| Wednesday May 1st 2002 Just happened to throw in an old dance music tape last night while I was driving, and it just happened to include the song 'Waterfalls' by TLC on it, and a particular line just happened to jump out at me during the rap portion: "Who's to blame for shootin' 'caine into your own vein?" As in cocaine, which of course is somewhat ironic now. Lisa Lopes, the third of TLC who wrote and performed all the rap portions of all their songs (and was very good at it) died this past week in a drug-related car accident. She was the one driving. So it appears she didn't take her own advice. The song 'Waterfalls' describes numerous self-destructive situations, for those who don't know or remember. In the first verse, a young boy sells drugs in the streets despite his mother's pleas and is found 'cold in the gutter'. In the second verse, a promiscuous man gets infected with AIDS and 'doesn't recognize his own face; three letters took him to his final resting place.' It's an excellent song I've always liked, both for its tune and its message. About a year and a half ago, maybe two years, I saw TLC in concert here in Ottawa. Our seats were far too close to the speakers, and I would still rank it as the least professional of all the concerts I've attended, but it's still an eerie feeling to remember seeing Lisa Lopes on stage and now to know she's dead. Drugs weren't her only problem; there was also some report about her attempted arson rap at her ex-boyfriend's house that resulted in community service or some such thing. Their latest album's title (at the time) was Crazy, Sexy, Cool, and in the stage performance she identified herself as the Crazy one. But she was also the most talented, as shown in her recent solo album; I didn't buy it, but I've heard some of it. She had a lot going for her. She wrote, sang and performed music with a positive message. And apparently, at some point, she shrugged and said 'So what? It's just music?'. And this was the end result. Who's to blame, indeed. Hopefully her actions speak far louder than her words, to those who weren't reached already. |