Camille Recommends: "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men

Arousal.

That’s what my teenage body felt the first time I heard this song, because not only did the lyrics beg for the female’s love, but I was also positively sure I would marry one of the singers in the group (Wanya).

Grief.

That’s what I felt shortly after its release when my heart was shattered. I recall the heavy pain taking its toll on my naïve soul as I paced the hallway in my sister’s apartment dramatically gripping my chest as the song looped.

This song is so special that it’s the only slow jam mixed in with my exercise playlist. If I’m riding high the day it comes on, I simply listen to a bit of it and grin. If I find myself in the throes of unrequited love, I push through my workout while tearfully wondering why things went south.

Very few songs have imprinted my heart the way this one has. There’s just something about the way these men are begging for the woman’s return. They are somehow assured she’ll see the light, yet they’re also crooning their despair upon her refusal. I can appreciate the complexity of this. Sometimes, I listen to it and think back on my early years when my best friend Brandy and I would cry over the boys we desperately wanted. Other times, I can hear it and smile at the possibility that new love is coming my way because I am, like the song, ready to boldly love another.

Let’s see what comes on the next play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDKO6XYXioc(Song recommendation by Camille Clegg)