Thursday, February 09, 2006

With Microphone in Hand



Blogroll Me!

It is your debut. You're on a small stage in a bar and it's open mic night, thus a chance to sing and belt your heart out.

The spotlights overhead are bright, truly making it your night to shine.

I want you to find a song that truly represents you, represents your life, represents everything we need to know about you.

What is that one song that you would associate with yourself?

For me, for the past 25 years at least, that song has been Diana Ross's "I'm Coming Out."

Now I know what you're thinking, because of what the term "coming out" has come to mean. Be assured that THAT meaning has absolutely nothing to do with me.

But why I chose this song? For a shy pearl of a girl who emerged from her oyster shell in her late teens, and continued to slowly emerge and reveal her true colors, which sat latent for so many years, this song is perfect.

I amaze myself sometimes with the boldness I display, with my vocalness, whether oral or written, with my embracing of people. Looking back at who I once was, I know I wasn't what I am today. Yes, I was friendly and warm, but I didn't have close school friends in my early years. (my daughter questioned me on that the other night: "Were you the most popular loser?")

The genuine Pearl continues to unfold before my very eyes...

So thanks, Diana Ross, for helping me find a song that I could call my own.

I'm Coming Out

I'm coming out
I'm coming out
I'm coming out
I'm coming out
I'm coming out

I'm coming out
I want the world to know
Got to let it show
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
I got to let it show

There's a new me coming out
And I just have to live
And I just wanna give
I'm completely positive

I think this time around
I am gonna do it
Like you never knew it
Ooh, I'll make it through

The time has come for me
To break out of the shell
I have to shout
That I am coming out

I'm coming out
I want the world to know
Got to let it show
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
I got to let it show
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
Got to let it show
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
I got to let it show

I've got to show the world
All that I wanna be
And all my abilities
here's so much more to me

Somehow, I have to make them
Just understand
I got it well in hand
And, oh, how I have planned

I'm spreadin' love
There is no need to fear
And I just feel so glad
Every time I hear:

I'm coming out
I want the world to know
Got to let it show
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
I got to let it show

5 comments:

Esther Kustanowitz said...

I totally feel ya on this post, Pearlie. I actually wrote a performance piece based on my journey from yeshiva girl to karaoke diva, and may have to look around and post it.

The first songs I ever sang at karaoke were not really karaoke. I went to the mall to a recording booth with some friends and we recorded four songs. The first performed karaoke song was I Will Survive. But the song that was the turning point for me was Like a Prayer. And from there, there was NO turning back...

More to come. Undoubtedly.

torontopearl said...

Esther, thanks for your visit. I knew your karaoke self would not let me down.

I also "recorded" a song in a recording booth the first time -- it was an Anita Baker hit, "Caught Up in the Rapture," but it wasn't my best performance.

Then there was the time that I helped organize a Jewish singles' event at a live recording studio. Backup tracks, Karaoke-style, and a couple of sound engineers were used there, and...surprisingly enough I did another Diana Ross song, "Touch Me in the Morning". That worked out wonderfully well...and the best compliment was when the sound engineer said that my track hardly needed any "engineering".
If you're ever in Toronto, we must go and sing together.

cruisin-mom said...

hmmmm Pearl, you have defintely put me on the spot here. Think, think, think.
It isn't I Feel Pretty (if you've seen my 7 and 10 year old picture, you'll know why). In 1980 it was "I will Survive" for a boy who dumped me...I'm going to think and come back to this one.
Great post though!

torontopearl said...

{tap, tap, tapping my foot impatiently} "I'm waiting, people. I need to hear the songs of your life, people. Life is fast-forwarding for many of us--the song charts are changing rapidly. Find a song, and find it FAST!"

cruisin-mom said...

TOO...MUCH...PRESSURE