HE playlist, Song Three (Jackson’s song): “My Love is Your Love,” Whitney Houston

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For song three, I’m choosing a song for Jackson which I think sums up how he feels about Oren and how he sees their love as reciprocal, their relationship as unbreakable.

If tomorrow is judgment day
And I'm standing on the front line
And the Lord asks me what I did with my life
I will say I spent it with you

Oren is not just Jackson’s first love; he is his personal hero; Jackson sees Oren as his everything, loving Oren as his highest calling.

If I lose my fame and fortune (really don't matter)
And I'm homeless on the street (on the street oh Lord)
And I'm sleeping in Grand Central Station (okay)
It's okay if you're sleeping with me

Oren relates this anecdote:

We slept in Jackson’s truck last night at the edge of campus, which was still and dark by the time we arrived.

“Are you sure this is OK?” I asked Jackson. “Are you sure you’re, OK? Do you need anything?” The calm I had felt as we left Locust Hollow behind now disappeared in the cramped confines of the cab of Jackson’s truck in this dark, unfamiliar city.

“You’re here,” Jackson said. “You’re all I need.”

Seconds later, his head resting on my shoulder, he was asleep.

Part one of the chorus speaks to their emotional entanglement:

'Cause your love is my love
And my love is your love

Essentially Jackson and Oren become one as Oren states in this journal entry:

Jackson and I had been like two trees planted a foot apart leaning towards each other until we touched and, having touched, grew together until, finally, looking at them, you couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.

But it is the last line of the chorus that is at the book’s heart:

And the chains of Amistad couldn't hold us

This line from the song, written and produced by Wyclef Jean and Jerry Duplessis for Whitney’s 1998, album refers to the historical event of the rebellion on the slave ship, Amistad, and represents an unbreakable love that is so strong it overcomes even the most formidable obstacles and tragedies—something Jackson and Oren do repeatedly throughout the book.

Watch the video for "My Love is Your Love," with lyrics, here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxZD0VQvfqU

Read more about the Amistad slave rebellion.


Photo by EyasuEtsub on Unsplash



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