Songs Rhino loves, #1: Amerie - “Gotta Work”

I ain’t got the spoons for much, but I’ve got the spoons for this.

I thought I would have a thoughtful critique of President Joe Biden ready before Christmas, and that didn’t come to pass. I thought I would have a nuanced remembrance of Christopher Hitchens ready in time for the tenth anniversary of his passing on the fifteenth of December, and I missed that too. I have struggled to piece together eulogies for Greg Tate and for bell hooks. It turns out I ain’t even got the spoons to provide for y’all a brief life update to tell you what it is that I’ve been up to instead of maintaining this blog the way I had hoped to, even though all that would require is for me to cut, paste, and edit a piece or two I’ve already published elsewhere. No, alas, the only thing I seem to be able to rouse myself to do is post a few words in praise of one of my favourite songs, and because I’ve decided I’ll be maintaining this practice on Twitter as well (I welcome you to join me there, although the song I post here and the song I post there will always be the same song), it seems to me to be possible that I should be able to post a link to one great song a day, every day, for the entirety of 2022.

Our inaugural song is the one I make a point of listening to at the stroke of midnight just as New Year’s Eve is becoming New Year’s Day, because no matter what kind of a shitshow I’m in for in the calendar year that’s just begun, this specific song always represents a good omen, every single time.

I believe it was Jesse Dangerously, the vastly underrated rapper and overall force for good in the world (here is a playlist of all my favourite songs he has made that can be accessed on Spotify), who introduced me to this song. I owe him an enduring debt of gratitude for this. Every listen to this song is as vivifying and meaningful as the first. To me, it is the sound of exhilaration, of gratitude to be alive. I wish I could have even an ounce of Amerie’s courage. This song is a delivery system for some of the purest and most joyous adrenaline imaginable – when she sings about the inevitability of obstacles and proclaims to me her perfect 100% confidence and certitude that she can conquer them, she gives to me the great gift of renewed belief that I have not yet been defeated by my flaws and mistakes and shortcomings and sins, that, though I may be crushed to earth, I may yet rise again.

Here’s where you can stream the song on Spotify, and here’s the music video. Here is a YouTube link that has the audio of the song with no visual accompaniment.