My love affair with Sade began early in the 80s when I was a young mother with two young children. She was the music for making love in the beginning, but during those years she evolved into something much deeper - music for my soul. Read this old writing, circa 1986, when my daughter, now a mother herself, was a tiny, difficult baby and I was desperately trying to keep it together:
"She is crying constantly. Never napping. And it's been unbearably hot and humid. She is so tiny, so fierce. But we are finding a way to each other's hearts. I hope the worst is over. Last night was a turning point.
It was just me, my baby, the heat, the night, the whirl of the ceiling fan, her sobs. She wouldn't stop crying. I put on some music, Sade, to help me keep it together. It’s music that’s made for lovers, but last night it was music for a desperate mother and an inconsolable daughter.
I always hope that you remember / what we have is strong and tender / in the middle of the madness / hold on / it's about faith / it's about trust...
Barefoot on the wood floor, I held her close, my sticky skin pressed close to her little body. As the music swirled and the fan whirled through the night air, her cries slowly, surely subsided and even more slowly, she let herself fall into my skin, allowed her head to slide down on my shoulder, her damp curly hair to rest softly against my neck. I let the record play over and over and we rocked and turned and swayed and sighed and sweated and slowly, so slowly, deep into the night, my baby finally fell asleep."
Years later, when Lover's Rock was released, the magic of Sade saved me once again. I kept the CD in a little player on my night stand, and this time her music was for a broken heart - mine.
Every night I listened to the haunting and lovely music, the only thing that could soothe me to sleep.
The Dj's playing the same song/I have so much to do/I have to carry on/I wonder if this grief will ever be gone/will it ever let me go/I am the king of sorrow...
Now, a middle aged woman and grandma with more than half a century of living behind me, my love affair with Sade still burns brightly. I am counting the days until the release of Soldier of Love in early Feb. What will her music bring? Will it be the soundtrack for lovemaking deep into the night? What piece of my soul will it touch, healing the tender parts of me, once again? Listen to the title track:
Sade. Music for lovers. For mothers. For grandmothers. For a lifetime.
