Hit songs are addictive, forcing us to put them on replay mode for days. With time, the punch lines in the lyrics lose their energy and sparkle, the funny jokes in the songs become dry.
I used to think this was the cycle of every good song until I came across some masterpieces.
It was December 2013. I was alone in my room, watching a nollywood movie on Crystal TV. All the students in the hostel had left for home to spend Christmas with their parents and loved ones. I stayed back because I was in my first year at the University of Ghana and in two weeks, we would be writing our first semester exams.
Loneliness filled my room.
Outside, I could hear fireworks and some occasional outbursts of joy of passersby. I had no one to call, no where to go. My parents had relocated out of the capital city Accra to some remote town miles away.
Bored of sitting at one place for long, I stood up and walked into the balcony. All around me was thick darkness. This was because many of the people residing in the hostels had left. While lost in thoughts, I heared a soothing song. It was the background music of the nollywood movie I was watching. Then, I didn’t know who sang the song and what its title was.
I couldn’t figure out most of the words in the song but whatever the singer was saying, my heart understood it well, for something in that song seemed to wrap its arms around my heart, whispering to my troubled heart to not give up. The song had a soothing feel. For someone like me who was feeling lonely and abandoned, it was such an uplifting tune.
About two years later, I relocated to a hostel on University of Ghana campus and fortunately for me, my roommates loved music just as I did. One sang in a church choir, the other was a DJ and the third loved playing varieties of music on his laptop, even slept with gentle music playing in the background from his laptop.
One night, I woke up earlier than usual in order to wash my clothes before attending lectures. Music was playing softly from the laptop of my roommate who slept with lullabies in the background. While in the bathroom washing, I heard a soothing tune.
“Wait a minute! “ I said to myself.
” Is that not the same music that was used as background music in a Nigerian movie I watched a couple of years ago? “
I hurried out of the bathroom, tiptoeing to the bedside of my roommate who was playing the songs. He was obviously deep asleep.
The screen light of his laptop had gone off. I caressed the keyboard and the screen lit like morning light. And there it was!
Only Time – Enya.
Now I knew who the talented artist was and what song she was singing, a song I heard once and had been humming for a long time, unable to track the singer.
I remember humming it to some friends of mine and no one seemed to know what song it was or who sang it.
That morning after washing, I went on YouTube and listened to many songs by Enya. I was amazed at her voice. I could sense her dedication and passion to music and to excellence in her voice. I never got tired of listening.
One of her songs that has been my favorite of all times is Book of Days, an inspirational song. I loved it because I was going through one of the most difficult moments in my academic life. The challenges were both academic and personal. And those songs of Enya were like fuel for a broken soul. I loved the encouragent in her songs. I remember singing out loud Book of Days while it was playing, so completely engrossed in the motivation that the lyrics eclipsed me from onlookers. The words in that song carried me far away, far from my everyday life struggles. They took me to a mountain from which I could see a very bright future, a bright future that ignited a passion and joy in me that no sorrow could quench. Her lyrics and beautiful music transported me to another realm altogether.
Most importantly, her songs inspired in me a drive for excellence. I knew from experience that quality things take time and a lot of deliberate efforts and investment. And I knew quality music of that kind must have involved a lot. She poured out all her soul into her songs and the soul never dies. No wonder her songs continue to live and make an impact. Those songs will surely live after her and continue to speak to generations to come.
The time that I was really going to need Enya songs were coming…
It was in 2021 after my national service when I travelled to Abidjan in Ivory Coast with the hope of furthering my education. Unfortunately, I was not admitted into the program I applied for. And because the incident coincided with Covid, national borders were closed and I was stuck.
I had to quickly look for a job to support myself while there. It was not easy finding a job because of the lockdown.
Far away from home, with no friend, no family, broke and feeling lonely, I lay in my room listening to Enya all day. I listened to other songs but strangely, I couldn’t put them on repeat. Enya’s songs were the only collection that could be played again and again and I never got tired of listening. Her songs helped me to cope with the lonely times.
I would listen to Watermark, Wild Child, Only If, Only Time, Book of Days, Listen to the rain, Amarantine, Flora’s secret, China roses… And the list went on and on.
I tried to imagine what her secret was that made me never get tired of listening… At that point I was listening to her sing, “Oh come, oh come Emmanuel…”
My God! Enya is so good at what she does. She is able to take songs we hear everyday and add her signature to it that gave a lot of significance and quality to the music. What a talent! What an inspiration to push ourselves to the limits and break those limits to see what else lies beyond them.
Music is powerful, but most of its power lies in the hands of the artist behind the song, an artist willing to pour out herself like a sacrificial lamb into a song that still speaks to hearts long after the artist is gone.
Mowabites Worldwide 