This morning while I was running, I heard Kanye West’s ‘Homecoming’ (featuring Chris Martin). My sister put it on a mix she made for us to drive around LA to. I like it fine, as I like all the stuff I’ve heard by Mr. West. (My Mom actually does a pretty great rendition of ‘Golddigger’) But, I’d kind of dismissed it as just another song about a hip-hop girlfriend. I usually think more about Chris Martin when I hear it. So handsome, sigh. Anyway, you see how I could have missed the song’s intended meaning.
Today, I was tuned in I guess, because when I heard Kanye say ‘my name is windy and I like to blow trees,’ it hit me. The song is about the windy city…..CHICAGO! His home town! Suddenly, I’d found someone who was lonely for home just like me! Oh, Kanye!
(Call me crazy, but in passing I’d always thought that the line about blowing trees was some sort of marijuana reference.)
I know this revelation is probably something of a ‘Duh’ to anyone else who’s ever heard the song. I mean, he starts out by saying ‘Chi-city’ like nine times. But I haven’t bought a cd since the days of the discman, and most days I listen to NPR or the country station.
I kept listening as I ran. He raps about Chicago like it's his childhood girlfriend. “I met this girl when I was three years old and what I loved most she had so much soul.” In spite of all his impulse control issues, I gotta give him credit. That's good stuff. I laughed, I got a little teary-eyed, and it kept me running. It takes a good song to accomplish all those things.
I know, I know, he’s no John Lennon. I’m aware that music today is in a sad state and it’s probably a stretch to find significant meaning in any of it. Maybe I’m just homesick and seeing everything through that filter. I have to say, though, there is nothing like a perfectly timed pop song to take what you're feeling and say it in stereo.
Next up: How Matchbox 20 saved my marriage
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