The music we listen to now is more often than not indicative of the music our parents played when we were younger. Before I even knew artists like Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, or Ariana Grande, I knew about Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and the Temptations.
My mother and father are straight from the Home of Motown, Motor City, the D, the 313, Detroit Rock City, Detroit, Michigan. They are fans of all things that Michiganians love: Motown, Ford cars, and, for my dad specifically, the Detroit Lions, the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Red Wings, and the Original Bad Boys, the Detroit Pistons.
The biggest thing my parents have passed down to me from Detroit is the love of soul. Soul music is the best genre ever, purely because it encapsulates the human experience so well. When you listen to soul, you’re hearing just about everything special about being cognitive humans, from first love to heartbreaks to devotion and anger. Some of the best songs that address these themes are soulful, and Motown produced many of them. I am eternally grateful to my parents for introducing me to some of the world’s best songs.
I’d like to revisit some of the Motown songs that defined my childhood and continue to be part of my current rotation.
1. Isn’t She Lovely by Stevie Wonder
One of my earliest memories of listening to this classic Stevie Wonder song is from when the Motown station in my family’s car played it during their Father’s Day celebration.
The song was featured on Stevie Wonder’s 1976 album ‘Songs in the Key of Life,’ and Wonder wrote it about the birth of his daughter Alisha. While there have been plenty of edits to the song, my favorite version is the 6:34-minute version on the album ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ because it features his daughter playing in the bath behind a harmonica solo near the end of the track. ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ is the epitome of father-daughter love, and listening to it always reminds me of all the fantastic memories I have with my own dad.
2. You Can’t Hurry Love by Diana Ross & the Supremes
My mom has to be one of the biggest Supremes fans that I have ever met, but she loves Diana Ross the most. All the sparkles and shine of Diana Ross come through in this track; the eccentricity of the Supremes and the glamour of love make me fall in love with this song over and over again. The song also feels incredibly important to me now that I’m off at college because it feels like a special connection between my mom and me. The song’s premise is that a mother is telling her daughter to be patient and wait for love to come to her, and unfortunately, I need this message more and more as I grow up.
When I don’t always have the opportunity to call my mom and complain about the latest boy in my life, then I can put on ‘You Can’t Hurry Love.’ Belt out a song and remember times when boys were the least of my worries, and being with my mom was the highlight of my day.
3. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough is one of the most timeless Motown songs of all time and has been featured in some of my favorite movies, like Remember the Titans (2000), for one common reason. It’s a song about perseverance and strength. While it is mainly used to talk about romantic love, with Terrell and Gaye discussing how they’ll always be for each other even when they’re apart, a fair argument could also be made for describing platonic love. My first thought when listening to the song now is of my sister, who is still in high school. The songs still ring true when I think about being away at college and wanting my sister to know that I’ll always be there for her, no matter what. That there truly is “no mountain high enough” to separate her from my love and support.
4. Ready or Not (Here I Come) by The Jackson 5
I’ll admit, I didn’t listen to this one as much when I was younger, but it’s a bit underrated compared to other Jackson 5 songs like ‘ABC’ or ‘I Want You Back.‘ I wanted to highlight how important the Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson were to me growing up, because they reminded me so much of my siblings and me. I have vivid memories of even acting like the Jackson 5 whenever one of their songs came on. They felt just like my own family since I also have four siblings, but unlike the Jackson 5, none of us are that musically talented.
The reason ‘Ready or Not (Here I Come)’ speaks to me so much is that, between melancholy and classic Motown-upbeat vocals, the song conveys that you can’t escape my love. That you can’t escape when someone loves you so much and wants to see the best in you every time, it also doesn’t help that the Fugees (with Lauryn Hill) made a cover of this song in the ’90s, and it’s one of my favorite songs ever.
5. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted by Jimmy Ruffin
Made by the brother of one of many displaced Temptations singers, this song perfectly discusses heartbreak and loss. Ruffin sings about the grief that comes with losing someone who meant the world to you. I think this song can definitely be interpreted by looking at it through the lens of being separated from someone you always thought you would be with. Whenever I hear this song, I think of my best friend in Japan, whom I haven’t seen since fifth grade. Her moving has been an immense loss to me, and I miss her every day, so when listening to the sweet vocals of Jimmy Ruffin, I imagine how sixth-grade me felt realizing that she was no longer a five-minute drive away anymore and how this grief increased as the years went on. Slowly realized that I may never see this friend again.
Motown is more than nostalgia. It’s an archive of hope, heartbreak, resistance, and joy, a collection of feelings I keep returning to in every phase of life because they feel more relevant now than ever before. These songs were a crucial part of my childhood and shaped me just as much as they shaped children when they first came out. They taught me how to tell stories, honor my emotions, and recognize the history behind the melodies that shaped whole generations before mine.
When people ask why I love Motown so much, I never know whether to hand them a playlist or a biography. So I offer this instead: Press play, and you’ll hear where I come from. You’ll listen to my story, my future, all of the lessons I’ve learned, and all of the mistakes I’m sure to have still.