Growing Pains - Mary J Blige

Joseph Smith | 8 August 2008

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Growing Pains
Mary J Blige
Universal Music Australia
2007

The Queen of Hip Hop Soul Mary J Blige is back with 16 new songs that seek to cover the breadth and depth of life’s emotions and trials.

Upbeat opening track ‘Work That’ upholds the importance of ‘being yourself’. It’s a theme she continues in ‘Work in Progress (Growing Pains)’. Having suffered one high profile broken marriage in the 1990s, the effects can still be heard in her lyrics ten years later. The importance Blige places on having integrity separate from romantic relationships is clear in the line, “God has put his hands on me and ain’t a man alive could ever take it from me”.

Blige is reportedly happily married now and her positive attitude comes through in numerous tracks.

In the album’s well-produced, dance-inducing first single ‘Just Fine’ Blige joyfully sings, “No time for moping around, are you kidding? And no time for negative vibes ‘cause I’m winning”.

Her positive attitude in the midst of adversity appears commendable.

However, in one of the album’s stand out and most moving tracks ‘Roses’, Blige admits there are times when things can get overwhelming. “I love my man and I know my place, I know my worth and I just can’t stand to see myself as I hurt… It ain’t all roses, flowers and posin’, said it ain’t all candy, this love stuff is demanding”.

Blige isn’t afraid to sing honestly about the range of good and bad things she experiences and her sentiment echoes the words of Ecclesiastes 3, “there is a time for everything … a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance”.

The limiting factor to Blige’s worldview as expressed on Growing Pains, however, is that everything seems to be expressed through the prism of the condition of her romantic relationship.

One’s spouse or partner is undoubtedly the most important human relationship we will have earth, however, to let that relationship cloud our perspective on all of life is to idolise such a relationship. For the Christian, to put this before our trust in God is an easy but dangerous error.

However, when it comes to examining romantic relationships and expressing the variety of emotion, pleasure and pain to be experienced in them, Blige does do a good job.

In ‘Stay Down’ Blige sings, “I knew that it wasn’t easy but sometimes when we fight it don’t seem like God’s design”. This is an astute observation by Blige and to invoke the name of God is on the mark. Relational breakdown between humanity and God and man and woman can be traced back to the Fall and the ensuing curses as recorded in Genesis 3. This enmity between man and woman was indeed not part of God’s design and it is only when God ushers in the new heaven and new earth as envisioned in Revelation 21 that we will once again enjoy untarnished relationship with God and with fellow man and woman.

‘Come to me’ is an appropriate closer to the album and talks about the healing that comes from making peace in a relationship and letting love win. The parallels to the peace with God that Christ offers us through his death on the cross are not stated. However, the profound power of forgiveness is clearly influenced by Christ’s mandate in Matthew 6 that Christians ought to forgive their brother as God has forgiven them.

Growing Pains’ lyrics suggest that Blige regards God as a presence and perhaps even an interventionist being. Her worldview appears to be influenced by some of the basic important truths of biblical teaching such as love, forgiveness and a sense that there will always be imperfection on earth this side of heaven. However, there is a notable absence of the hope and power that having trust in Jesus offers. If Blige has this trust and hope, it is nowhere stated in Growing Pains’ lyrics. And in case you are wondering, Blige is still entitled to be called the Queen of Hip Hop Soul. The album’s production style contains a good mix of hip-hop, ballad dance and makes for enjoyable listening.