of anxiety, depression, shrinking or mania. Great, now that we have established how much of a nonsensical lie that all is, we can begin to explore the artistic avenues that steer us to peace, to a weightless free flow of thought and deed, to music that guides us to still waters. Look no further than the neo-soul, cancer zodiac river musical goddess that is Solange.

In her most recent offering in 2019, she gave us an auditory experience with an accompanying visual album that is water--When I Get Home. This album is a balm, it’s water rushing yet calm and steady. Let’s begin at the beginning--of the album which isn’t necessarily the beginning. Water doesn’t flow in the same way we do after all.

When I Get Home, Dreams visual

Things I Imagined

“I Saw Things I Imagined” is repeated almost the entire time and you never tire of it. It’s classic meditation, a repetition of a mantra. Audibly, we are introduced to a techo-inspired, dream sequence. What better method to intoxicate the listener and relax our listening muscles. Sounds that remind of us classic dreams in television and film and a refrain that is neither brash nor humble. Seeing things you imagine allows you to gently question the nature of reality in terms of what we perceive and what we are perceived as. The artist respectfully known as Solange is massaging the concept of mindedness. She continues.

S McGregor (interlude)

Oddly, this 15 second interlude is one of my favorite segments in the compilation. It features clips from a poetry reading by sisters and titan artists Phylicia Rashad and Debbie Allen. It’s taken from a poem written by the sisters’ mother Vivian Ayers. The poem is entitled “On Status” and the only thing you hear is “And Now My Heart Knows No Delight” and “I Boarded A Train, Kissed All Goodbye”. Might this favoritism be a manifestation of my infinity for all things from my Howard University predecessors Rashad and Allen? Yes.

Down With the Clique

Jazzy intro. Bleeding dream sound effects. A persistent cymbal. Solange’s melodic tones are so relaxed but never lazy. She employs repetition once again. For those who understand the dynamics and divinity of having a true clique of loved ones will appreciate this piece.

Way to the Show

All of the impressions of funkadelics without disrupting the flow of the storytelling. She’s talking to a lover, past or present. Also, yes the theme prevails: REPETITION. There is nothing more yogic and meditative than a repetitive practice especially when the practice is unforced and maintains the vibe. Even with eclectic sound effects germane to Solange’s style closing out the piece, it is a muscle-relaxing vibe.

Can I Hold the Mic (interlude)

It begins with a flashback of dialogue featuring herself and her sister. Oh right, her sister is Beyonce if you were unaware. You shouldn’t have been. Solange goes on to proclaim that she can’t be a singular expression as there are too many curves, too many manifestations, too many rivers, among others. I’ll stop repeating the refrain about repetition but it’s there and it is enchanting.

Way to the Show

Honestly, I could expound on the album song by song but what resonates most in the album for a Black queer man like myself is how much of a balm her lyrics are to me. They are an affirmation. While she is doing all the magical work of conjuring the parts of you that thinks too much or worries too much or controls too much, Solange has created a masterpiece that is healing on a molecular level. In terms of her imagery and her lyrics and her cadence, everything truly flows. There is no abruptness that startles you out of your relationship to the music, a relationship which I believe will caress the part of your neck that holds tension, a tension you can’t reach. I mention my Blackness and my queerness in relation to this album because some of her lyrics are strictly for people who look like me and have experienced what I’ve experienced. To speak plain and get it out of the way, yes, she says ‘nigga’ in the lyrics a couple times in all the ways that Black people use the word not to destroy but to simply speak our truths.

It’s critical to mention the specificity within the lyrics because Solange is an artist that makes music for her people and for everyone BECAUSE she makes music for her people. There is indeed universality within the specific. So what does that mean for the wayward listener wishing to connect on that same molecular level with her artistry? It means that you should still let the music and the repetition in EVERY song take you over. Let the melodies and the magic wash over you like cooling waters. Water feels different for every person, on every single body and music does the same. It will cleanse you differently than it will for me but believe me, it will still cleanse you. Appreciate her creativity, the funky, quirky soundscape. Celebrate her celebration of love, of Blackness, of sex, of sadness, of triumph, of the inescapable process of being a human being. I believe we can all connect on at least one of these tenets.

When I Get Home album cover

I lied. There is the last song that must be shared.

I’m A Witness

You can work through me

You can say what you need in my mind

I’ll be your vessel

I’ll do it every time

And I won’t stop ‘til I get it right

Good night

Takin’ on the, takin’ on the light

And of course she repeats the last two lines. And of course, you are sure this is the closest that she will achieve heaven on earth until her next album or maybe she already has and we’ll never know yet. And of course, the heavy bass in the background collides spectacularly with the sopranos. And of course, it’s alchemy and healing and cooling all at once. And of course, at least I hope, you will find yourself wading out of the waters of Solange’s well and just for a moment you will breathe in peace.

Indulge.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4WF4HvVT7VjGnVjxjoCR6w?si=-eiqZwtLTcCSAG8MyFIrVw

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About the Creator

Marquis D. Gibson

i am an artist.

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