When I was small, my Mom and sisters gave me records to play with..seriously. I actually remember sitting on the floor in Worthington, Ohio, with all of these records spread out around me. When I learned to read I read all of the liner notes. Memorable covers? Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, because the yellow light that David Bowie is standing in (in a phone booth? I need to look it up) kinda scared me; Dreamweaver by Gary Wright because he was wearing eye shadow, and Marvin Gaye's Greatest Hits. He was sitting on this purple chair that looked like a popsicle.
The one thing that me, my sisters, and my mom have in common in our record collections is Marvin Gaye. That's it. They don't understand my penchant for jazz fusion and old Grateful Dead albums, I don't get their attachment to Barry Manilow and other seventies one hit wonders (we-ll....maybe i do).....but this is something that totally rings true for all of us. On this particular album that i remember the cover, it had the song "I Want You" on it, which I had forgotten about in my teens and early twenties, but rediscovered my love for Marvin Gaye after visiting my Mom in Philadelphia one time....i remember thinking I used to play Barbies to this song. Hah.
So, I went and bought the album shortly after my visit.
It's hard to explain how much I love this song. I love the lyrics, I love the orchestration, I even love the background vocals (all tracked by Marvin Gaye), all recorded in the tiny Studio A at Hitsville USA in Detroit. Written by Diana Ross's brother, T-Bone Burnett. In fact, in true Marvin Gaye style orchestrated on 'Let's Get It On' (my other favorite album), the theme is the same throughout the album. There is an instrumental version of the song, and the intro appears in between two or three songs on the album.
I remember driving through the mountains of west North Carolina, from home to work, to this song. I remember hiking Grayson Highlands with this on repeat. I remember sobbing thinking I wanted somebody to love me like this...inside heavenly choruses and string arrangements, to crawl inside a musical true love fantasy and never climb out. There is something so beautiful about being wanted over being needed in a relaltionship. Want implies a choice, wheras need doesn't. To be wanted is something we all crave.....it's animalistic, almost....just straight true passion. Passion is what it's all about, your pure motivation for another person, place or thing. And for a long time when there wasn't any passion in my life, I adopted this as my favorite song, maybe in a way to be reminded of how it felt to be wanted. Unrequited love was definitely something in my life that's an aching memory, but in a weird way almost comforting. Odd to revisit, sure, but memories nonetheless. And this song brings it back full circle for me.
This song never ceases to touch my soul, ever. Every time I hear it I get goose bumps. Hence why this little ditty is my number four favorite song of all time.
I want you the right way
I want you
But I want you to want me too
Want you to want me, baby
Just like I want you
I give you all the love
I want in return, sweet darlin'
But half a love is all I feel
It's too bad, it's too sad
You don't want me now
But I'm gonna change your mind
Someway, somehow, oh baby
This one way love is just fantasy, oh sugar
To share is precious, pure and fair
Don't play with something you should cherish for life, oh baby
Don't you wanna care
Aint it lonely out there
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