W.I.L.T.W.I.I.Y. Elle Varner – Perfectly Imperfect
- Posted: August 15, 2012
- Category: music / WILTWIIY
Besides being one of my curl crushes, I love this woman’s voice and something about her makes me feel like I’d get along with her in real life. From watching her interviews to listening to her breakdown the album on Spotify, she’s become quite the friend in my head. I’m shocked to hear someone as beautiful and talented as her was ever bullied, but it makes me all the more curious about her. I don’t know why hearing that the same things I let burdeon my life happen to this beautiful woman makes me feel like less of a loser, but it does. I mean if someone can find something about this bombshell to pick at or not accept, I don’t feel as bad about my shortcommings. But I digress a bit. I’m in love with Elle Varner’s new album Perfectly Imperfect.
I first heard of Elle on Vh1 Soul watching her “Only Wana Give It To You” video featuring J. Cole. From there, it was a wrap. I found her mixtape Conversational Lush on Kid Fury’s site and that sealed the deal for me. After confirming via Spotify that I loved her debut album Perfectly Imperfect, I went ahead and purchased it. It’s been on repeat all week. So, on to my breakdown of my favorites….
I Don’t Care
For me, this describes being caught up and in love; it’s how I felt about my ex. My favorite line is “how do you make me smile, simply by telling the time?” Girl. GIRL. Been there. Nothing matters because everything matters with him. You’re happy and there’s not a concern about trying to hide how head over heels you are. You’ve fallen far and hard, everyone can see it, and you don’t care. Yup. Been there. If the lyrics aren’t enough, between her vocals and the beat; easy favorite.
Not Tonight
Ok. Full disclosure. This song reminds me about this guy I’ve kinda secretly been in love with since elementary school. It would be our story to a T, if I hadn’t kinda told him I liked him. Considering I like to forget that conversation happened, lol, I live through this song. I was always afraid to tell him how I felt about him, and I didn’t…. for YEARS. One night I had some juice put in my pack and a few drinks and I told him. It didn’t go as planned but not horribly. Essentially there was no outcome except for me getting it off my chest. To this day, I still have a thing for him, but I’ll never speak of it to him. That’s why this song still resonates with me. I know exactly how she feels. I lived it for a long time, and in some ways still do.
Leaf
Back to “that ex” again. This song is pretty much how I saw things in our relationship. My favorite line of the song “lighter than a leaf in your pocket, I’ll be there.” I’m never one to ask for much. I’m a giver. Give me reason to give and I’m the happiest girl in this here world. This song describes all the ways she would be there for her man and show that she had his back. That’s why I hold out on falling in love as long as I humanly can. I go hard. I don’t know how to give part of me. I just give it all. This takes me back to the early part of my last relationship when I gave and gave. In this song, the giving seems to be received well. One day, hopefully my giving will be received well as well. This song brings up mixed emotions for the obvious reasons. For the most part, I can just smile at how happy that I once was. I mean, he ain’t the end of the world.
Stop The Clock
This is where I was at the end of the relationship with “that ex”. For me, this song is about getting played. All of the giving and waiting for him to get it together and all he had were excuses. She waits for his love to come and pick her up out of this emotional storm she’s in but all she finds herself with is the passing time and alone. The tide turns when the time shifts from his hands to hers and she ends the waiting game. She reclaims her time and moves on. ”Though I’m never getting back the years I wasted, I got forever to never see you again.” I don’t know if I can fully explain to you what that line did for me. It was really that moment when I just let it go. I can hold a grude like nobody’s business…. to my own detriment. Hearing that line was a reminder that that little bit of time I spent hurting is nothing compared to how long I now don’t have to hurt. Liberating.
I’m going to make special mention of “Only Wana Give It To You”, “Refill” and “So Fly” because I love the songs. I chose to review in detail the songs I did because they mean the most to me. They speak to me because they tell my story the best of all the songs on the album. I most certainly can relate to my special mention songs, but not as much as I do the others. I seriously love this album and strongly suggest everyone buy it. It’s $8. You can eat more than that in one sitting. You might as well spend it on something you can have for as long as your hardrive will last.
