today i went with sofia y shane y jen y hector y the bergster to the citizen cope show at central park. the opening band…the royal wylds, they were tight. the sun was on blast and the crowd was soaking it in.i thought i wasn’t gonna last in the sun, but i forgot all that.
clarence greenwood, aka citizen cope, was breathtaking.
i first heard him in barnes and noble about a year ago while using a gift certificate from my mama. i asked the store folks who dis? they said it was a song called sideways by a man named citizen cope – i came home and looked him up. on www.citizencope.com you can hear the whole song sideways. he’s got the spirit of a white bob marley as completely insane as that sounds.
i was caught up – later sofia found a free copy of his album she’d copped and hadn’t even realized what she had. gold and dirt, that’s cope. i love the whole album – it can get you thru days. his concert was great, plus he surprisingly has eyes the shade of melted butter, which is how you feel when he looks at you. he sang all the songs i needed to hear, PLUS ‘is this love’ 🙂
now he’s engaged i hear, so i kept my groupieness respectful. well i kind of always do cause in general i actually don’t like meeting ‘famous people’ and the whole fan dynamic stuff. but imagine my blessed surprise when he strolled up to havana cafe tonight. the owner saw me geek out and said, he comes here all the time. i said hi to him after much nervous belly action. jen was supposed to bring him over but she was too busy makin nice with a fly havana employee.
i got up my courage and let the words tumble out – ‘i was at your show today and we all were and we think you’re awesome and you’re awesome you know and i heard you in a store and i had to buy it and then i am a singer and you have inspired me and stuff.’ he was able to slip in ‘yeah you were in the front row – wow. thanks. wow. thanks. wow. thanks.’ we exchanged names and a handshake. i am completely happy and recommited to learning the guitar this summer!
mos def was also there. and shawanna i think her name is – gorgeous gorgeous singer who performed with me a few years back at the nina tribute sofia and forrest and i put on. overall, a lovely day outside in ny.
now i am in the midst of my annual watching of malcolm x. have you ever looked up black in the dictionary? holla.