Baby, baby, baby, I'm coming home
To your tender sweet loving
You're my one and only woman
The world leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, girl
You're the only one that I want
I wanna be around
I wanna be around you, girl
Baby, how I'd be grieving
If you wanted to leave me all alone now by myself
I don't wanna party anywhere else
The world leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, girl
You're the only one that I want
~ Jenkins / Vivion / Block / Bridges (for Leon Bridges)
Okay, so the lyrics are not profound. In this case, they don't have to be. Listening to Leon Bridges sing anything is worth one's time. No profundity necessary. And, to offer a simpler excuse for this song choice today, I arrived "home" yesterday and will spend some time and mental meanderings contemplating that concept of "home."
"Coming Home" is the hit single from the album of the same name, released in 2015. I hope that you're familiar with Leon Bridges, but since I don't listen to commercial radio, I have no idea if he is accessible to all. His quick ascension to success in the music industry makes sense to me. In these times, when the world leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, it is not surprising that there would be a desire to travel back to what we now perceive as a simpler time. Leon Bridges' music is a throw-back to that time, a soul revival of sorts. Who doesn't love classic R&B? Bridges delivers. Of soul music, he said, "I love the realness and the simplicity of it. The soul music they were making back then was from the heart." And Bridges has heart. Oddly enough, when people began to compare him to Sam Cooke, Bridges had to spend some time becoming familiar with Sam Cooke's music. That new familiarity only served to make Bridges' music even better. The man is a natural.
Bridges was only 25 when he recorded Coming Home. Born Todd Bridges, he took on the nickname "Leon" as his performing name, but his mom still calls him Todd. (If your mind just directed you to Diff'rent Strokes, you will understand the name change. "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?") Growing up in Fort Worth, Texas, Bridges' story is a compelling and heart-warming one. The first thing he did when he hit the charts was to buy his mom a house. If you'd like to know more about his story, read this wonderful article from D Magazine (D is for Dallas.)
Coming home. I drove the second and last leg of my trip home from Florida yesterday, ten hours non-stop. Along the way, I pondered what I would find when I walked in the door. Bats flying around the high ceilings? How many dead mice in the pantry? How many dead tree branches on the lawn or on the roof? But when I disarmed the alarm and unlocked the door, I stepped into my home. Talk about soul. My late husband built this house with his bare hands. It is where my kids grew up. It, like your homes, is full of memory, of joy and sorrow, of love and comfort. It is everything that is contained in that simple word, "home." And I'm here. I'm home.
And relieved to find only one dead mouse.
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