"You Put A Move On My Heart"

it's no secret that i love music. good music...

if you are acquainted with me, you know i always have the TV tuned to Music Choice or i'm listening to my iPod or even last.fm and Pandora.

the amazing thing to me about music, is that it takes you places. you drift back to the moment in time when "that particular song" first hit your ears. you remember how it made you feel, listening to the song over and over again. you recall people, places and things associated with "that song".

i have those moments every day. my musical range is eclectic, ranging from Classic R&B/Soul from the 1960s and on, Hip-Hop, Alternative, Punk, Rock and Country. so whenever and wherever GOOD music is playing, i'm grooving along, maybe even singing and dancing... to the beat and the memories in my head.

Tamia's introduction into the mainstream music world came courtesy of Quincy Jones' Q's Jook Joint Compilation. the same album that saw Brandy and Heavy D remake Michael Jackson's iconic "Rock With You", saw the appearance of a young lady from Ontario, Canada. Tamia Hill, née Washington, sang her heart out on, "You Put A Move On My Heart". she wormed her way into my heart with her song about true love and how with it in your corner, nothing is impossible and just how amazing "her love" was.

i was only 14; barely a freshman in high school but i was well on my way down the road when it came to my relationship with music. my dad played his records every Saturday and Sunday and i grew up learning the lyrics to classics. this song... it hit me hard. to me, this song was EVERYTHING i wanted my first love to be like. it was the kind of love that inspired epics: Antony and Cleopatra, Helen of Troy and Paris, Romeo and Juliet... and it made me want to fall headlong into love with anyone. there was no one in particular at that time, but lyrics such as:

"time after time, when i'm feelin low

something inside of me lets me know

it's alright, loves on my side

when the world... seems a lonely place

i've got a dream that won't leave a trace

of the blues

i just think of you..."

made me want to love someone just as much. that was 15 years ago and every time this song comes on... i take a second to envision that perfect love that awaits me in time. i get misty-eyed, imagining how it would feel to love someone so much that your heart feels like it's going to burst. additionally, the thought of love being the definitive factor in overcoming anything, makes me smile.

over the years, i have encountered love. whether it was an affair of my own or those around me... somehow this song has always been at the foreground of my mind. not to say that it made me look down on my romantic partners if they didn't measure up to statements like "...hold me, love me passionately blind, love me 'til the end of time...", but it did make me aware of the possibilities that a particular relationship was not headed in the right direction or giving me "...the warmest glow, heat in the passion that, heaven knows..."

here's to Rod Temperton (writer), Quincy Jones (producer) and Tamia (singer) for executing one of the finest love songs in my time.