Bonus Episode: Theme Songs
Hi, this is Shubha from Unbound Futures. This is sort of episode zero. This isn't really an episode. In part, I'm testing out recording, but I was, moved to share with folks some of the songs that have really been inspirational in our parenting, and they've come up as Joyner and I have been thinking about theme songs, but we don't have rights to these songs, so they couldn't be theme songs, and they're too long to be theme songs anyway, but, I just really wanted to share them and, you know, whatever. If I have to take it down because of the rights, that's fine, So I was working out just now, which is why I was inspired to share it, and the very first song that came on on my playlist, was Jon Baptiste's Freedom.
Shubha:And every time I hear this song and look at A-, it just makes me really emotional because it really captures how we've been parenting him, and if you have been around, you know, a kid like him who's really been allowed to be in his body and move without being told to do something different, you'll get it. You'll be like, yeah, I really feel how much this embodies sort of this liberated way of parenting a kid like him. And so I'm gonna share... I'm gonna say the lyrics, which is gonna be really weird, and then play part of the song. So the part that I'm gonna read in a non singing way...
Shubha:"I love how you talk, you speak in my language. The way that you walk, you can't contain it.
Shubha:Is it the shoes? Jump up kangaroo, we're overdue for a little more prancing. Now it's your time. It's your right. You can shine.
Shubha:It's alright. If you do, I'm gonna do it too. The reason we get down is to get back up. If someone's around, go on, let them look. You can't stand still.
Shubha:This ain't no drill more than cheap thrills. Because when I look up to the stars, I know exactly who we are because then I see you shine. You shining. Free to be.
Shubha:{SONG CLIP}
Shubha:And then the next one, this is just like a really tiny clip.
Shubha:I thought it could be a good theme song, but it's mostly words. This is a spiritual song but the Resistance Revival Chorus has a version for their protest songs as well. And so I won't play the whole thing, I'll just play the sort of opening but I think about this one a lot too.
Shubha:This joy that I have, the world didn't give it to me.
Shubha:I get emotional when I think about A- in this one too.
Shubha:The world didn't give it. The world can't take it away.
Shubha:And as you'll learn listening to the podcast or if you know us, we're really experiencing so much around... positive stuff from strangers, but a lot of negative stuff from strangers, including calling the cops. And it's just so clear how much people want to take away his joy. And so, and who knows, you know, when we're dead and gone, what is gonna happen and how many people are gonna wanna take away his joy.
Shubha:So I always think about how the world didn't give it to him, so the world can't take it away.
Shubha:{SONG CLIP}
Shubha:And then the last song that I wanna share, often when I think of Joyner and this song, I actually get really emotional, which is sort of funny, but maybe because of how much Joyner has helped us to be really the kinds of parents that we wanna be. And so this is Nina Simone and I'm gonna play like a lot of the song but not the whole thing.
Shubha:I wish I knew how it would feel to be free. I wish I could break all the chains holding me.
Shubha:I wish I could say all the things that I should say, say em loud, say em clear for the whole damn world to hear. I wish I could share all the love that's in my heart, remove all the bars that keep us apart. I wish you could know what it means to be me, then you'd see and agree that every man should be free. I wish I could give all I'm longing to give. I wish I could live like I'm longing to live.
Shubha:I wish I could do all the things that I can do. Though I'm way overdue, I'd be starting anew.
