Music Review // hoxie rae "Heal"

 

The way that the sound of hoxie rae will absorb you in this new single, "Heal", feels like you are just climbing into bed and underneath a mountain of blankets on a cold winter day.   It's this combination of a slow burn and a smooth groove, which just can bring you comfort even before you hear the words.   This song by hoxie rae is important because it is about healing, as the title suggests, and I feel like all too often we go through life broken and don't take the proper time to heal.  In doing so, we never really fully heal and that just makes things worse, like nagging sports injuries.

One of the first lines in "Heal" that I really enjoy says: "And I don't want you to think that I hate ya / just understand, this is my life, too".  Sometimes we have to make decisions that may have it seeming like we're out to offend someone else, but in reality we're just doing what's best for ourselves.  Without going down the whole idea of what is a "people-pleaser" it's better just to think about how on an airplane you put on your life saving device before you put it on others.  You can't really help anyone else if you're not taking care of yourself.

As the chorus comes up in this bubbly way that makes it go from Tracy Chapman to a more coffee shop type of pop (almost Edie Brickell) there are some important lines for people to really take to heart.   One such set of lyrics says: "I cannot blame myself / for the things you do" and I think that's a good way of just taking accountability that if someone else's choices are having a negative impact on you, then you shouldn't be around them.  In the same way addicts need to break their old habits to heal, so does anyone who needs to heal really.

My favorite lyric within this entire and perhaps the biggest take away for it all is the line which says: "truth is by breaking my heart you helped set me free".  This is something we all really need to hold onto as an idea because when you have that heartbreak it's pain, sure, but you also need to study what you learn from that pain so as not to feel it again.  That process of learning, overcoming and growing is all part of healing.  In many ways, this song by hoxie rae just hits the nail right on the head.