Living in a world with no air

Once in a while, I come across things that trigger memories of the past and I saw one such thing today; an iPod classic. Someone posted a picture of one today on TikTok and it brought on a wave of nostalgia. Are iPods even still a thing today? Probably not, considering everyone can easily play and stream songs from their phones but many years ago, iPods used to be very popular and not just iPods, but other portable MP3 players as well. Back then, my friend had one of those MP3 players that looks a lot like the image above, and I borrowed it sometimes to listen to music.

One of the songs I remember playing a lot back then on my friend's MP3 player is the song by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown titled No Air. I played that song so much to the extent that I memorized the lyrics and could sing it perfectly from start to finish. I searched for it today on Spotify after seeing the picture of the iPod and luckily I found it. I still remember the lyrics so well and sang along with it, even though it wasn't as perfect as it used to be in the past. The video is insanely good, especially the concluding part; the synchronization between both of them is intense, it's like they were finishing each other's sentences (cute).

It is still a very beautiful song today, even though it was released way back in 2009. I remember jamming to it with earphones on my ear because those MP3 players back then didn't work without earphones (I think they don't have any speakers). I always thought the song No Air was a love song about how a person cherishes their partner and how they can't imagine a world without them but I just realized that it's actually about the pain of heartbreak, at least that's what this line from the first verse hints at; "Losing you is like living in a world with no air."

I guess I never really paid any attention to what the lyrics meant even though I knew them by heart. I wonder if it was Jordin who was experiencing heartbreak that inspired her to sing that song. (Bad breakup maybe?) Nonetheless, it is a very catchy song with beautiful lyrics as well. Another song I also remember playing frequently on the MP3 is Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo which was also released in the same year as No Air (2009). The one thing I love about this one is the intro of the song; "Wh-wh-wh-what did she say?" Just listen to it in the video.

I always found myself replaying the song just to listen to that intro again. The same line was used after the chorus, but it doesn't sound as good as the intro. Whatcha Say is also similar to No Air, but this one is about betrayal; someone was caught cheating (probably Jason) and the song is them apologizing for it (I wonder if it really happened). Anyway, I also memorized most of the lyrics of this song but I didn't know it so well as compared to No Air, probably because I was more focused on the chorus and the intro. The video is epic as well, but it's funny that Jason was dancing behind the door while begging for forgiveness 😅.

It was nice walking down memory lane today. These songs were quite popular back in the day because of their catchy melody and beautiful lyrics. I have pretty much forgotten most of the songs on my friend's MP3 player but some of the other ones I remember are Earth Song by Michael Jackson, Rihanna's Rude Boy, Love the Way You Lie by Rihanna and Eminem (this one was epic!) and a host of others. 2009/2010 was truly an awesome era in the music industry with a lot of popular songs popping up, sadly many of them have been forgotten today but thanks to platforms like Spotify and YouTube, I can easily get access to those songs.

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