Last semester, I mentioned the artist, Mon Rovîa, as an artist who was beginning to take over my recently listened to songs. I am someone who has always appreciated a song with good lyrics. I love lyrics that make me think about myself or the world and the actions of those around me. Mon Rovîa is an artist who has intentionally clever lyrics mixed with peaceful music elements.
Themes of his music lean towards promoting love and peace in place of violence and hostility. The positivity that radiates from Mon Rovîa’s music is truly inspiring and constantly makes me feel more at ease and peaceful every time I listen. For black history month, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite songs that have taken over my study playlist and my favorite lyrics from each song:
“Heavy Foot”
As I have mentioned, “Heavy Foot” is an optimistic song that has themes of the individual being in charge of one’s own destiny. With lyrics like, “Love me now/ Hold me down/ And the government’s staying on heavy foot/And they try to keep us all down/No they’re never gonna keep us all down”, there is an encouragement of love winning out against hatred to create the destiny you want to live.
“To watch the world spin without you”
This was the first song that introduced me to Mon Rovîa’s music. To me, the song was about getting so sucked into the boringness of day-to-day tasks and the horrors on a TV screen that you feel completely isolated and alone. The lyrics of the song are matched to music that I can only describe as sweet and oddly suitable. The very end lyrics of the song is one of my personal favorite endings of a song: “So if you’re stuck in a memory/Wishing then was now/ Know you can call me/ And I’ll be around”.
“crooked the road.”
It is no secret that every song has a very similar vibe despite being grouped into different albums. Each song has different lyrics and is perfectly replicated in its own way to scratch the itch in my brain that craves this type of music. Apple Music classifies Rovîa’s music as Singer/Songwriter, Folk(folk-pop), and R&B/Soul. My favorite lyrics from “crooked the road.” live in the chorus; “But if you’re leaving/Know I’ll stay beside that/ telephone line/ And tomorrow/ We might steal the sun from/underneath our eyes”.
“Old Fort Steel Trail”
Introduced to me through Mon Rovîa’s jump in popularity on social media, this song, like many, is a gentle reminder to put forth love over hate especially when it comes to our own mind. Rooted in “circling, circling, circling” around the past. My favorite lyric is located in the chorus of this song; “Is this a prison in my mind?/Or does a prism just need light?”. I also am able to be gently reminded that growing out of the past is not a bad thing nor is it bad that I have room and areas of growth waiting to be developed.
“Oh Wide World”
The storytelling that exists within the lyrics is quick and simplified, like a synopsis of a short story you read in an English class. Yet Mon Rovîa has a gentle way of instilling messages of profound hope, love, and peacefulness in every song. “Oh Wide World”, instills that possibilities are endless when you just go for what you want. With the simple lyric of “Oh, this wide world of mine/ You get what you give if you decide to try”, I am set to go out and accomplish every task on my to-do list and anything I think up in between tasks.
Mon Rovîa has an incredibly refreshing perspective and production of music that has very quickly become a comfort in a multitude of ways. If you haven’t tried listening to his music, I highly recommend it!