Monday, September 9, 2013

Women's voices: I know where I'm not going

When it comes to setting boundaries and standing up for yourself, I can’t think of anyone who can do it better than Bonnie Raitt and Mary Chapin Carpenter. That’s from listening to the songs they write and the way they sing them.

Look—there are thousands of songs about being subsumed by love, and standing by your man, recovering from pain and blah-blah-blah. But women are way more than that. And Carpenter and Raitt are 24-karat exemplars of those who, well, look life in the face, cut the cards and play from either side. They also don’t spend a lot of time whining about the hand they were dealt.

I can’t tell you how much I admire that.

Whenever I feel my inner whiner sniveling out to the surface (which is way too often), I slap a cut of Carpenter’s “I Take My Chances” into my earbuds and I recover my senses. I’ve come to learn that I, too, have a core belief that safety is overrated. But I think she does a better job of not clinging to remorse or regret than I do.  


(I can’t find my favorite version of this on the Web. DesolĂ©e.)

And now we’ll hear Bonnie Raitt sing “I Will Not Be Broken”. Just listen to the way she delivers it.


Any questions? Didn't think so.




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