Music Monday #28: Anthology by Bryan Adams

He turned 60 last year you know, I know age is nothing but a number and has little relevance to someone's career, but the reason I mention it is because Bryan Adams is one of those artists that I have a vision of in my mind that was created at the time when I first discovered his music, and that vision is what remains, even now.  That image of who he was is one I formed in 2005 when he released 'Anthology' prior to this I had heard his name and I knew one or two tracks but I hadn't paid much attention to him.

Anthology is a greatest hits album that brought together music from the better part of three decades leading up to its release.  I have the International version and from it there are quite a few tracks that I love but those that stand out the most are ' Summer of 69' [make of that what you will], 'Everything I Do', 'There Will Never Be Another Tonight', 'All For Love', 'Best of Me', 'Don't Give Up', and 'Here I Am' all of which you can probably guess fit a theme, follow a narrative that I identified with, and are pretty self explanatory.  The truth is I can't break these down to just a few and piecing together all the lyrics would only lead to me repeating much of what I have already shared throughout this series of posts.

The two tracks I will single out though are 'Everything I Do' and 'Here I Am' which are worthy of particular note.  The former represents the first love song that I really connected with on an emotional level that ran a little too deep for me.  I had heard love songs before that I identified with, some of which have been mentioned already in this list, but this song cut deep and struck a nerve, I know that's a cliché for many people though, I have visions of Stewie Griffin from Family Guy in this moment for the music video he created when he was lovesick, but there is comedy in tragedy, and life imitates art, and sometimes art imitates life, sorry Oscar Wilde. 

This is one of those instances, where yes as much as it may seem sardonic that is how I felt - bear in mind though when I bought Anthology I was 17, my life experience was limited and everything was amplified as I didn't yet have the context to put everything into in order to weigh it up.  Indeed as I have grown and gained much more experience in life and in love the weight of that song has grown heavier and the lyrics mean much more, attached to more than just one person at this point you could even flip the script and say the lyrics are directed at my inners self now talking to yourself as if they were a third person and telling them everything you do is for them, which ironically isn't that far from the truth if you choose to separate your ego from your sense of self and treat it like a third person.

'Here I Am' on the other hand it should probably come as no surprise by now as a gay man represents something that I've already touched upon, the struggle for self acceptance and the ability to say those words and mean them that you're happy with who you are, where you are, and that you've made peace with the world - I'd like to say I am there but still I have work to do before I get there.  I am a lot more comfortable with who I am than I was at 17.