Elmiene- Light Work
I’ve been having a lot of conversations with friends about how seeking love (the real kind) feels especially hard these days. People portray themselves as lovers and yearners, but most don’t actually lead with love. They lead with lust. When you ache for something deeper, it can start to feel like you’re the problem..like your longing for true connection makes you hard to love.
We’re living in a microwave era of dating, where everything’s fast, easy, and surface level. People don’t take time to see you. But when I heard Elmiene’s Light Work, it felt like a breath of fresh air. He comes out the gate with reassurance and yearning ..no games, no confusion. Just honest devotion.
The song itself feels like a reminder that love doesn’t have to be heavy. Loving and being loved right can be light work.
He starts with, “Ain’t it funny how things change?All of a sudden we on the same page Before you came I thought I drained my luck. Now you’ve redefined the way I smile”. Elmiene illustrates that moment when love finally feels easy again. It’s not something you have to chase or overthink. The line “before you came I thought I drained my luck” hits especially deep for those of us who has experienced a love that took more than it gave. There’s so much gratitude and quiet relief in knowing that you didn’t run out of chances of finally getting it right. Someone can absolutely come and show you that love doesn’t have to hurt for it to be real.
When he says “Believe me, girl, you’re majestic” and “I’ll try to convince you I meant it,” there’s that tenderness of being seen. Actually being seen. It’s a reassurance backed by intention that I can attest has been missing in a lot of encounters I’ve had in dating.
The devotion and generosity in love are captured when he says, “Whatever you need, multiply by three”. In this context I’m hearing more than just making sure physical needs are met..that convincing he spoke about will also be given out generously because to be very frank..if you’re anything like me with an anxious nervous system, that reassurance is essential. Love may not be so heavy after all.
He continues on to emphasize how this connection refines him in the next verse. He sings, “Had a dream that frightened me. I’d be fine if I’d forget. The workings of your mind. My time would be so free. But I’d be half complete. Define me please (I’m yours, all yours)”. A realization that love has changed you so much that detachment feels like you’re losing yourself. “I’d be a word half complete”.
. so simple yet gut wrenching way to say that you are defined by this kind of love. The vulnerability is there as well in “Define me please”. To see someone so deeply in a way that they shape your world is so very spiritual.
The climax of this melody goes, “I know a world without your love, before your touch, Could I live with that? I won’t. And even if my time was up. The angels come. I would stand and tell them no”. A sacred act. Once love has opened you up there’s no going back to emptiness. He’s essentially choosing love over heaven.
There’s nothing heavy about this kind of love because it’s not rooted in possession. So many times we want to control the person we’re dating or claim to love but love is an experience (Nipsey and Lauren taught me this). It’s also about devotion and presence. That “light work” feeling comes from complete surrender, and choosing love as a way of living and not something to survive.
If you enjoyed this post and you like Elmiene I created a playlist of all of my favorite Elmiene songs and added it to my substack :)
Listen to Light Work
