Whatever stops you from dreamin, whatever tries to stop you from livin? Flip it.

i was glancing through my cd collection just earlier, felt like listening to another person's experiences as an artist at the end of a long day.. and somehow i ended up picking up
Alicia Keys' debut album ("songs in A minor") over her sophomore release ("the diary of alicia keys") to listen to.. bunch of lines & songs from this album stick out to me right now - not even necessarily coz they apply to me directly, but just because they strike a chord with some part of me at this very moment - from the things she says in her intro track ("Whatever stops you from dreamin, whatever trys to stop you from livin? Flip it") prior to launching into the album to the entire tracks 9 & 15..

lyrics to "Goodbye" (track 9)

How do you love someone
That hurts you oh so bad
With intentions good
Was all he ever had

But how do I let go when I've
Loved him for so long and I've
Given him all that I could
Maybe love is a hopeless crime
Giving up what seems your lifetime
What went wrong with something once so good

How do you find the words to say
To say goodbye
When your heart don't have the heart to say
To say goodbye

I know now I was naive
Never knew where this would lead
And I'm not trying to take away
From the good man that he is

But how do I let go when I've
Loved him for so long and I've
Given him all that I could
Was it something wrong that we did
Because others infiltrated
What went wrong with something once so good

How do you find the words to say
To say goodbye
When your heart don't have the heart to say
To say goodbye

Is this the end are you sure
How should you know when you've never been here before
It's so hard to just let go
When this is the one and only love I've ever known

So how do you find the words to say
To say goodbye
When your heart don't have the heart to say
To say goodbye

lyrics to "Caged Bird" (track 15)

Right now I feel like a bird
Caged without a key
Everyone comes to stare at me
With so much joy and rivalry
They don't know how I feel inside
Through my smile I cry
They don't know what they're doin' to me
Keeping me from flyin'
That's why I say that
I know why the caged bird sings
Only joy comes from song
She's so rare and beautiful to others
Why not just set her free
So she can
Fly, fly, fly
Spreadin her wings and her song
Let her
Fly, fly fly
For the whole world to see
She's like caged bird
Fly, fly
Ooh just let her fly
Just let her fly
Just let her fly
Spread the wings
Spread the beauty