08 Feb 18: Song of the Day

Song: State of Mind

Artist: Ady Suleiman

Album (year): This Is My EP (2015)

Notable Lyric: "I don't believe in God; I wished that I believed because I need some guidance, Lord "

Sticking to the trend of sharing music with a meaning, I'm a big supporter of songs that are written from a critical point of view. Lyrics that challenge ways of thinking, express concern and uncertainty, question the norm, expose systems, and simply create controversy. This is not for the sake of attempting to start any arguments but for the sake of trying to encourage people to approach certain topics from a different and more open point of view.

Lots of music is fuelled by political, religious, and social agendas which is always interesting to listen to. The songs are an artist's way of sending a message or sharing a point of view in a creative way that is much easier for people to digest. I think we should all appreciate the difficulty of getting a strong message across in a rhythmic and (mostly) rhyming format. Somewhat unsurprisingly these songs don't get much radio play for the sake of stations remaining impartial and not promoting an agenda. Other than "Same Love" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis there aren't many agenda-heavy songs that I can think of that made it onto the mainstream..

Throughout the verses Ady covers topics such as religion and politics and questions why people continue to willingly believe what they're told. Conversations on politics and religion are so complex that a single song will not be able to settle the century-old disputes.

However, what it does do is create an opportunity to open dialogue and have a discussion about these topics. I spend a concerning amount of time reading arguments in the unfiltered comment sections of Facebook and YouTube posts as well as Twitter threads (where grammar goes to die). What you quickly pick up is in that war-zone you are either one or the other when in a vast majority of the cases people fall into middle or just shy of the extremes. This is where the notable lyric of Ady not believing in God by wishing he did comes to life.

But the take-home message is question everything. On some of my social media platforms I have the quote "Don't call it a Rose just because it is Red". Don't jump to positive or negative conclusions based on the limited or selected information you've been shown.

Anyway, as I'm getting into the habit of writing these posts I need to learn how to filter my thoughts and ideas to the correct sections. Ady Suleiman will soon feature in my Artist of the Week as everyone falls in love with slightly rough voice and his soothing melodies.

"Welcome to a state of mind where reality ain't so nice"