Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Song Analysis: Express Yourself

Charles Wright was a singer/multi-instrumentalist/producer and Mississippi native who led the Los Angeles-based R&B group The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.

Their 1970 hit, EXPRESS YOURSELF, yields some interesting lyrics on its two middle-eight verses:


                    It's not what you're doing when you do what you're doing
                It's, when you're doing what you're doing, what you look like you're doing

                                                          and

                    Some people have everything and other people don't
                But "everything" don't mean a thing if it ain't the thing you want


                             Interpreting from street lingo to a more literate form:

How one's actions are perceived by others is not always going to correlate with whatever one's true intentions are when committing said acts.
One's always at the mercy of any preconceived notions or prejudices the other person or persons may have when in their presence, which could lead to misunderstandings or assumptions on their part.

And wealth and material possessions are purely subjective like much of anything else.
There's always "something special" one wants or craves over everything else.  If one has any of those "special" items it pretty much won't matter anymore what else one may or may not have.
You could have all kinds of money and nice things, but if you still don't have that "special" item you crave above all else you'll still be lacking and "wanting more".

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