How I Became the Most Unlikeliest of Jason Mraz Fans

initially i only wanted to post lyrics to a Jason Mraz song that i liked, but then i remembered how i came across his music by chance in the first place, and i thought it'd be an interesting story to share - so here it is:

i first learned of Jason Mraz after hearing his almost-annoyingly-catchy carefree single "I'm Yours" in a friends car a couple summers back.. i had heard the song on the radio a couple times prior to the said occasion when i was at the mall, but the first time i actually heard his name was when i was crammed into the back of a compact sedan with 5 sorority girls & 2 frat guys packed in the car with me.. (yes, i know that that wasn't a very safe idea, but we didn't have a choice - and this isn't the point.)

the point is that out of the other 7 passengers, 5 or 6 of them started SINGING ALONG in UNISON with the song.. to be polite, i kept my mouth shut but in my head i kept thinking "whaaaat the f*ck..." as they happily sung along, completely oblivious to the fact that my friend's back was starting to spasm as she sat half-bent over on my lap, also painfully putting my leg to sleep despite her own discomfort.. the song went on forever it seemed, and when it finally ended, our karaoke superstars wasted no time before simultaneously cutting each other off in their collective excitement - professing their appreciation for Jason Mraz and citing their own reasons as to why Jason Mraz was the greatest of all time.. a quick note here: if memory serves me correctly, even some of the guys (males, mind you) were involved in the shebang of a discussion.. so naturally, i was thinking "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT the F*******CK" and "WHO!?! Who could this nerdy-sounding guy be?!" in my head at the same time.. the ordeal ended shortly after, when we arrived at our destination ('thank god/buddha/____,' says my appreciative right leg)

anyways, i'm talking to my friend (the same poor friend who was squished sitting on my lap) on MSN a couple days later and surely enough, she tells me she loves Jason Mraz also.. we're accustomed to sharing/trading music with each other, as we had diversely differing tastes and libraries - and as sheltered as i was within the realms of urban music at the time, i appreciated listening to "different" (ie. alternative, pop, rock, punk, jazz, anything not rap/soul/r&b) genres of music.. we start talking about our favourite songs of the moment, and one of the songs she quickly sends over is the same "I'm Yours" song by the now-infamous Jason Mraz.

i decide to give it a chance, seeing as i didn't entirely hate the song when i heard it in the car - it just wasn't the time or venue for an overly-happy karaoke session by five people that generally couldn't sing.. (note: and its never ok for 8 people to be riding in a tiny car.)

i remember thinking the song was actually pretty decent at first, then i thought it was pretty satisfying in its own strange way, and i understood why it would appeal to a certain demographic, even from a first full listen. if anything, i thought, this whiny, folksy singer had his own style at least.

as months pass, i hear the song from time to time in the random shuffle, and most times i don't even skip it.. then one time it came on and really hit me.. i had just gone through an emotional breakup, and i was tired of both sappy love songs as well as overly moody alternative pieces.. when "I'm Yours" came on this time, it stirred something in me and i found myself wanting ('a tiny bit only', says the Alpha-Dog side of me) to sing along..

after that experience, i actually found myself including the track in my day-to-day custom playlists - usually when i was in a good mood.. thats when the first part of my story ends, and thats also when my appreciation for Jason Mraz as an artist started to develop.

i quickly came to notice the subtle intricacies in his quirky, but unique and captivating style of singing.. he didn't have the strongest voice, but he had just enough swagger to pull it all off anyways.

more recently, my friend passed along a copy of his earlier ("Waiting for my Rocket to Come," 2002) and i've been listening it randomly ever since.. what now jumps out at me first and foremost with Jason Mraz is that he is indeed a truly gifted songwriter.. aside from having his own charming style of singing, he writes with enough wit and wordplay to put most rap artists to shame.. you might not like how his folk-music background slips into the album's sound-scape at times (like me), but you can't help but appreciate his talents as a singer/songwriter - he takes on a wide range of challenges as an artist in performing songs of vastly different songs on this album, but he comes out on top on just about every track.. he might not have the voice of a traditional solo male vocalist, but he more than makes it up with the melodic progressions he incorporates into just about every song - i imagine even a huge corporation/label would be pretty hard-pressed to come up with another artist to try and imitate Mraz's style over an entire album..

the final icing on the cake? as is the case with any truly with any good musician, within a couple listens of the entire album, you as a listener will be sure that you are listening to a genuine Jason Mraz instead of your usual bubble-gum mass-produced/promoted "hit" artist..

if you haven't heard of Jason Mraz to date, you should definitely try to remedy that soon - the following is the first track on his 2002 (debut?) album, "You and I Both," a song that i particularly like:

Was it you who spoke the words that things would happen but not to me?

All things are gonna happen naturally
Oh, taking your advice and I'm looking on the bright side
And balancing the whole thing.

Oh, but at often times those words get tangled up in lines
And the bright light turns to night
Oh, until the dawn it brings
Another day to sing about the magic that was you and me

Cause you and I both loved
What you and I spoke of
And others just read of
Others only read of, of the love
Of the love that I loved

See I'm all about them words
Over numbers, unencumbered numbered words;
Hundreds of pages, pages, pages for words.
More words than I had ever heard, and I feel so alive.

Cause you and I both loved
What you and I spoke of (of, of)
And others just read of
And if you could see me now
Oh, you and I, you and I
Not so little you and I anymore

And with this silence brings a moral story
More importantly evolving is the glory of a boy

Cause you and I both loved
What you and I spoke of (of, of)
And others just read of
And if you could see me now
Well, then I'm almost finally out of
I'm finally out of
I'm finally deedeedeedeedeedee
Well I'm almost finally, finally
Well I am free
Oh, I'm free

And it's okay if you had to go away
Oh, just remember the telephones
well, they work in both ways
But if I never ever hear them ring
If nothing else I'll think the bells inside
Have finally found you someone else and that's okay
Cause I'll remember everything you sang

Cause you and I both loved
What you and I spoke of (of, of)
And others just read of
and if you could see me now
Well, then I'm almost finally out of
I'm finally out of
I'm finally deedeedeedeedeede
Well I'm almost finally, finally
Out of words