‘IT IS A MAN’S WORLD BUT IT WOULDN’T MEAN NOTHING WITHOUT A WOMAN OR A GIRL’
When I was little my dad would take us on long car journeys when me and my brother would get too ‘hyper’ in the house and he needed to calm us down. I still question my dad’s parenting method but every time this happened he would play the same album, ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’. This album became an obsession in my dad’s life and was soon to become the only album that was ever played in our car. Every car journey we took, even if it was only ten minutes long, at least two songs from ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ would be played. My dad even told me that the only reason my godfather is my godfather is because he said it was one of the best albums he has ever heard and my dad then decided this was a good enough reason for this man to semi bring up my dad’s own child. Her songs soon became a theme tune to primary school life, I would sing her songs on the way to school and at breaktime I would get out my mp3 player and make up dance routines to ‘Doo-Wop That Thing’ and ‘Everything is Everything.’ I have to admit at this point I didn’t understand what she was singing about, now I cannot listen to ‘nothing even matters’ without nearly crying. But I think at the time I just loved her music because Miss Lauryn Hill was a girl, she was cool, independent and I could dance to her songs. Now her songs have taught me about the importance of independence, to follow my heart and to love who I am. Cliché, I know, but it is something that I think is incredibly important.
IIAMWBIWMN
WAWOAG