Interview: Oleta Adams - Singer, Songwriter and Producer - Page 3

When you look back to this particular recording experience, is there a particular thought that comes to mind?

I had fun writing the lyrics. I wrote eight out of the ten songs. For me, I write the lyrics first before I write the music. Most of the songs – if you added them all up – basically are saying the same thing. We're all still trying to have really good relationships with one another, or dealing on a daily basis with ourselves, you know, just figuring out who we are, how to get from today to tomorrow which then becomes today. I did not want to write the same song over again just with different words in a slightly different beat. I wanted it to sound differently. I think we've done that. I wanted it to be honest. I also didn't want to pull all of the inspiration just from myself. I also used others that were close around me – my colleagues, the people that I deal with weekly or daily – to pull from their experiences and say some things that perhaps they were trying to say in their own relationships, or from current events that happened. I wrote "Another Day Has Come And Gone" after the Virginia Tech shooting. It was an expression. I was trying to express what happened was a symptom of a greater problem that we all need to address. It's like, how do we help each other survive each day in a world that tries to force you to be something that you feel is difficult to be? Or to reach a particular plateau that you struggle to reach when you have everybody else going for the same position, you know? How do we deal with people who come from other countries? How do we make them feel inclusive? America tends to be very arrogant on a lot of levels, yet that's how America was formed – by a whole conglomeration of people from other countries, all different kinds of societies and cultures and so forth.

Why did you choose to name this particular album Let's Stay Here?

I don't know. Titles of albums...I don't know if they necessarily reflect the whole album. "Let's Stay Here" is one of my favorite songs. It was the most positive title from the tracks that were available. The title can mean several different things but I love the idea of being very present in the moment right now, that's important to me. Finding a place where you feel comfortable. That's what the song is about – a place where you feel like you can peace and solace with somebody that you really, really love and you find comfort with them. You feel like you're home with them and that's the place where you really want to remain, even through all the ups and downs that happen in relationships, that happens around us and our communities, as long as find that peace within and that you're loved, that's the place you're going to stay. 

Article Author: Clayton Perry

Clayton Perry's mission parallels that of John Hope Franklin, Marcus Garvey and Carter G. Woodson. As the founder of the NUBIANO Project, Perry facilitates the design of projects that give voice to the Black diaspora, empower the Black community, …

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