Lover for Life by Whitney Houston

We're appreciating THE VOICE in this episode. With powerful lyrics from one of Whitney Houston's less mainstream love songs.

Transcript

As a child, I dreamed Whitney Houston was my mother. I’d slide on my Sony Discman headphones at night, press play on The Bodyguard Soundtrack and imagine what it might be like for her to love me. The root of this fantasy is a story for another day. And I am well aware my beloved Whitney struggled mightily with vices that would’ve prevented her from living up to my imagination—a place where she remained unblemished.

It happened after my actual mother and her boyfriend took me to see The Bodyguard. I sat in the theatre, clutching my tub of popcorn in absolute awe of Whitney’s beauty. Then to pair it with THAT voice? Every note Whitney belted out during the film shook my insides. My persistent thought was, “how?” How is her voice like this? How is she so fierce, so flawless? 

When Whitney (as Rachel Marron) ran from the plane as she breathed into the chorus of I Will Always Love You, I felt certain I might faint. I left the theater upright, with Whitney having secured the role of my pretend mother. From there I watched every video, every interview, hanging on every word until I fell deeper in love with my idea of her. 

That Christmas I was gifted the metallic blue Sony Discman. Such was the start of me joining Columbia House Music Club and sending in those cards claiming eight CDs for a penny. You were supposed to buy a certain number of full-priced CDs over the course of one or two years, but of course I didn’t. I was a middle school kid with no money. So, I’d get my eight CDs, wait a while, and then send in a new card with a different name requesting eight more.

The Bodyguard Soundtrack was among my first selections. Once I wore the CD out, I ordered Whitney’s earlier stuff. Too young then to adequately appreciate her more nuanced lyrics, listening as an adult showed me Whitney has love songs that are elite for more reasons than just the incomparable voice singing them. Though certainly the voice is enough.

One such song is Lover for Life on the I’m Your Baby Tonight album, which also boasts an elite cover. Whitney stunting on a motorcycle displaying a “Nippy” license plate? Come on! But that’s neither here nor there. 

The lines I now recognize for their lyrical brilliance are:

 You heard my testimony
 You've seen my evidence
 Hey, it's a crime of passion
 In every sense

The metaphoric innuendo went over my head as a youngster. As a woman, it does not. One day I was listening and audibly said, “wait a minute.” I replayed that segment of the song over and over, appreciating the subtle, sexy way of saying “I want you. Take me.”

Suggestive, themed songs aren’t easy to pull off without venturing into corny territory, but Lover for Life does it. The lyrics support Whitney wishing to be sentenced to forever with the object of her desire. 

Never has a potential prisoner so eloquently and vehemently pushed to pay for their deeds.