love journey vybz lyrics

"Love Journey" lyrics

• Vybz Kartel Lyrics

Vybz Kartel

Vybz kartel - love journey, song description:, soundcloud:, more vybz kartel lyrics.

Vybz Kartel - Alien In and out the universe 4th dimensional method that 4 dimension, tesseract Metamorphic, meta-force Kartel a force Membrane, maintain the dopamine The serotonin

Vybz Kartel - Go Go Dancing {Intro} True story (Orhh) Question har and ask har why she dweet She seh Adidja that's my prerogative She never been rejected, neglected, ill-treated, misleaded

Vybz Kartel - Me Love You Bad My girl from di first day mi see yuh Mi a tell yuh seh mi owe yuh Mi have something fi yuh Mek mi bring yuh pon di Gaza Mi wah gi yuh Blackberry, Palm trio Similar to

Vybz Kartel - Money Pon Mi Brain {Verse 1} In a the street man hustle everyday Mi have a burner, mi have a prepaid Do the maths, Asian brain Likkle later, bare champagne Tida, Finch and Jane A

Vybz Kartel - Sometimes Love Dies {Intro: Renee 6:30} Why do I feel so scared to move on? Even though I know love is gone Why do I feel so scared to move on? Even though I know love is gone

Vybz Kartel - Real Love {Intro: Vybz Kartel & Lisa Mercedez} Lisa Yea baby? You ready fi forever? Let's do it! Alright {Verse 1: Lisa Mercedez & Vybz

Vybz Kartel - Sociopath {Intro} Yeah yuh know {?} Purple Haze ah blaze Dung a Hayes A smoke fi days Yo Deva Tell Newtown fi lif' up everything Yo Psycho Yo

Vybz Kartel - Pretty Little House {Intro} Everybody need somebody Everyone want someone to love Everyone wah someone How people want someone Dem wah mi fi leff you But from you a my girl

Vybz Kartel - Tun Back Way {Intro} Yo Yo {Chorus} Your body a the hypest Your body a the gold Girl mi wi move mountains Just to see you wine for me I love it when

Vybz Kartel - About Us {Verse 1} Fresh from Kingston, Kingston Giving you the wisdom, wisdom Weed and Rizla, Rizla Smoking the loud until mi heart stop Every ghetto youth affi mek it to

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• vybz kartel - love journey lyrics

vybz kartel – love journey lyrics

[intro: vybz kartel, vanessa bling, both] yo, mi nuh response weh people waan seh, enuh mi nuh respond to dem either oh ooh, ooh, ooh ooh, oooh ooh, oooh vanessa bling dem nuh waan see we holding on but we nah let go

[verse 1: vybz kartel, vanessa bling] mi tell yuh bout badmind people dem cyaa stop we tho, cah we in love mi nuh know why dem nuh leave us, yeah neva see a man weh me need so everyday, a you mi think of dying fi come home fi we link up siddung a mi yard and mi dying fi yuh reach baby yuh done know

[pre+chorus: vybz kartel, vanessa bling] nuh matter weh people say none a dem nuh know mi need you, yuh need me no matter wah comes my way when you wrap you arms around me yuh shield me from the rain the love you give to me nuh ordinary anything weh yuh need, mi waan fi be the man fi yuh get it [chorus: both] if this is love journey, mi love you all the way really and truly, mi love is here to stay till my life is over, mi with you all the way believe me, mi nah leff believe me, mi nah leff oh, oh, oh baby yuh know seh mi love you so mmm, oh, oh, oh baby yuh know seh mi love you so

[verse 2: vybz kartel, vanessa bling] all of my love is for you i’ll never leave you alone n0body cyaa change my mind from loving you you a my baby

[pre+chorus: vybz kartel, vanessa bling] nuh matter weh people say none a dem nuh know mi need you, yuh need me no matter wah comes my way when you wrap you arms around me yuh shield me from the rain the love you give to me nuh ordinary anything weh yuh need, mi waan fi be the man fi yuh get it [chorus: both] if this is love journey, mi love you all the way really and truly, mi love is here to stay till my life is over, mi with you all the way believe me, mi nah leff believe me, mi nah leff

- vybz kartel lyrics

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Vybz Kartel

Vybz kartel - love journey lyrics.

Yo mi nuh response weh ppl wah seh enuh

Vanessa Bling:

Mi nuh response fi dem eda

oo oo-oo-oo-oo oo-oo-oo-ooo oo-oo-oo-ooo

Vanessa Bling

Dem nuh wah see we holding on

but we nah let go..

Kartel(Vanessa Bling):

Mi tell yuh bout bad mind people

(Dem cya stop wi tho cah we in love)

Mi nuh know why dem nuh leave us yeh

(Neva see a man weh mi need so)

Every day a you mi think of

Time fi come home, fi we link up

(Sidung a mi yaad n mi dying fi u reach baby)

Yuh dun kno

(No matter what people say

None a dem nuh kno mi need yuh, yuh need mi)

No matter what comes my way

When you wrap your arms around mi

(You shield me from the rain,

The love you give to mi nuh ordinary)

Anyting weh yuh need mi wah fi be di man fi yuh get it

If this is love journey

Mi love you all da way

Really and truly

Mi love is here to stay

Till my life is over

Mi wit you all the way

Believe me, mi nah lef

Baby yuh kno seh mi love you so

Mm-mmmm oh oh oh

Vanessa Bling (Kartel):

All a mi love is for you

(I'll never leave you alone)

Nobody cyah change my mind from lovin you

(You a my baby)

No matter what people say

None a dem nuh kno mi need yuh, yuh need mi

(No matter what comes my way

When you wrap your arms around mi)

You shield me from the rain,

The love you give to mi nuh ordinary

(Anyting weh yuh need mi wah fi be di man fi yuh get it)

Translated Version Below:

We are telling all people

Can’t stop we are in love

Ain’t nobody gonna leave us

Never seen a man woman needs

Every day we think of ..

Time for your reach baby

You don’t know

No matter what people say.. need me

No matter what come my way

When you wrap your arms around me

.. the love you give to me no ordinary

Anything you need .. if this is love journey

Me loves you all the way

Really and truly my love is here to stay

When my love is over me met you all the way

Believe me .. believe me ..

.. love you so me and .. love you so

All of my love is for you

I will never leave you alone

Nobody can’t change my mind of loving you

You are my baby

Thanks to Samantha Gaza for correcting these lyrics

Thanks to x-cure for correcting these lyrics

Thanks to reagan adi teacher for correcting these lyrics

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Vybz Kartel - Love Journey

Release date: june 28, 2011, soundcloud:, comments: 0, enter your name (nickname), more vybz kartel lyrics.

Vybz Kartel - When Mi A War {Intro} Wah do dem Lenny Hype? Dem a come wid one bagga tough chat See button deh, come touch dat CB, rise di clutch back weh blacker than

Vybz Kartel - Bike Back {Intro} Vroom Vroom MOBAY gal Cock up, cock up Yuh bumpa big, yuh got di body gal See di bike ya, cock up yuh batty gal

Vybz Kartel - Nah Lef You {intro: vybz kartel, vanessa bling} Mi nuh know a wapm' to dem, enuh Dem cyaa tell me who fi talk to Mi know dat But a you mi love

Vybz Kartel - War Nah Talk Over ≡Intro≡ Pussyhole, you nuh know weh yuh start Diss Daseca, yuh get a shot inna yuh heart Mac 11 spark, gun club and car park When di

Vybz Kartel - War You Want ≡Intro≡ (Lelelelelelele) Crimely (crime minister) So mi a seh (weh yah seh) Up to di time enuh (dem know) Hear mi a seh, dem know a

Vybz Kartel - Naah Shot A Soul ≡Intro≡ Yo, crimely (eeh) So me a seh Daseca (weh yah seh) Call di rassclaat undertaker Cah dem mess wid di baddest man inna di whole

Vybz Kartel - Gun Inna Hand ≡Intro≡ Hey milla 9 Tell me a who dem a ramp wid Style him, kuff him and kweff him Inna broad daylight me a walk wid Gun inna, gun

Vybz Kartel - Pop Out My Gun ≡Intro≡ No chat! Copper mek yuh bone collapse Beretta full him a copper coin more than a poker box weh ova max When di hallow tips weh

Vybz Kartel - Wine Pon Di John ≡Intro≡ Hey baby You vagina nah leak like ice truck A yuh foot yuh fi hoist up Bend ova fi di price fuck (a di teacha) Cock up a

Vybz Kartel - Hair Style ≡Intro≡ Whether goodaz or bitchy, hot gyal hair fi look good, doh Richie Hey! Hot gyal walk out and show yuh hairstyle Yuh know hair

ASA - Mouganbaranaide もう頑張らないで Take it easy Kimi wa ganbatteru yo Dare ga nanto iou to Nai chau yoru moatte īkara Mō sukoshi

Oolong - Not The Worst Part And it's not the worst part I just need to be Say that all the words gone So you

Yo Randy - Already did Wooha Yeah, wow, yah Yah, yeah, yeah Talking to god man i already did (yeah,

The The - Spaceship In My Barn Caught in a dreamlike substance of my choice Open is my head and receptive to every voice

Yo Randy - On the go Time isn't running out I'm using the force I'm not a the sith Look at my

The bubonic plague - The Sleep Room {Verse 1} Walls are breathing, wall are breathing Torches singing draining

Oolong - Mouthoff I gotta stop talking Maybe I'll listen Maybe I'll listen I gotta stop

Fried By Fluoride - Would u burn with me I know I'm going down the drain Never had a single good day Every day feel like shit

Vybz Kartel

Vybz kartel - love journey.

Release Date: June 28, 2011

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More Vybz Kartel lyrics

Vybz Kartel - When Mi A War {Intro} Wah do dem Lenny Hype? Dem a come wid one bagga tough chat See button deh, come touch dat CB, rise di clutch back weh blacker than a dutch pot Hammer clap

Vybz Kartel - You Me Say {Intro} A you mi seh, gyal a me yuh seh A you mi seh, so mi need yuh today A you mi seh, gyal a you mi seh {Pre-Chorus} Gyal tek off pon a big jumbo

Vybz Kartel - Nah Lef You {intro: vybz kartel, vanessa bling} Mi nuh know a wapm' to dem, enuh Dem cyaa tell me who fi talk to Mi know dat But a you mi love And i love you Mi nuh

Vybz Kartel - So Me a Say Most girls love me so Dem kiss, dem hug me so Some say how u ugly so? But a nuh nutten if some say so Cause dem still wah sen on pu**y All di dumb say so True mi

Vybz Kartel - Summer Time, Pt. 2 {Intro} TJ, DJ Wayne ago love this, enuh {Hook} Bikini girls Pool and sun and sand That means say a Summer time You know say a Summer time

Vybz Kartel - Know Bout Me {Intro} Gaza girls Haha Hah hah hah Me love the gyal dem yuh fuck (Dem love fuck you) Wha' you a say now? Hey! {Chorus: Vybz Kartel

Vybz Kartel - Hold Me {Chorus} Gyal yo pum, pum, hold mi so Control mi so Yea the condom tear hi no That mean the pum, pum, tight hi no Can you turn around like a terminus Meck mi

Vybz Kartel - Money tree {Intro} Yo Weh mi granny tell me Money cya buy love Money, money, money, money cya buy love Money, money, money, money cya buy love But me nuh care caz a money

Vybz Kartel - Duh Weh Yuh Wa Fi Do {Intro} Yo yo (yo yo) Anju Blaxx (Eeeh) Bwoy dem fi know seh mi ready as well enu (*hisses teeth*) Chattings nuh go nuh weh (Yuh Kno) Awhoee Mi nuh inna

Vybz Kartel - Look Pon We {Intro: Vybz Kartel & Rvssian} (Aha ha) Tell dem doh thief dah laugh deh Russian we nuh love man Uptown say if a nuh Eve and Adam, we doh give a damn

Vybz Kartel - Love Journey

Comments: 0, enter your name (nickname), more vybz kartel.

Vybz Kartel - Nah Lef You | Lyrics {intro: vybz kartel, vanessa bling} Mi nuh know a wapm' to dem, enuh Dem cyaa tell me who fi talk to Mi know dat But a you mi love And i love you Mi nuh

Vybz Kartel - You Me Say | Lyrics {Intro} A you mi seh, gyal a me yuh seh A you mi seh, so mi need yuh today A you mi seh, gyal a you mi seh {Pre-Chorus} Gyal tek off pon a big jumbo

Vybz Kartel - Bike Back | Lyrics {Intro} Vroom Vroom MOBAY gal Cock up, cock up Yuh bumpa big, yuh got di body gal See di bike ya, cock up yuh batty gal Benz punanny mi know seh you got

Vybz Kartel - Get Wild | Lyrics {Intro} Hey Notnice a who she? Hey gyal! Yuh mek mi cocky get tiff like a rock Gyal whine like seh u wah breed fi me Jesus Christ what a pussy tight Tun

Vybz Kartel - When Mi A War | Lyrics {Intro} Wah do dem Lenny Hype? Dem a come wid one bagga tough chat See button deh, come touch dat CB, rise di clutch back weh blacker than a dutch pot Hammer clap

Vybz Kartel - Love Journey | Lyrics {Intro: Vybz Kartel, Vanessa Bling, Both} Yo, mi nuh response weh people waan seh, enuh Mi nuh respond to dem either Oh Ooh, ooh, ooh Ooh, oooh Ooh, oooh

Vybz Kartel - Gimme Your WhatsApp | Lyrics {Verse 1} Gimme yuh WhatsApp, mek mi get yuh number Fi kill yuh wid lyrics, mi a tell yuh pussy come yah If yuh too shy, send a pussy picture first Mek mi compliment yuh

Vybz Kartel - Drag Dem Bat | Lyrics {Intro} 'Memba a Gaza, enuh Wickeder Yo dawg, mek me deal wid yuh like di cricketer Waterhouse {Hook} Drag dem bat like Marlon Inna

Vybz Kartel - Ghetto Youth | Lyrics {Intro} Da one yah dedicated to all a who seh Mi nah come out to nutn' Fi all a who Weh nuh want ghetto youth fi have nutn' Ooooh (dem nuh wah we mek it

Vybz Kartel - War Organizer | Lyrics {Intro} Kill him Start di killing I'm willing (hah) Up to di crime, then Cellblock (eeh) After mi tell dem seh headlock (yeah) And we seh big mac .90 rifle

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Love journey gaza slim lyrics.

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What to know about Taylor Swift’s surprise double album drop overnight

Swift dropped ‘the tortured poets department’ at midnight late thursday. she had something else in store a couple of hours later..

As Taylor Swift accepted the Grammy Award in February for best pop vocal album for “Midnights,” she informed the audience that she had been keeping a secret for two years: She had recorded a new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” and it would be released on April 19.

When Swift said “two years,” she held up two fingers, which under normal circumstances is a regular human hand signal. However, Swift’s die-hard fans know her all too well … and when the lead-up to the record included more references to the number two, they suspected something was up.

There’s a peace sign… ✌️👀 pic.twitter.com/MtvbuyUgwt — Taylor Swift News 🤍 (@TSwiftNZ) April 16, 2024

And they were correct — Swift dropped the 16-song record on midnight Eastern time late Thursday, and then two hours later at 2 a.m., announced a surprise: It was actually a double album titled “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology,” with 15 additional songs. (We can only imagine how much Swift was laughing at the people who thought they got the best of her when the first half leaked on Thursday.)

It was a fitting addition for a project that repeatedly reminds listeners that they don’t really know the pop megastar at all behind the scenes — and she has gone through quite a journey dealing with the complexities of fame. Here are the main things to know about the album.

Yes, a major theme is heartbreak

Based on the title, you could guess there would be lots of angst on the record, in addition to some of the track listings alone: “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” as well as “So Long, London” — the latter of which is the fifth track, which all Swifties know is a spot that she saves for her most personal songs. Before the release, Swift created a series of playlists for Apple Music that categorized songs from her discography by the five stages of grief.

Swift does deliver lyric after lyric about devastating heartbreak: “You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues?/ I died on the altar waiting for the proof,” she sings on “So Long, London.” And on “LOML,” usually internet-speak for “love of my life,” she changes the words to “loss of my life.”

She drops (a few) hints about the subjects of her songs

Swift rocketed to stardom as a teen country singer when she hid clues in the liner notes about the real-life boyfriends and crushes in her lyrics. That practice stopped when she became a global superstar — but as usual, fans are already hard at work dissecting who, exactly, Swift is singing about on these tracks. (“I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you,” Swift posted Friday on social media.)

The obvious assumption before the album’s release was that many songs would be about British actor Joe Alwyn, whom Swift dated for six years before they announced their breakup in April 2023. But upon hearing the lyrics, fans instead caught more apparent references to Matty Healy, lead singer of British band the 1975, to whom Swift was romantically linked for a couple of months last year. (People magazine, for example, noted that on “Guilty as Sin?” she name-drops the Blue Nile, Healy’s favorite band.)

Swift, who has given very few details about the timeline of “Tortured Poets,” said that she started recording it after she finished “Midnights” (presumably in late 2021 or early 2022) and continued through the Eras Tour that launched last spring. So it’s unclear whether the timing would have worked for her to include her relationship with Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce — but there are some sports-themed lines in “The Alchemy.”

The Style section

Swift is not thrilled about the opinions on her relationships.

While Swift and Healy were spotted together multiple times, and he showed up at a few of her concerts, they never confirmed they were an item. Still, many people were upset that Swift was associated with the controversial singer, given that he has been criticized for offensive comments over the years, such as laughing and agreeing on a podcast when a host made racist comments about the rapper Ice Spice. Some fans launched a campaign called #SpeakUpNow that asked Swift to address and condemn his behavior.

Swift has not talked about Healy publicly, but on Friday morning, listeners were already drawing the line between the public outcry and her lyrics on “But Daddy I Love Him.” Swift had some harsh words for strangers who judge her: “God save the most judgmental creeps who say they want what’s best for me/ Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see, thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me.”

“I’ll tell you something about my good name,” she sings, “It’s mine alone to disgrace.”

She buries hatchets but keeps maps of where she puts them

That’s Swift’s way (on 2017 song “End Game”) of saying she holds grudges — something that still holds true today. She absolutely skewers an unnamed ex on “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” (“I would have died for your sins, instead I just died inside/ And you deserve prison, but you won’t get time”).

The second half of the album is filled with songs titled with proper names: “Cassandra,” “Robin,” “Peter,” “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus.” But one is called “Thank You Aimee,” stylized as “thanK you aIMee” … which fans immediately recognized spells out “Kim,” also known as a longtime Swift nemesis known as Kim Kardashian . The song is peppered with expletives directed at Aimee, leaving no confusion about how she feels about a certain someone.

However, in a brief statement on Instagram, Swift wanted to let listeners know that she doesn’t plan on looking backward for much longer, describing “Tortured Poets” as “an anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time — one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure.”

“This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed,” Swift continued. “And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

An earlier version of this article misquoted a lyric in "But Daddy I Love Him." The line is "It's mine alone to disgrace," not "It’s mine along with all the disgrace."

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ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

What Is Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ About? Inside the Lyrics and Song Meanings

Taylor Swift dropped many bombshells about her love life in the eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department , which was released on April 19, 2024. There is a lot to unpack in the new album, and many fans are wondering what each song is about based on the lyrics.

Track 1: ‘Fortnight’

The album kicks off with a duet featuring Post Malone , which was cowritten by Taylor, Post and Jack Antonoff .

“I was supposed to be sent away, but they forgot to come and get me,” Taylor sings at the beginning of the song. She eventually starts singing about an unnamed lover, declaring that she touches him “for only a fortnight.”

The story gets more complicated when Taylor reveals that her love interest is married. “Your wife waters flowers, I want to kill her,” she sings.

It’s not clear exactly who inspired the track, though fans may speculate the song is about Matty Healy following their fling that lasted between May and June 2023 . After all, fortnight is defined as a period of two weeks.

Track 2: ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

The title track is another collaboration between Taylor and Jack. In the song, the Pennsylvania native seemingly sings about her romance with Matty while insisting they’re unlike writers Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith . At the time of the song, Taylor recalls wanting to “decode” her love interest amid their intense feelings for each other.

“I scratch your head, you fall asleep like a tattooed golden retriever,” she sings at one point. The line hints that the song is about the “Chocolate” singer, who is her most recent ex to have visible tattoos.

Meanwhile, Taylor also sings that he “told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave. And I had said that to Jack about you, so I felt seen.” While she didn’t confirm exactly who she was singing about, it seems that she was mentioning singer Lucy Dacus and the song’s cowriter.

Track 3: ‘My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys’

Taylor penned track three, “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys,” by herself. The song is seemingly about her ex-boyfriend   Joe Alwyn , whom she broke up with in April 2023 after six years of dating.

In the song, Taylor details the end of a relationship that was allegedly sabotaged by the other person. “Saw forever, so he smashed it up,” she sings. “Oh my boy only breaks his favorite toys.”

She also implies that the end of the relationship wasn’t mutual with a heartbreaking line at the end of the song. “Stole my tortured heart, left all these broken parts, told me I’m better off but I’m not. I’m not,” Taylor sings.

Track 4: ‘Down Bad’

The “Cornelia Street” singer was likely inspired by Matty in the fourth track, “Down Bad,” which was cowritten with Jack.

Taylor sings about developing intense feelings for someone, only for him to break up with her. “For a moment I knew cosmic love, now I’m down bad crying at the gym,” she sings in the chorus. “Everything comes out, teenage petulance.”

The angry song – which drops several “f–k” bombs – was possibly written after she and Matty ended their romance. Their short-lived fling faced backlash from fans due to The 1975 singer’s many controversial moments, and abruptly ended after he traveled to watch her perform several shows on her Eras tour .

Track 5: ‘So Long, London’

Taylor tends to place her most emotional songs in the track five spot on each album, and “So Long, London” is no exception. In the song, which was cowritten with Aaron Dessner , Taylor sings about saying goodbye to the life she built in London.

While both Joe and Matty are from London, the song was likely inspired by the Harriet actor after the former couple spent much of their time in the European city.

“I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth,” she sings, seemingly referencing the length of their relationship that began when she was 27.

The song also hints at Joe not wanting to marry her, which she also referenced in the 2023 song “You’re Losing Me.” She sings, “I died on the altar waiting for the proof. You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days.”

Track 6: ‘But Daddy I Love Him’

Another song seemingly inspired by Matty is “But Daddy I Love Him,” cowritten with Aaron.

In the song, Taylor details facing backlash for a romance with an unnamed lover. “They slammed the door on my whole world, the one thing I wanted,” she sings. “Running with my dress unbuttoned, screaming, ‘But daddy, I love him, I’m having his baby.’ No I’m not, but you should see your faces.”

While Taylor doesn’t directly name the “Girls” singer in the song, she infamously faced backlash from fans and the media for dating him during the short lived romance.

Track 7: ‘Fresh Out the Slammer’

“Fresh Out the Slammer,” which was cowritten with Jack, seems to reference both Joe and Matty. In the song, Taylor contemplates leaving her partner to start dating someone new. Fans will likely speculate that the song is about her wanting to leave Joe in order to be with Matty due their blurry relationship timeline.

“No matter what I’ve done, it wouldn’t matter anyway. Ain’t no way I’m gonna screw up now that I know what’s at stake,” she sings. “Here at the park where we used to sit on children’s swings wearing imaginary rings.”

Track 8: ‘Florida!!!’

While Swifties will think that some of the songs are easy to decode, “Florida!!!” will likely leave even some of Taylor’s biggest fans stumped. Cowritten and sang as a duet with Florence Welch , the women sing about spending their time in Florida to escape the drama in their hometowns.

“You can beat the heat if you beat the charges too. They said I was a cheat, I guess it must be true,” the song begins. They later sing, “Little did you know your home’s really only a town you’ll get arrested. So you pack your life away just to wait out the shitstorm back in Texas. Florida is one hell of a drug. Florida can I use you up?”

Track 9: “Guilty as Sin?”

“Guilty as Sin?” is another song Taylor cowrote with Jack, which seemingly references her relationship with Matty .

The song begins with Taylor explaining the “boredom” in her relationship, which was likely with Joe, and her desire to hook up with someone new. “I dream of cracking locks, throwing my life to the wolves or the ocean rocks,” she sings. “Crashing into him tonight, he’s a paradox, I’m seeing visions.”

While Taylor sings about having “fatal fantasies” with the other man , she assures herself that she’s done nothing wrong because she hasn’t acted on her desires. “Without ever touching his skin, how can I be guilty as sin?” she sings.

Track 10: ‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?’

The second self-written song on the album is “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” The tenth track is another song that will likely leave fans unsure of who it is about. However, she seems to be singing about how she composes herself after a scandal.

“The scandal was contained, the bullet had just grazed. At all costs keep your good name, you don’t get to tell me you feel bad,” she sings. “Is it a wonder I broke? Let’s hear one more joke.”

Track 11: “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)”

“I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” which was cowritten with Jack, tells the story of Taylor wanting to fix her boyfriend who has been deemed as bad news by the public.

The track, which fans will likely speculate is about Matty , features Taylor telling her critics that she had a handle on the problems caused by her partner. “I can fix him, no really I can, and only I can,” she sings. However, she seems to start second guessing herself by the end of the song when she adds the line, “Whoa, maybe I can’t.”

Track 12: ‘Loml’

“Loml” is another song that could be about her relationships with either Joe or Matty. The song, which was cowritten with Aaron, looks back at a relationship that she once believed was the great love of her life.

The song makes many references to rings and marriage, which is a hint that the song is about Joe. “If you know it in one glimpse its legendary. You and I go from one kiss to getting married,” she sings. “Still alive, killing time at the cemetery.”

Later in the song, she implies that she was led on in the relationship. “You said I’m the love of you life,” Taylor recalls. “ You s–t talked me under a table talking rings and talking cradles .”

While the marriage references are seemingly about Joe, the song also discusses a romance being rekindled. The comment may prove the song is about Matty, who briefly dated Taylor in 2014 before they got back together in 2023.

Whether the song is about Joe or Matty, fans know that the relationship that inspired “Loml” ultimately didn’t work out. “Your arson’s match, your somber eyes,” she sings at the end of the song. “And I still say it until I die, you’re the loss of my life.”

Track 13: ‘I Can Do It With a Broken Heart’

Cowritten with Jack, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is another song that could be about either Joe or Matty.

The song catches up with Taylor as she tries to put up a good image following a breakup while on tour. “Cause I’m a real tough kid, I can handle my s–t. They said babe you gotta fake it til you make it and I did,” she sings. “Lights camera, bitch smile, even when you wanna die. He said he’d love me all his life, but that life was too short.”

Despite having her heart broken, Taylor sings about putting on a good show for her fans and acting as if everything’s OK.

The song could easily be about the Boy Erased actor or “Robbers” singer, as both of the splits took place when she was on the Eras tour .

Track 14: ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’

Taylor reunited with Aaron to write “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” The song details the “Love Story” singer being blindsided following a split, adding that the unnamed ex acted as if everything was OK when their romance ended.

“You hung me on your wall, stabbed me with your push pins,” she sings. “In public showed me off then sank in stoned oblivion.”

The song is likely about Matty, as Joe famously stays out of the spotlight and has not revealed many details about the end of their romance.

Track 15: ‘The Alchemy’

“The Alchemy,” which was cowritten with Jack, tells the story of Taylor falling in love at an unexpected time. While she insists she wasn’t looking for anything serious, the “Sparks Fly” singer explains that meeting the love interest was like having “these chemicals hit me like white wine.”

The song could possibly be about her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce , who she has been dating since summer 2023. The track makes many football references, including, “Touch down call the amateurs and cut ’em from the team. Ditch the clowns, get the crown, baby I’m the one to beat.”

“Shirts off and your friends lift you up over their heads. Beer sticking to the floor, cheers chanting cause they said there was no chance ,” she continues. “Trying to be the greatest in the league, where’s the trophy?”

Track 16: ‘Clara Bow’

The album concludes with the song “Clara Bow,” which was cowritten with Aaron. Taylor sings about achieving success as a singer after many people told her she wouldn’t make it, while she also details the downside of fame.

“Beauty is a beast and roars down on all fours, demanding more. Only when your girlish glow flickers just so do they let you know,” she sings. “It’s hell on earth to be heavenly, that’s the race they don’t come gently. ‘ You look like Taylor Swift in this light , we’re loving it.’”

The song was named after Clara, who was one of the biggest stars of the silent film era in the 1920s. Throughout her career, Clara became an icon of sexual freedom for women among her fans.

Track 17: ‘The Black Dog’

Taylor looks back at a past relationship in “The Black Dog,” which she wrote by herself. The phrase is often used as a way to refer to depression, implying that she’s upset the relationship is over.

“Old habits die screaming,” she declares. “I move through the world heartbroken. My longings stay unspoken. And I may never open up the way I did for you.”

Shortly after the song was released, many fans took to X to speculate that the song is about Matty. After pointing out that she sings, “You can have the of me,” one fan explained that the “Somebody Else” singer performed a cover of “The Best Of Me” by The Starting Line in May 2023 when they were dating.

Track 18: ‘Imgonnagetyouback’

The “Mean” singer continues to reflect on a breakup in “Imgonnagetyouback,” cowritten with Jack. Taylor explains her desires to get back with an ex , though contemplates if she wants a reconciliation or to get revenge.

“Whether I’m gonna be your wife or gonna smash up your bike, I haven’t decided yet. But I’m gonna get you back,” she sings. “Whether I’m gonna curse you out or take you back to my house. I haven’t decided yet, but I’m gonna get you back.”

This song could also be about Matty, as it parallels The 1975 song “Fallinforyou.” Matty sings, “All we need’s my bike and your enormous house.”

Track 19: “The Albatross”

Cowritten with Aaron, Taylor discusses the misogyny she’s faced in “The Albatross.” The song references many male literary figures that Taylor has been inspired by, though notes that she has been mocked for using the same metaphors and symbolism they have been praised for.

“I’ll tell you how I’ve been there too. And that none of it matters,” she says about her work.

Track 20: “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus”

“Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus,” which was cowritten by Aaron, documents Taylor and an ex watching each other move on with new partners. She sings about how her ex could be hooking up with anyone, including Chloe, Sam, Sophia or Marcus. Despite her attempts to move on, Taylor makes it clear she still has feelings for the ex.

“If you want to break my cold, cold heart, just say I loved you the way that you were,” she sings. “If you want to tear my world apart, just say you’ve always wondered.”

Fans were torn about who this song is about, as many pointed out that Matty has publicly kissed a male fan on stage during concerts. However, Taylor also recalls spending a decade with her ex, meaning the song could be about Joe.

Track 21: “How Did It End?”

“We hereby conduct this postmortem,” Taylor sings at the beginning of “How Did It End?” In the ballad cowritten with Aaron, the “Afterglow” singer admits she doesn’t fully understand why a past relationship ended.

“We were blind to unforeseen circumstances. We learned the right steps to different dances,” she sings. Taylor goes on to note that they paid attention to thoughts from the public, adding, “And fell victim to interlopers glances.”

The song could be about either Joe or Matty, since both romances were highly publicized in the media.

Track 22: “So High School”

Taylor sings about the innocent feeling of developing feelings when you’re younger in “So High School,” which was cowritten Aaron. The track sees Taylor starting to fall for someone as an adult, though explains that the excitement reminds her of how she used to feel when she developed a crush in high school.

“I feel so high school every time I look at you, but look at you,” she sings.

It’s possible that “So High School” is about Travis , as the pair were likely a new item when she wrote the song.

Track 23: ‘I Hate It Here’

In “I Hate It Here,” Taylor looks at all of the parts of her life that she dislikes and shares what she does to escape. “I hate it here so I will go to secret gardens in my mind. People need a key to get to, the only one is mine,” she sings.

Not only does she discuss her own unhappiness in the song cowritten with Aarton, but she wonders if she would be just as unfulfilled in another time. At one point, Taylor recalls playing a game where she and her friends would choose their ideal decade to live in. “I’d say the 1830s, but without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid,” she sings. “Everyone would look down, ‘cause it wasn’t fun now. Seems like it was never even fun back then.”

Track 24: ‘ThanK You AIMee”

“ThanK You AIMee” appears to be inspired by Kim Kardashian , who Taylor infamously feuded with in 2016 when her then-husband, Kanye West , called the “Our Song” singer a “bitch” in his song “Famous.”

In the song cowritten with Aaron, Taylor sings about a woman named Aimee who bullied her. “All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ somethin’, and I can’t forget the way you made me feel,” she sings. “Screamed, ‘F–k you, Aimee,’ to the night sky, as the blood was gushin’, but I can’t forget the way you made me heal.”

Taylor noticeably capitalized the letters KIM in the song title, while she confirms the inspiration’s name isn’t actually Aimee. “I don’t think you’ve changed much and so I changed your name and any real defining clues,” she sings.

Track 25: “I Look in People’s Windows”

Cowritten with Jack and Patrik Berger , Taylor observes how someone lives their life after she lost touch with them in “I Look in People’s Windows.”

“I tried searching faces on streets, what are the chances you’d be downtown?” she sings. “Does it feel all right to not know me?”

Early on in the song she sings, “I look in people’s windows. Transfixed by rose golden glows.” The lyric seems to be inspired by her 2019 song “Death By a Thousand Cuts,” in which she sings, “I look through the windows of this love, even though we boarded them up.” While she never confirmed the 2019 track was about Joe, the song was written when they were in a relationship.

Track 26: “The Prophecy”

Taylor sings about her desire to find love in “The Prophecy,” which was cowritten with Aaron. While she acknowledges her success as a singer, she wonders if it’s her fate to end up alone.

“Please, I’ve been on my knees. Change the prophecy,” she sings. “Don’t want money, just someone who wants my company. Let it once be me.”

Taylor goes on to wonder what she needs to do in order to find what she’s missing, which she believes is a romantic partner. “A greater woman stays cool, but I howl like a wolf at the moon,” she sings. “And I look unstable, gathered with a coven around a sorceress’ table.”

Track 27: “Cassandra”

Taylor continued to join forces with Aaron to write “Cassandra,” in which she analyzes her reputation . It’s likely that Cassandra is not a person, but instead a reference to Greek mythology. Cassandra, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba, displays the gift of prophecy and is cursed by the god Apollo so that everyone believes she’s a liar.

“When the truth comes out, it’s quiet. So, they killed Cassandra first ’cause she feared the worst. And tried to tell the town,” she sings in the chorus. “So, they filled my cell with snakes, I regret to say. Do you believe me now?”

The track could be inspired by either Kanye or Scooter Braun . While Taylor has had a complex relationship with the “Gold Digger” rapper since he interrupted her acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs , she has also had issues with Scooter after he bought the masters to her first five albums . Both men have tried to paint her in a negative light in the media, so it’s possible one of them inspired the song.

Track 29: ​​”The Bolter”

In “The Bolter,” Taylor and Aaron write about a woman who begins several secret relationships and eventually runs away from them. Her friends ultimately give her the nickname “the bolter” due to the habit.

The song could be about Taylor jumping from her relationship with Joe to Matty, while she previously shared a similar tale in her 2017 song “Getaway Car” about her romance with Tom Hiddleston following her split from Calvin Harris .

“Started with a kiss. ‘Oh, we must stop meeting like this. But it always ends up with a town car speeding,” she sings in the 2024 track. “Out the drive one evenin’, ended with the slam of a door. But she’s got the best stories , you can be sure, that as she was leaving it felt like freedom.”

Track 30: “Robin”

Taylor seems to be talking to her younger self in “Robin,” which was written with Aaron.

While she encourages a young kid in the chorus to keep doing their best, Taylor continues to cheer her on in several verses. “Long may you roar at your dinosaurs. You’re a just ruler covered in mud, you look ridiculous,” she sings. “And you have no idea.”

She also reflects on her innocence as a kid and says there’s a “secret we all vowed to keep it from you in sweetness.”

Track 31: “The Manuscript”

The final song on the album is “The Manuscript,” which Taylor wrote by herself. She looks back at a relationship with an older man and reflects on him taking advantage of her youth.

Rosanne Cash Shares Her Long Road Back to Performing in New Book by Renée Fleming (Exclusive)

'Music and Mind' explores how the melodies we love can be healing for both body and soul

Penguin Random House; Timothy White

Many people already know how healing music can be, but in her new book, Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health , renowned soprano and advocate for health and the arts Renée Fleming is breaking down how it works.

This curated collection of essays from scientists, artists, arts therapists, educators and healthcare providers explores the impact of music and the arts on health and the human experience, according to the book's description.

Below, in an exclusive excerpt shared with PEOPLE, Grammy Award –winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash shares her story of music, debilitating illness and the road back to performing.

Penguin Random House

Around 1977 I started noticing that certain frequencies—particularly around 200 hertz—really bothered me. During sound checks for my concerts, I held my hands over my ears if that frequency went rogue and was ringing out in the overtones coming from a guitar, or bass, or the house sound. Low rumbles also disturbed me.

Then, very high frequencies started to grate on me in the studio, onstage, on the street. I was getting to the point that my range of sonic tolerance had become very narrow. The problem seemed to be affecting my left ear; it was as if that ear were having a constant anxiety attack, while my right one was doing just fine.

I loved yoga. I’d done it for 15 years, and was doing strenuous power yoga three or four times a week, but I had recently begun to find myself in pain all the time. To deal with the pain I became a spa junkie. In every town we played, if I had a spare moment, I found a massage therapist or a chiropractor who could see me.

I started having more frequent migraines, some that lasted days. I saw neurologists, one who attributed them to hormones, one who diagnosed them as “atypical migraines” and observed that my cerebellum was “hanging a little low,” and another who said I had too much stress in my life.

I gave birth to my son, Jake, in 1999, and after the epidural I received during labor, the headaches got even worse. I had a migraine-level one that lasted for months. I tried everything to get relief— meds, meditation, massage. Nothing worked.

Performing was getting harder and harder. Often I would sit in my dressing room staring in the mirror at a puffy, haggard face I barely recognized. The fatigue was pervasive, and I had lost enthusiasm for nearly everything. I just managed pain and exhaustion all day, every day.

One morning I was trying to stretch and discovered I couldn’t move. I started to cry and went to my husband John and said, “I can’t go on.”

Emma McIntyre/Getty 

I came across a neurologist at Cornell in New York City—Dr. Norman Latov. He confirmed I had Lyme disease but also ordered a series of MRIs and various nerve‑conduction tests. “You have a condition called Chiari malformation,” he said to me, noting it would need surgery. My cerebellum was very low in my skull, pressing into my brain stem, and the crowding was causing not only the pain, but it was affecting the autonomic reflexes of the body, like swallowing, breathing and balance. I was not in good shape.

I started consulting with neurosurgeons around the country by phone. One of the doctors I consulted pointed to my scan and said, “You see that thin trickle of white going from your spine to your head? That’s cerebrospinal fluid. It’s nearly blocked, and it’s what keeps you alive.”

I found a surgeon in New York City, Guy McKhann II, and set a date for the procedure. My sister came from Portland, and my daughter Chelsea came from Nashville. On the day of the surgery we got up early, and the babysitter arrived to take care of my eight-year-old son. I took a selfie in my kitchen— a “before” photo. I look at that photo now and am shocked at how bad I looked— wasted, exhausted and in terrible pain.

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After six days in the hospital, I went home with morphine, steroids, a drug for nerve pain and various other potions and chemicals. I had a show booked for March, and hoped three and a half months would be enough time to recover.

My face and body were terribly swollen. I couldn’t bear to listen to music with voices. Lyrics were complicated and annoying. I was drawn to Samuel Barber, Arvo Pärt, an Chopin’s nocturnes. Looking back now, I understand that I wanted to hear melancholy compositions that tapped into my acute, aching sense of the passage of time. I felt I had lost years of vigor, joy and intimacy.

I didn’t like how I looked. I couldn’t easily climb a flight of stairs or take a walk more than a few blocks. I had a credit card–size piece of skull missing in the back of my head, filled in by what was basically Gore‑Tex, and a partially removed top vertebra. I felt myself putting little pieces of a puzzle together— of memory and spatial recognition, sound and rhythm, fear and frustration, time and space.

It has taken me decades to realize that my life as a performer has been an extended, painstaking project to free myself of shame. It makes counterintuitive sense that people who suffer from shame, who have an impulse, conscious or not, to heal it and who are intensely shy and private, become performers. It’s true for me, and it’s true for many, many performers I know. It’s how we heal ourselves, as well as how we find a community of those who resonate with the inner unrest and suffering and the soul’s desire to shake off destructive limitations and expand into our potential.

John and I did do the concert that I had kept booked for March 2008. After I left the stage I sat in my dressing room shaking violently, feeling that I might come out of my body with anxiety and pain and there was a buzz in my head that was so loud I thought it must be audible to those around me. My nervous system crashed. I canceled everything else on the books until October.

Lying on the sofa a few days later, drifting in and out of sleep, an image formed in my head of me with two dear friends—Elvis Costello and Kris Kristofferson. I pictured us collaborating on something. The idea stuck, and the image kept coming back. I emailed them asking if they wanted to write something together.

We gathered at the now-defunct New York Noise recording studio downtown on Gansevoort Street with John as producer, guitarist and keyboard player, engineer Rick DePofi, bass player Zev Katz and drummer Joe Bonadio. The song was very easy to perform, and it was a comfortable, fluid recording experience.

While in the studio I showed Kris and Elvis the first verse of another song I had written and asked if they wanted to each write a verse. We recorded that song on the same day. I felt shaky and as if my head were in a vise, but the whole process lifted me up and gave me just a tiny peek into a possible future of recovery and inspiration.

There was one concert date on my calendar that was virtually impossible for me to remove, in October, in Bochum, Germany. October came, and my progress was not what I had hoped.

When I got to the hotel, where my bag was waiting, I stood in the middle of the room and turned slowly in a circle, trying to see through the haze behind my eyes, trying to establish myself in reality, trying to understand my life.

Later I walked into the rehearsal room and Joe Henry and Billy Bragg were there, smiling, rock and roll elegant/scruffy, happy to see me, ready to play. The first song we were going to rehearse was Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country.” I lifted my head a little, and the first notes brought tears to my eyes. There was something in this world that could rouse me, something that lightened the darkness. I felt hope. That was the beginning of recovery. It was a rhythm, a melody, two gentle friends. I wrote a song for them called “Rabbit Hole”:

I just want a road that bends

a love that wins

an honest friend.

I just want a night of peace

blessed relief

I want to make you see

that you, in your crumpled splendor

when you sing to the farthest rafter

with your big life full of love and laughter

you pull me up from the rabbit hole.

Much later I participated in a conversation and performance with my friend, Dr. Dan Levitin, at a conference about music and the brain. I told him about my weird left ear, and how I had been so worried that I would lose my sensitivity and understanding of music during the brain surgery, but that after those initial couple of years of fried nerves, searing pain and hopelessness, that my sensitivity had actually increased in the most beautiful, breathtaking way, that my left ear calmed down and opened up like a blossom, that I stood at a crucial fork in my life and that music and love had guided me onto the path that fit my chosen destiny.

Shame subsided. I can’t say it’s gone, but I have compassion for myself. The girl I was went through hell, she came back, and she sings to the farthest rafter, with a big life full of love and laughter.

From MUSIC AND MIND by Reneé Fleming, published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. “Rabbit Hole” copyright © 2023 by Rosanne Cash.

Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health by Fleming is available now, wherever books are sold.

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Judith Hill Sang With Pop Royalty. Now She Is Composing Her Own Story.

The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was close to Michael Jackson and Prince. After their deaths, her world crumbled and she had to rebuild on her own.

By Melena Ryzik

Reporting from New York and Los Angeles

The first time the musician Judith Hill performed her anguished requiem “Black Widow” for an audience, she wept, right onstage.

The song’s title is an epithet that has been directed at her for years by tabloids and trolls because as a vocalist and artist, she had been close with two of pop’s biggest stars shortly before their deaths. She was Michael Jackson’s duet partner and performed at his televised memorial in 2009. And for two years before Prince’s fatal overdose in April 2016, she was his protégée, collaborator and more. They shared what she has called “an intense relationship” ; he told her he loved her.

Prince’s sudden, accidental death derailed her promising career — which he had been guiding — and she spiraled into deep grief, depression and self-doubt as online cruelty rained down. It took years before she was able to face what happened, personally or musically.

“It was a deep wound,” she said onstage at a recent showcase at Mercury Lounge in Lower Manhattan, after the soulful, fierce “Black Widow.” Then she brushed her tears away — “enough of that” — and soon started another number, “Dame De La Lumière,” a detailed tribute to her mother and grandmother, with a rippling, urgent chorus that has become her anthem: “Bad times make strong women.”

Both songs are on “Letters From a Black Widow,” her new record, due Friday. It is a concept album that reckons forcefully with her past — not just the boldfaced part, but also the myriad woes and distortions that conspired to make her feel fearful and less-than. The dozen tracks that finally tumbled out chart her path of self-reflection and forgiveness, with achingly personal lyrics paired with muscular funk, soul and blues, and backed by her shredding, soaring guitar. It’s a new reach for an artist known mostly for her acrobatic and emotional vocals ; she wanted her determined message to resonate, too.

“I felt unmuted,” she said, “like I was free to say something now, because I felt like I had really put a muzzle on myself for so long, and was just afraid. And it was very, very liberating to do that.”

Getting there involved therapy; a hallucinogenic trip to a hot springs with friends; and the guitar, which she first picked up in 2016, before Prince’s death. The instrument proved to be transformational. “It helped me work through the trauma,” she said in an interview earlier this year at her house in Los Angeles, where a Gibson, Strat and Taylor lined a newly built studio. If the piano, her lifelong instrument, was her melodic through-line, the guitar, on which she is self-taught, gave her a different vibe. “I do kind of see her as a panther,” she said, smiling. “She’s the warrior energy.”

Hill, who will turn 40 next month, was 4 when she wrote her first song, a gospel number. She grew up in a churchgoing musical firmament in Los Angeles: Her mother, Michiko Hill, was born in Tokyo and plays the keys, organ and piano; her father, Robert Hill, who is Black with roots in Alabama, is a bassist known as PeeWee. They worked with acts like Sly and the Family Stone and Chaka Khan. Now they tour in Hill’s backing band. “It’s a family affair,” as she put it at the New York show.

They live just down the road in Los Angeles, she said a few months ago. She was cozy in a pink sweater, sipping tea in the first home she has owned, her respite from the road. Fans and those in the industry who have been rooting for Hill know her peace is hard-won.

“As they say — now she can breathe,” said the singer Darlene Love, who has known Hill for years. They were both featured in the Oscar-winning 2013 documentary “20 Feet From Stardom,” about background vocalists, for which they also earned Grammys.

Hill, fresh off being a competitor on “The Voice,” was an upstart then. “We called her the baby,” said Love, who started her career in 1960s girl groups. “We were looking at her to become the star out of this movie.”

Her ambitions were known, Love recalled. “I remember Stevie Wonder told her one time, you know, ‘Don’t get so caught up in singing background for me that you miss your shot’” at being the lead.

It started to seem like it would happen, especially when Prince took an interest in Hill after catching a TV interview where she named him as her dream collaborator. From 2014 to 2016, she jammed, recorded and performed with him, becoming a regular presence at Paisley Park , his estate outside Minneapolis. Together, they produced her debut album, “Back in Time,” in 2015. He met her parents.

Then he died, and everything unraveled. She shelved the video for her title track , on which he contributed guitar, bass, drums and vocals, and retreated to Los Angeles, awash in shock.

That’s when the online viciousness hit. “I got a lot of hate messages, some death threats. It got real dark,” she said. (And, she added, it’s still coming.)

The pop singer Daniel Bedingfield, a longtime friend of Hill’s, was part of the inner circle that tried to bolster her in the period after Prince’s death.

“I didn’t really know how it was going to go for a few years,” he said in an interview. “We’d be sitting at a restaurant, and then one of Prince’s songs would come on, and that would be the end of the day. And it was everywhere we went, all the time. A very rough moment.”

Though Hill continued to record and perform in the years that followed, she was having a crisis of conscience about her identity as an artist. “I struggled with really being able to feel like I was enough, or that my story mattered,” she said. “I always felt like my name only mattered because it was in relation to someone else.”

During the pandemic, Bedingfield (known for the early 2000s hit “Gotta Get Thru This” ) helped organize the hot springs camping trip that changed Hill’s outlook, with an assist from some magic mushrooms. While Hill’s friends were off on their own journey, “I went on a real full tilt spiritual trip,” she recalled. She had a vision of a mountain, looming; it symbolized everything she thought she had recovered from in therapy.

“It was very sobering to see that vision and just realize, wow, I’m still hurting,” she said. “I felt God’s basically saying to me: It was never your job to remove the mountain. It’s too big — you can’t move a mountain. Just allow it to be there.” That gave her permission to acknowledge her trauma, not try to run around it. “It was the first time I allowed myself to feel that way, because I kept trying to fix myself,” she said.

Her new album starts with that imagery: “I can feel the mountain,” she roars on the ballad “One of the Bad Ones.”

Her therapist, too, counseled her to face the “Black Widow” taunts through writing; she did it for herself, at first, with no thought of an audience. The song opens with plaintive piano and a whoosh like a cold wind blowing in. Her lyrics murmur of being hidden, then trapped. A spoken-word interlude is raw emotion, as a chorus of voices call her Black Widow and accuse her of killing two musical heroes. “That’s not my name!” she spits back. But then she crumbles: “Maybe it’s true.” A jagged guitar line arrives like a rescue; soft gospel-tinged humming closes it out.

As Hill composed — she wrote and produced the entire album herself — her joy in the production overcame her worry about publicly rehashing these experiences. Daniel Chae, a violinist and session string player for artists like Kacey Musgraves and Zach Bryan, said recording with Hill pushed him into new, harder territory: “Her arrangements were so complex, my jaw was on the floor.”

Hill’s goal with the album was for it to sound sophisticated but propulsive, especially live. She often starts writing with the bass line, “thinking about how I want us to rock onstage,” she said, “because we are a touring band.” Her father will add his flourishes on bass, along with her mother on the organ; their generational groove is rattling, marrow-deep — and danceable.

“Weaponizing funk is something I love to do,” Hill said, “because to me it feels like battle-cry energy.”

Sophia Whitehurst, one of her background singers, has been harmonizing with Hill since they were in a middle school church group. “At a young age, you knew that she was different,” said Whitehurst, who has performed with Lizzo at the Grammys. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her go off key, or lose control during the middle of a run, or anything. Her vocal strength is just out of this world — the range, the agility, the grit and soul behind it.”

At Mercury Lounge, center stage in boots and fringe, Hill closed her eyes as she tore into her guitar, erupting with powerhouse vocals. The effect was of an artist fully in command of her instrument and her gift. After her tearful “Black Widow,” the crowd — some members crying too — was briefly quiet, taking it in, then exploded into applause and bravos. Teon Brooks, a Brooklynite, didn’t know Hill’s story; he bought a ticket to the show after hearing “Dame De La Lumière” and was amazed at “the buffet” of Hill’s range. “She fed us,” he said.

For Hill, unleashing this music was release, and affirmation. “I realized," she said, “I’m a lot stronger than I thought.”

Melena Ryzik is a roving culture reporter and was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for public service for reporting on workplace sexual harassment. She covered Oscar season for five years, and has also been a national correspondent in San Francisco and the mid-Atlantic states. More about Melena Ryzik

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Taylor Swift’s ‘LOML’ Lyrics Offer a Devastating Look at Her Joe Alwyn Breakup

It turns out Taylor Swift’s fifth track of The Tortured Poets Department , “So Long, London,” isn’t the album’s most devastating breakup song. That slot is arguably reserved for track 12, “loml.”

In the lyrics, Swift alludes to feeling like her relationship was “counterfeit.” Her partner “shit-talked me under the table, talking rings and talking cradles. I wish I could un-recall how we almost had it all.” She ends the song sharing her disappointment over the person her partner ultimately was: “a coward [who] claimed he was a lion.”

There are a lot of brutal revelations in the 4-minute-and-37-second track. Here are the lyrics of “loml” broken down, with possible Alwyn references annotated.

Verse 1: Who’s gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames If we know the steps anyway?

News of Alwyn and Swift’s breakup broke on April 8, 2023. They had split a few weeks before.

On April 10, 2023, a source told People that Swift and Alwyn’s relationship was more on-off than people knew. “They’ve had rough patches before and always worked things out, so friends thought they would take some time apart [now] but eventually come back together. Ultimately [they] weren’t the right fit for one another.” Swift’s word choice of “rekindled flames” in her first lyric may allude to this.

We embroidered the memories of the times I was away Stitching, “We were just kids, babe” I said, “I don’t mind, it takes time” I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed

Swift and Alwyn started dating on Sept. 28, 2016 . At that point, Swift was only 26 years old, while Alwyn was 25.

Chorus: I felt a glow like this, never before and never since If you know it in one glimpse it’s legendary You and I go from one kiss to getting married Still alive, killing time at the cemetery Never quite buried

Swift and Alwyn didn’t actually get married, as Swift’s publicist Tree Paine made clear on X, formerly known as Twitter, in November. “There was NEVER a marriage or ceremony of ANY kind,” she wrote.

Multiple sources told People on April 10, 2023, that before their breakup, Swift and Alwyn had been “talking about marriage as recently as a few months ago” though.

It is possible that Swift could be referencing the media’s portrayal of them in the verse, too. Swift and Alwyn were constant targets of secret engagement and marriage rumors because they kept their relationship so private.

Swift spoke about that when discussing her relationship and how it inspired Midnights song , “Lavender Haze.” She said, “ I happened upon the phrase ‘lavender haze’ when I was watching Mad Men . I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool. And it turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the ’50s where they would describe being in love. If you’re in the ‘lavender haze,’ then that meant you were in that all-encompassing love glow. And I thought that was really beautiful.”

“I guess, theoretically, when you’re in the ‘lavender haze,’ you’ll do anything to stay there,” she continued. “And not let people bring you down off of that cloud. I think that a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like ‘public figures,’ because we live in the era of social media, and if the world finds out if you’re in love with somebody they’re going to weigh in on it. Like my relationship for six years we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. So this song is about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”

Swift, notably, uses the word “glow” to describe the love between her and her partner in the “loml” verse: “I felt a glow like this, never before and never since.”

Post-Chorus: In your suit and tie, in the nick of time You low-down boy, you stand-up guy Holy ghost, you told me I’m the love of your life You said I’m the love of your life About a million times Verse 2: Who’s gonna tell me the truth when you blew in with the winds of fate And told me I reformed you? When your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes Well, you took me to hell too And all at once, the ink bleeds A con man sells a fool a “get love quick” scheme But I felt a hole like this, never before and never since Chorus: If you know it in one glimpse it’s legendary What we thought was for all time was momentary

While dating Alwyn, Swift wrote several love songs that suggested he was the one, from Lover ’s “Paper Rings” and folklore ’s “invisible string” to Midnights ’ “Mastermind.” Swift, in “invisible string,” sang about Alwyn being her destined endgame: “And isn’t it just so pretty to think / All along there was some / Invisible string / Tying you to me?”

She used words like “heaven” to describe the way she saw his love too in that same song: “Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven.”

Alwyn was Swift’s longest and most serious relationship. The couple never spoke about their relationship to the press, but look no further than their longevity and Swift’s past lyrics as evidence of the deep love they shared.

Still alive killing time at the cemetery Never quite buried Post-Chorus: You sent a file in black and white All those plot twists and dynamite Mr. Steal-Your-Girl, then make her cry Said I’m the love of your life

The “never quite buried” lyric could refer again to how on-off their relationship was before their final breakup.

Bridge: You shit-talked me under the table Talking rings and talking cradles I wish I could un-recall How we almost had it all

This bridge contains some of the most brutal lyrics on the album. Swift and Alwyn never got engaged, a sore point Swift sang about in the bridge of Midnights bonus track, “You’re Losing Me” : “And I wouldn’t marry me either / A pathological people pleaser / Who only wanted you to see her.” She also sang in “So Long, London,” that “I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free.”

While Alwyn and Swift spoke in private about getting engaged, Alwyn played coy about it publicly. He told WSJ in April 2022 , “If I had a pound for every time I think I’ve been told I’ve been engaged, then I’d have a lot of pound coins. I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say.”

Dancing phantoms on the terrace Are they second-hand embarrassed That I can’t get out of bed ’Cause something counterfeit’s dead It was legendary It was momentary It was unnecessary Should’ve let it stay buried Chorus: Oh what a valiant roar, what a bland goodbye A coward claimed he was a lion I’m combing through the braids of lies I’ll never leave, never mind Our field of dreams engulfed in fire Your arson’s match, your somber eyes And I’ll still see it until I die You’re the loss of my life

Neither Swift nor Alwyn ever spoke about their breakup publicly.

Swifts suggests here she gave their relationship one last chance that she regretted. This last verse offers an intimate look at how disappointed she was at Alwyn, a sentiment all those sources close to Swift and Alwyn never shared with tabloids .

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Mandisa remembered. Fans, music industry, friends pay tribute to 47-year-old singer

Grammy-award winning musician and "American Idol" alum Mandisa was found dead at her Nashville home on Thursday.

The 47-year-old Christian singer dazzled audiences when she hit the stage of "American Idol" in 2005 and made it through to the final nine. From there she released her debut album, but dealt with pain from the loss of a beloved friend and having a personal crisis of faith. Her journey through heartache and depression to finding her faith again inspired many that were going through similar situations.

"Mandisa was a voice of encouragement and truth to people facing life’s challenges all around the world," was written on an Instagram post announcing Mandisa's death.

Since the news of her death, family, fans and friends in and out of the music industry, have paid tribute to the singer.

What happened to Mandisa?

On Friday, The Media Collective, Mandisa's rep, issued this statement confirming her death, but did not disclose how the songstress died.

"We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased. At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details. We ask for your prayers for her family and close-knit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time."

Mandisa's story and journey to 'Overcome' touched many

Mandisa crisis of faith was an inspiration not only for an album, but inspired others who were going though hardship. Fans shared their stories on the Instagram post announcing her death.

"I’m devastated 💔💔💔 Overcomer help me healed when I loss my daughter at 16. She gave hope even when she didn’t have any to give herself. Mandisa is truly one of God’s Devine. I hope she finally has the peace she struggled so long to find. We have truly really loss one of God’s truest and purest creatures… I love you now and forever on Mandisa. God speed on your journey to heaven….," wrote user keishacraftsmith.

Other's shared how her music and writing helped them through some of the toughest times in their lives. Actress Candace Cameron Bure shared broken heart emojis under the post, while Christian rap artist Wande offered condolences.

Fellow Christian musician and friend Colton Dixon, shared memories of being on the road with Mendisa and Toby Mac.

"Mandisa is the sweetest, kindest soul that  @anniedixon__  and I have met on the road. After hearing she went to be with the Jesus last night I was reflecting this morning on the times we had together," Dixon wrote.

Singer and songwriter Matthew West paid tribute to his longtime friend and collaborator with lyrics from their song "Only the World", stating that they "hit differently" now that Mandisa was gone.

"I am so incredibly saddened to hear about the loss of my friend Mandisa. I will always cherish the memories of times we spent together hosting award shows, going on tour, and most of all helping her tell her story in the songwriting room," West also wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts also paid tribute to the late singer.

"My heart is heavy hearing about Mandisa. Incredibly blessed that she was there my first day back on ⁦ @GMA ⁩ following my long medical leave. Her beautiful music & spirit lifted me and countless others," Roberts wrote on X.

Fellow musician Don Moen provided a statement to The Tennessean, saying Mandisa was not only a powerhouse of a talent, but that she also possessed a genuinely kind spirit.

"We ministered together several times, she sang background vocals on my album 'Thank You Lord' and joined me on several tours," the statement read. "On one particular tour, notes kept appearing in everyone's bunk on the bus or in their instrument cases. These were encouraging messages like: 'You are blessed and highly favored,' or 'You're such a blessing on this tour.' Only at the end of the tour did we discover it had been Mandisa. Whether behind the scenes or center stage, her presence always brought joy and hope.

Where was Mandisa from?

Mandisa was born in California, but her home was in Tennessee.

She graduated Fisk University in Nashville in 2000 and was a member of the famed Fisk University Jubilee singers. She called Tennessee home after her graduation, through her "American Idol" tenure, a Grammy win, multiple albums and until her death on Thursday.

‘Bob Marley: One Love’ Sets Paramount+ Release Date

By Jordan Moreau

Jordan Moreau

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‘ Bob Marley: One Love ‘ will soon be singing on Paramount+.

The biopic will release on the streamer on Friday, April 12, in the U.S. and Canada. The film’s international availability will be announced at a later date. It will also be available on MGM+.

‘Bob Marley: One Love’ surpassed expectations at the box office when it opened mid-week in February for Valentine’s Day. It’s opening weekend stood at $28.6 million, and it’s surpassed $175 million at the worldwide box office so far.

Popular on Variety

Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote , “Too often, ‘One Love’ feels like the downbeat, neurotic middle act of a conventional biopic — the hero lost in his identity crisis, hemmed in by fame — stretched out to feature length. The film tells you a lot about Bob Marley, yet it never quite figures out what his journey is. Lynch’s Rita is the movie’s most grounded character; her devotion to Marley, coupled with her understanding of his pain, is moving. But except for the scene in which Marley violently attacks his manager for trying to milk an African tour for profit, the Marley we see is close to a saint. The point of the new biopic mode was to reveal totemic figures in a more complex way. ‘One Love’ flirts with complexity but slides into the banality of hero worship.”

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