I can't understand it, no. Where did we go wrong? -Frankie Beverly
Two words here- Frankie. Beverly. Not Be. Yon. Ce. Not her ok. Did I say not? NOT! Me and the Mr. were at a party recently and the Mrs. Carter version of Before I Let Go came on and as always I was disappointed. This is not gonna be a slander post for some of y’all's favorite entertainer, insert side-eye. We'll save that for another day. Ha! I will say one of the only things more annoying to me than hearing R. Kelly at a gathering is hearing the wrong version of this amazing song. If you feel differently, like the Mr. does, you're just wrong. Frankie Beverly & Maze's Before I Let Go is the REAL one, not that other stuff. So we're there at my family's party, the wrong song comes on, he's bopping his head and I'm rolling my eyes. Even still it made me think back to my serious partying days and I had to smile. Thank God I'm centered and satisfied and I don't miss that life, I just had a good time back then.
I went from a young tender 17-year-old sneaking into the party on up to a 28-year-old vet wondering why I was still at the parties. There were times when I danced so much I sweated my hair out. There were times when my friends and I were the last ones on the dance floor not wanting it to end. Frankie Beverly rocked with us through the years. He was our signal that the party was done. The beat would drop, the lights would come and we could see how cute (or not) the dudes we were dancing with actually were. It was hit or miss, but fun nonetheless.
My friends and I bonded on the dance floor. The Lyrics spoke to us and the beats moved us. Most times we were the center of attention because we were cute and we had the moves. Even when we had papers due or tests and quizzes to take, we got our release right there. We were care free. It felt like time was standing still and nothing else mattered. We were a unit and nothing or no one could touch us. In fact if someone tried to touch one of us in a way that was unwanted, they would have to deal with all of us. And we were at least 5 deep, lots of times there were 7 of us. We weren't rowdy or aggressive, we just wanted to party. As I think about it we kinda grew up in the parties. We transitioned from students to graduates, from flirty girls to grown women, and even from singles to moms. So much happened over the years, but we always made time to celebrate, on the dance floor.
I always say I am so so SO glad that in the height of our party days there were very few phones with cameras and social media as we know it today was not a thing. God only knows the footage that would be out there of me and my girls. I count it a blessing that we were able to make our mistakes in private. At least for the most part.
One big mistake that you people, not me, have made, is allowing the Knowles-Carter rendition of the song to become popular. Another place folks got it wrong is this "pics or it didn't happen" attitude. Most of my fondest memories are only recorded in my mind and the minds of the people I love. It would never end up on Twitter or The Shade Room and for that I am grateful. I send up a praise for my generation and prayers for this new generation. The good thing is there's still time to make a turn and get some things right. Thank God.
atb
