Songs I Live By #004: Put Your Records On | Corrine Bailey Rae

… From the moment I heard this song, I was captivated. Back then, I was really struggling with trying to identify who I was as a human being. Now mind you, I was only fifteen years old at the time, but in the scheme of things, that’s exactly when a teenager struggles with the concept of acceptance or, for lack of a better term, originality.

Put Your Records Onwaltzed into my life at the perfect time; the summer between my transition from middle school to high school, where all I was worried about was avoiding my next shove into a locker, or better yet, a string of gay slurs that would further hinder my ability to be comfortable in my own skin.

I was never the skinniest kid, nor was I the most talented. I never really got my hands into the realm of sports, which plagued my school’s social calendar. To tell you the truth, I never really got myself involved in anything. I was your typical Average Joe, who was whole heartily searching for who he was and where he belonged.

This song was my key to acceptance in myself. It allowed me to embrace every square inch of my personality, body, strengths, flaws; the works. Rae really did sing it best when she sang: You’re gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow. Because that’s the honest truth of it all.

What I’ve learned is that it’s actually not about what others think of you, or if you’re going to fit in with a specific group of individuals. It’s about loving yourself, and finding the people who love you for everything that you are, and everything that you’re not. It’s the very beginning steps in learning how to love, because if you can’t know self worth and respect, how do you ever expect to find it in somebody else?