Lauryn Hill Unplugged

ok, so i should totally be doing my homework instead of posting, but funk it. this is about lauryn hill unplugged. i honestly assumed that i had already posted these videos because of how incredible they are, but to my surprise, this is their first appearance. and, to be frank, this blog would be pretty empty without them.

lauryn hill got a lot of s*** for this performance and the album that accompanied it. it was panned by critics, getting half a star in some cases. in the fall out afterwards, she fell apart, getting mixed up with a somewhat occultist figure, an awkward reunion with the fugees, and a life that did not make sense given the content of this performance. from all accounts, she fell apart.

you might think, well, this discredits these songs. she must not have gotten it in the way that she said she did. "I Gotta Find Peace of Mind" and "I Find it Hard to Say [Rebel]" don't make sense if she did not continue down the same path of spiritual awakening that she was clearly on at the time.

and if you do think that, i can't blame you. i have thought it myself from time to time. but i think that it is not the truth. watching these videos, listening to these songs, hearing the album, you KNOW she KNOWS. but she is still suffering and struggling and questioning so much. she got rid of the clothes, the band, the record deal. she confesses on the album that if her voice cracks, it is because she is not trying to be a "perfect singer" anymore. just honest. she had never performed these songs live before, messing up in front of millions. this is unlike any performance by a pop singer in recent memory, maybe ever. and you can tell that for how enlightened she is at this moment, she is still in so much pain....but i mean, what do i know? who knows what was really going on in her mind? all i can say is, crying to the tune, "I know it's possible. Free, Free, Free your mind," is as real as it gets...

this performance stands as a testament to the beauty, love, and transforming power of the divine. what happened afterwards is a testament to how rough this world is and how it can chew you up and spit you out and lead you astray and every other un-godly thing you can think of. can you imagine what it must have felt like to have this album laughed at by critics, an album on which you bared your soul, crying in testimony to god? i can't. it must have been devastating.

all i can say is, thank you, ms. hill. thank you for sharing with us what you discovered about god and yourself. i'm sorry we didn't understand, though many of us hold on to this album as gospel, as true today as it was when you performed it [i am one of them]. i hope you continue on, through whatever it is your going through, and emerge knowing that you are beautiful and divine. hopefully, you never forgot.

in love,
ge

p.s. if you don't have this album, you should probably buy it. one of the major things it got slammed for was all the talking she does in between songs. but you know what i think? i think the talking the best part...prophetic to say the least...