Oh, hey! Ça va ? Today’s post is the last part of the series The Stories Behind The Playlist, containing the last four songs and stories. If you’re new here, welcome and thanks for stopping by! You have a lot of catching up to do, so I suggest you start by reading or listening to the intro to this series. Although the stories are not cumulative and the order in which you read them doesn’t matter a whole lot, I strongly suggest you read at least one part before this one. Here are Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V. Happy reading or listening! 🤗
Disclaimer
In some stories, I’ll reference The Book for context. In doing so, I am by no means trying to make you buy it; the buying decision remains in your hands. 😊
The content of these stories may also be triggering, so your discretion is advised.
Contents
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Song 25: Madre Mia by Nesty
Release year: 2023
Year of first listen: 2023
Years of the story: infinity and beyond, but mostly 2023
The story
Okay, so, do we know how much I love Spanish? No? Have we seen this page before?
This song is a reflection of my thoughts and feelings in October 2023. Nesty quite literally took the words out of my mouth (or my thoughts, rather). In the 20 months between February 2022 and October 2023, my family and I lost 3 close members. The last one passed in October 2023, and that week, my heart was very heavy. It’d been for a few weeks, and much heavier since the beginning of that month, my mom’s birth month.
I kept wondering if there was a way to make her live forever. I asked myself how I could make her eternal. And exactly that week of October, I discovered this song, with these exact lyrics. I couldn’t stop listening to it. I listened to it for the entire month, and many more times afterward.
Below is a screenshot of my 2023 Spotify Wrapped, with Nesty as the fourth most listened-to artist (guess who was first?) and October as the peak listening month.
My father passed away in May 2023. The two pictures on the collage below were taken two days apart in July 2023, during the funerals week back home in Cameroon. I learned during that time that in my culture, people–including family–are not allowed to hug a widow before the burial of her deceased husband. While I am not thrilled by that practice, I was certainly elated to finally be able to hug my mom after my father’s burial ceremony in the village.
We all lined up and went to hug my mom one by one. The picture on the right was captured when it was my turn.
Key Lyrics
No soy de mucho pedir, pero hoy pido por mi vieja
I am not one to ask for much, but today I have a request for my mom
La que me trajo el mundo, yo soy quien soy gracias a cómo es
The one who brought me into the world, I am who I am thanks to who she is
Dime cómo le hago madre mía pa' que seas eterna
Tell me, dear mother, how to make it so that you are eternal
Si es verdad que arriba existe un Dios hoy le quiero pedir
If it’s true that there’s a God above, today I’d like to ask Him
Que siempre me de la bendición de tenerte cerca
That He may always give me the blessing of having you close
Para poder abrazarte y nunca dejarte ir
So I can hug you and never let you go
Mami como tú ninguna
Mom, there’s no one like you
Eres inigualable porque madre solo hay una
No one compares to you because there’s only one like you
Y si existe otra vida
And if there’s another life
Cuando me toque nacer
When I get to be born again
Pido que sea de ti
I ask that it be from you
Dime cómo le hago madre mía
Tell me, dear mother
Pa' que me dures toda la vida
How to make you last an entire life
Que Dios te bendiga siempre, mami
May God bless you always, mom
Keywords: Ming Mang Moung
Song 26: Vivir Mi Vida by Marc Anthony
Release year: 2013
Year of first listen: Probably 2013 as well
Years of the story: 2021 to 2024
The story
Would it be fair to assume that by now, you know how much I love Spanish? Okay cool, just wanted to double-check.
I can’t quite figure out how I remembered this song and started listening to it again, but when I did, it was because I was ready to be happy and live my life. Before the end of 2021 though, my idea of happiness was still a bit (or a lot) different from what I know now. Listening to this song at the time made me look forward to when I would be “there,” when I would have “made it” and be able to really enjoy my life. Like Song 21, I thought this one would also be a hymn for when my dream came true. By the end of the year, when I learned the biggest lesson of my life and my perspective on happiness changed, I decided to try and live my life outside of my dreams and goals. It wasn’t easy, especially with the pandemic and my financial situation at the time, but I tried my best.
The summer of 2022 is when I started exploring some of my passions and trying things I used to tell myself I would only do when my dream came true. Now that I had started my first full-time job in Canada and was relatively stable compared to previous years, I wanted to have a little bit of fun, too. A year and a half later, in March 2024, I gifted myself my first vacation for my birthday. My first vacation is something I initially tied to an accomplishment, specifically becoming a CFA charterholder after passing all levels of the exam and getting the required experience. Part of my reasoning was rewarding myself for reaching that milestone, but I didn’t think I’d be able to afford a trip before then either. I knew I wanted to go to an island somewhere; I didn’t look into it, but it sounded like it would require a lot of money.
In 2024, not only had my mindset around dreams, goals, and happiness already changed, but I also deeply needed some time off, outside of Canada. More than celebrating my birthday, I was celebrating myself for braving life’s challenges over the past seven years. I was proud of myself, and I didn’t want to wait to achieve something else before rewarding myself with a trip.
Key lyrics
A veces llega la lluvia
Sometimes the rain comes
Para limpiar las heridas
To clean the wounds
¿Y para qué llorar?
And why cry?
Si duele una pena, se olvida
If it hurts, the pain is forgotten
¿Y para qué sufrir?
And why suffer?
Si así es la vida, hay que vivirla
If this is what life is like, you just have to live it
Voy a reír, voy a bailar
I'm going to laugh, I'm going to dance
Voy a reír, voy a gozar
I'm going to laugh, I'm going to have fun
Empieza a soñar, a reír
Start to dream, to laugh
Que la vida es una sola
There’s only one life
Siempre pa' lante, no mires pa' atrás
Always move forward, don’t look back
Keywords: joy, happiness, life living
Song 27: If You Believe by Strive to Be
Release year: 2021
Year of first listen: 2023
Years of the story: 2020 to 2024
The story
I have outdone myself.
My memoir and everything surrounding it have become so much more than I anticipated; so much more than I imagined. Dreams come true, and mine will too has evolved from a thought to a mantra to a book to a brand to a company. And none of this was my plan.
When I started working on this book in 2020, I was terrified. And so was I when I decided to launch. I’d never done anything like this before, and I didn’t know where to start or how it would all end. I couldn’t have imagined how much of a gift this book would be to me either; from the talents and skills I have discovered or rediscovered, to the internal work I have done on myself, I am in awe of what I’ve accomplished. I am proud of myself and grateful to God for entrusting this project into my hands.
I have overcome challenges I thought were unsurmountable and experienced pain at intensities I didn’t know it was possible to feel. I wrote an entire 400-page book in a foreign language, then translated it into my native language on my own. I designed an entire website on my own. I built an entire company on my own. I went to therapy. I got closer to God. And I did all this while in school or working a full-time job, and with very, very limited financial resources. None of this was easy to do: there were trials, errors, lessons, mistakes. There were challenges and roadblocks. There was doubt, fear, loneliness, exhaustion, discouragement. There was sweat and blood. There were tears. There was pain.
Here I am in September 2024, writing these words and looking back at my journey. I remember the words I wrote as a mantra on the back of the cover of my 2020 planner; those words are now on the front cover of a book, followed by my name.
I have outdone myself.
Key lyrics
If you believeYou can move the highest mountains
Cross the greatest oceans
And walk across the water
You try to stand up, but you throw your hands up
Like you no longer have the strength to fight
'Cause you've seen too many sunsetsToo many days ending in the darkest night
But, on your own, you'll never know
You can do anything
If you believe
Keywords: faith, dreams, accomplishments, pride.
Song 28: Because We Believe by Andrea Bocelli
Release year: 2006
Year of first listen: 2022 (like, what?! 😭)
Years of the story: 1996 until the day God unilaterally decides it is time we meet.
The story
Wait, was it Spanish or Italian that I liked better? Can’t remember right now, but I do know how much I love Andrea Bocelli’s music. And I love this song.
When I listened to this song for the first time in 2022, I just knew it would end up on The Playlist. I knew I would listen to it non-stop for days and weeks. And I did.
For some time during my childhood, I didn’t think there was a reason I was placed on this earth. When my mood lightened up and I discovered my dream a few years later, I set out on a mission to make it come true, thinking it was my purpose. I didn't make a connection between this relentless quest and how I felt about my life years earlier, nor do I believe today that I unconsciously pursued this dream in connection with that feeling. I just know that I was determined to make my dream to come true; it was the only way I thought I was going to be happy.
That dream never came true. I am not sad and I have no regrets. It will always mean something to me, but something more meaningful has superseded it. It is the dream I never knew I had, and the gift I never knew I needed. As I am about to make that dream come true, I am grateful for the journey getting here. As I continue this journey, I take with me the lessons I have learned along the way and the realizations I have made. One of these realizations is that, like a star across the sky, I, too, was born to shine. There’s a reason I was born, and though I haven’t figured out exactly what my purpose is yet, I know this book is part of it, and I am confident I will find the rest later on in the journey.
In the meantime, I will tend to this gift and pursue my many other interests and passions, regardless of what people think and regardless of the outcome.
Because I believe in dreams coming true.
Key lyrics
Guarda fuori e'gia'mattina
Look outside: it's morning
Questo e'un giorno che ricorderai
This is a day you’ll remember
Alzati in fretta e vai
Hurry, get up and go
C'è chi crede in te
There are people who believe in you
Non ti arrendere
Do not give up
Once in every life
There comes a time
We walk out all alone
And into the light
The moment won't last but then
We remember it again
Like stars across the sky
Che per avvincere
In order to shine
Tu dovrai vincere
You will have to conquer
We were born to shine
All of us here because we believe
Guarda avanti e non voltarti mai
Look ahead and do not turn back
Accarezza con I sogni tuoi
Caress your dreams
Le tue speranze e poi
Your hopes and then
Verso il giorno che verrà
Turn toward the day that will be
C'è un traguardo là
There is a finish line
Our light will never fade
Keywords: dreams come true, and mine will too.
This is it: the end of the series The Stories Behind The Playlist. Thank you for taking the time to read or listen to these stories, especially if you’ve been here since the beginning. I hope you enjoyed reading the stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.
The next and last post of this series will be a recap with links to Part I through Part VI, so you can easily find specific stories in case you ever want to read them again. 😊 I’ll also put together a small bonus. Nothing crazy, but I’m curious—what do you think it’s going to be?
Câlins,
Danielle
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