Lift 🏋 | 5ive Songs

1. John Legend, “Get Lifted”

💿 Get Lifted • 🏷 Getting Out Our Dreams / Sony • 📅 2004

“Let’s get lifted / Oh, I’m gonna get you high / I’m really gonna blow your mind.” If you thought that 🏆 Grammy-winning R&B artist extraordinaire 🎙 John Legend was getting himself and an unnamed lover high off of cannabis, well, you’ll be disappointed by 🎵 “Let’s Get Lifted” if you’ve never heard it.  There’s no weed here, only the soulful musician lifting his lover by means of love (and a neo-soul sound, to be fair).

“Let’s Get Lifted” serves as the title track from his 2004 debut album, 💿 Get Lifted.  This is the album that really catapulted Legend to success, particularly after he contributed so many soulful vocals to co-producer 🎛 Kanye West, who also broke through in the early aughts. “Let’s Get Lifted” is undoubtedly one of Legend’s best records, providing some throwback vibes to the old-school crowd while also bringing that soul to a new crop of listeners.

2. Kanye West, “Lift Yourself”

🎵 “Lift Yourself Up” • 🏷 Def Jam • 📅 2018

“But they don’t realize, though…This next verse, this next verse though…These bars…Watch this some shit, go.” 🎙 Kanye West often finds ways to offend and piss of just about everybody. A number of fans were rethinking their ‘Kanye love’ following his profession of ‘Trump love’, something he addressed on his 2018 single, 🎵 “Ye Vs the People”. In addition to the most controversial single of the two, he also released 🎵 “Lift Yourself”.

Safe to say, Mr. West totally misses the mark – there was no lift whatsoever on the shot, sigh.  The production (West and 🎙 Mike Dean) isn’t the problem in the least – it’s Kanye.  When he urges listeners to “watch this go,” he fails to tell them just how utterly childish and ridiculous it actually is.  I quote:

“Poopy-di scoop
Scoop-diddy-whoop
Whoop-di-scoop-di-poop
Poop-di-scoopty.”

Bars man – bars.

Also Appears On 🔽:

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3. Passion Pit, “Lifted Up (1985)”

💿 Kindred • 🏷 Columbia • 📅 2015

“And 1985 was a good year – the sky broke apart then you appeared / Dropped from the heavens, they call me a dreamer / I won’t lie, I knew you belonged here.” 🎵 “Lifted Up (1985)” initiates 💿 Kindred, the 2015 album by alternative collective 🎙 Passion Pit in exuberant, luminous fashion.  Front man 🎙 Michael Angelakos delivers his usual distinct and beautiful vocals, a signature characteristic of this band.  The sound of the record is bright to the nth degree, but it’s not been all bright for Michael over the years, who’s battled bipolar disorder.  Specific lyrics reference the struggle he’s experienced.

“Now the rain and the thunder are clashing
The sun’s got aa smile ‘cross the face
Oh, but yeah, I’m so tired
I fight so hard and come back beaten
Beacon, burn through it brightly.”

Given the sound and the thoughtful songwriting, it’s unsurprising “Lifted Up (1985)” was chosen as the set’s promo single.

4. Ezra Furman, “God Lifts Up the Lowly”

💿 Transangelic Exodus • 🏷 Bella Union • 📅 2018

Spirituality is a prominent theme throughout the course of 💿 Transangelic Exodus, among the best albums of 2018.  Given numerous references to angels, that’s not totally surprising.  “My angel’s got eyes like a housing project,” 🎙 Ezra Furman sings, continuing, “He was born inside a guitar.”

On the expressive ballad 🎵 “God Lifts Up the Lowly,” he paints pictures of the downtrodden, forgotten, and misfortunate, as evidenced by the aforementioned lyrical excerpt.  Ultimately, he provides some sense of encouragement, and Biblical for that matter, as he sings the titular lyric, “I know God lifts up the lowly.”

Also Appears On 🔽:

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5. Ricky Dillard “You’re the Lifter”

💿 Choirmaster • 🏷 Motown Gospel • 📅 2020

“My strength comes from You / Jesus, see me through / For you’re the lifter / Of my head.” 🎵 “You’re the Lifter” serves as the incredible penultimate cut from 💿 Choirmaster, the 2020 gospel masterpiece by 🏆 Grammy-nominated gospel artist, 🎙 Ricky Dillard.  The ‘choirmaster’ himself and his brilliant choir delivers a powerful, 10-minute, must-hear ballad.  IF you need a good lift – and I’m not talking Planet Fitness – the emotional, spiritually charged “You’re the Lifter” will provide it.

Adding to the grand experience, 🏆 Grammy-winning gospel sensation 🎙 Tamela Mann provides a serious ‘lift’ towards the end of this 10-minute gem.  In the context of Choirmaster, if it felt the album was growing the slightest bit too long, “You’re the Lifter” provides a timely blessing that marvelously touches the soul.