Sacrifice- playlist

 Sacrifice

Harley Babin

Sacrifice Playlist

For reparations to exist, there is always a form of repayment for some damage done. In life, there are sacrifices that one must make to survive. A mother sacrifices her body for the child and most of the time her life and identity to protect and guide her children through life. In this playlist, I wanted to describe the moments or movements in life that come with sacrificing themselves. “Too Late for Lullabies” by James Morrison is the first song I found that basically ripped my guts out. The line, “For every time you raised up your hand, I’ll give you mine to show you I understand. You taught me to fly by learning to fall.” I feel perfectly shows the sacrifice that comes with reparations. In this line I can imagine a child singing to their mother or any parent acknowledging the difficulties that they had to deal with while raising their child. The next song is “Unaware” by Alien Stone. This song relates more to the topic of subprime. However, I feel when it comes to reparations and the discussion of monetary repayment, this song provides a good insight to the sacrifice that many Americans especially those in underfunded communities, make. I chose “My Soul I” by Anna Leone because of the line “And I will work out what it meant, and I will mend you in the end.” This line really reflects the emotions I feel come with sacrificing oneself for those they love most which is normally their family. In the discussion of reparations this would be more focused on those who have family that have passed on and had to give everything before ever receiving their repayment before death. “Black Leaves” by KIRBY reminds me of all that anyone in the Black communities of America has given just to live. The line “We’ve got sons and daughters, We’ve got grit and glory, We’ve got mama’s stories, We’ve got strength like towers, We’ve got hope and power” I feel embodies a lot of what became the will of the people to survive during their experienced hardships. This song I feel relates to Kindred more than any other piece we have read or watched because of the power it took for Dana to survive living in a time when she was out of her depth. She had to learn and adapt and figure out how to survive as a Black woman in a time where slavery was at its peak. This song also just reminds me of old hymns that my granny Birdie used to sing while cleaning her house on the weekend or while I would help her tend her garden. “Against The Wind” by Victory and “River Water” by The Spencer Lee Band are two songs I feel go together in talking about a journey one makes in triumph. The first talks about the future that one can hear calling out to them from a far-off place and the journey or fight to get there. The second I feel shows how the Black community has been shadowed repeatedly as they are basically told that their hardships were “not that bad”. I feel specifically in the case of those passed on this song resembles the goal that was never reached which the living must them give. “Have Mercy” by Eryn Allen Kane I feel resembles the feeling of not knowing, an emotion that many in the Black community have had in the past. It also could be interpreted as a plead for those who can enact change to just realize the injustices are still going on today and that it is time. “Spirit Road (Mahogany Sessions) by Josh Berry, Mahogany is another song that just reminds me of the old hymns. The line “Place me now on Your spirit way ‘Cause somehow, somehow, I’d gone astray. For the sake of my mind, I’ll take my time to breathe.” This relates to the story of Candyman in that it began as a history of their neighborhood and became a sort of evil that plagued everyone who lived there. Which lead into the song “Black Crow- Acoustic” by Louis Baker, which I feel is a good semblance to when Anthony becomes the new Candyman. In the moments before he is shot by the police it is easy to see how scared he is of what is ultimately going to be his doom. I included “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles because it signals a change. In the case of the playlist, it signals the end to so much sacrifice. The line “We never learn, we’ve been here before. Why are we always stuck and running from the bullets?” This line I feel explains current events right now. With the popularity of the BLM movement, it makes one think about the Civil Rights movement and every unjust thing before that in history when it comes to the treatment of the Black community. I feel part of reparations is acknowledging that America has a history, one that has been repeated time and time again. I feel this part of the song particularly points to change in life where one has either received their repayment in whatever form it comes in or in the case of the dead, the living has done their work. “Wash over Me” by TEEKS is a song I feel brings peace. It talks about cleansing oneself and becoming “Purer than I was before I came”. These last few songs became a sort of remixed church in that baptism is meant to cleanse one of their sins to aide in their departure from this life to the next and the journey to the promise land. This song brings thoughts of that to mind, but also the coming of a new person. Being cleansed of who one was before,” Take me back, take me home to when I was a child. Where my mother was the only world, I knew.” It also becomes a full circle moment looking through the lens of a child telling their mother a story about their life. The hardships and discovery that one goes through just living in the world we do today. I ended my playlist by adding a tape of river sounds which made me feel a sense of peace. It was like all my worries slowly washed away, which in the sense of spiritual reparations, which I feel my playlist focuses on more, there is a sort of peace that comes with knowing that those who have died have gotten what they deserved all along, acknowledgement. This is true in the case of Lovecraft Country when Lettie gives herself for the souls of the tortured in her home, and Tucker Caliban when he burned the land his family worked on enslaved for generations. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/565MQsHn16xvnwdPgEyM2r?si=d866b18f66204f3a