Description
From Publishers Weekly No doubt Keys has a fascinating story to tell—raised by a single mother, she's a classically trained, New York born-and-bred neo-soulster with two multiplatinum albums and five Grammys to her name—but she merely hints at it in this gathering of poems and lyrics. With their themes of loneliness, confusion, wonder and desire, most of Keys's free-verse poems could be the cris de coeur of any American 20-something: "Sometimes I feel/ like I don't belong anywhere/ And it's going to take so long/ for me to get somewhere/ Sometimes I feel so heavy-hearted/ but I can't explain/ cause I'm so guarded." But other poems hint at her world travels, her budding sense of social justice and her concerns about stardom ("When gone is the glory/ When gone is the shine/ Is gone the whole/ Of your fortune and pride?"). Nearly half of the book consists of lyrics from her two albums, Songs in A Minor and The Diary of Alicia Keys ; while they make a nice complement to the poems, the words feel a bit flat without the blaxploitation beat of "Heartburn," say, or the impassioned vocal delivery of "Fallin.' " For the Keys completist, however, this will be a compelling book of rock ephemera. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From School Library Journal Adult/High School–Keys has sold millions of copies of her CDs and has won multiple Grammy Awards. Here, she shares the lyrics from these discs, as well as a collection of poems from her journals and notebooks. After several of the poems, she offers readers glimpses of her mindset and inspiration for her writings. Sadly, these poems read like what they are–journal entries from a young woman–and they don't have great insight or clever wordplay. (There's no "moon/June" here, but there is "cry/die" and "cry/goodbye" and "cry/fly.") Even her song lyrics, so powerful when accompanied with lush piano arrangements, come across as banal when unadorned with instrumentation. However, both their creator and their subject matter will give these simple selections immense appeal with a teen audience. The writer talks about insecurities, personal growth, loneliness, and love–good, bad, long-distance, and unrequited. These topics are the stuff of creative writing projects. Like Ashanti's Foolish/Unfoolish (Hyperion, 2002), Keys's poems will attract her fans and perhaps encourage them to explore poetry. –Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. ...Keys gives your heart a tug without the subsequent eye roll. -- Marie Claire , December 2004 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Alicia Keys is a modern-day Renaissance woman—a 15-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/musician/producer, an accomplished actress,xa0a New York Times bestselling author, a film, television, and broadway producer, an entrepreneur, and a powerful force in the world of activism.xa0 Since the release of her monumental 2001 debut album, songs in A minor , Keys has sold over 30 million records and built an unparalleled repertoire of hits and accomplishments. Keys resides in the New York City area with her husband, producer/visionary and entrepreneur Swizzxa0Beatz, and their children. --This text refers to the paperback edition. Read more
Features & Highlights
- From acclaimed musician Alicia Keys comes a revealing songbook of collected poems and lyrics that document her growth as a person, a woman, and an artist.
- “All my life, I’ve written these words with no thought or intention of sharing them. Not even with my confidants. These are my most delicate thoughts. The ones that I wrote down just so I could understand what in the world these things I was thinking meant...”
- When she burst onto the music scene with her multi-million bestselling, Grammy® Award-winning first album,
- Songs in A Minor
- , Alicia Keys became a superstar. Two decades later, her career has expanded into producing, acting, and passionate activism—winning her worldwide acclaim, numerous awards, and a spot on
- Time
- ’s list of “The 100 Most Influential People.”Though Alicia has been very vocal through her career, there were always “delicate thoughts” that she never before imagined she’d share with anyone else—until now. In
- Tears for Water
- , Alicia Keys opens the journals and notebooks that she has kept throughout her life and reveals her heart to her fans in return for all the love they have shown to her and her music.Hello morningnow I see youcause I am awakeWhat was once so sweet and securehas turned out to be fakeGirl, you can’t be scaredgotta stand up tall and let ’em see what shines in youPush aside the partlying in your heartlike the ocean is deep, dark and blue—
- from
- Golden Child
