Tina Turner – Let It Be (Alternative Lyrics)
It’s been some time since Tina Turner passed, a moment that I knew I would have to mark here on Melting Pot, since, as I’ve said, she was one of my mother’s favorite artists. I mentioned back in 2016 a story I had heard many times:
“She grew up in the same West Tennessee locales as Tina Turner. In fact, for a time, Turner went to my mother’s high school, Carver High in Brownsville. Turner was there for a short time, but once she became a singer, it became a mark of pride for people in Brownsville (Nutbush City Limits, where Turner was born is about 10 minutes from where my mom grew up). I remember her telling me a story of how she and some of her sisters caught a Tina Turner concert in the 1980s and actually got back stage to see her because they all went to Carver.”
So much of Tina’s story has been a part of my story, there is no way I couldn’t mark her passing without some type of note. In her passing, there have been a number of pieces that have contextualized the work & life of Tina Turner, but I think the most powerful thing that I’ve read came from Negarra A. Kudumu, where she said the following, a point that linked up perfectly with a conversation I had recently had noting how Tina, Nina Simone, and others who had suffered personally traumatic experiences, sought refuge outside of the US, in order to perhaps escape the broader traumatic forces at work in this society for Black folk generally, and Black women particularly:
“…undoubtedly, [Tina] was a brilliant musician and performer. Part of her brilliance, though, had everything to do with three important things she did: 1. She defended herself against an abusive partner. 2. She left an abusive partner. 3. She left the USA and settled in Europe where she was better treated and better appreciated.
If there’s anything that Tina’s life has taught us it is to not tolerate abuse and to leave a situation when it is no longer serving you. Too many people think abuse is the standard price to pay for success. Tina showed us, in word and deed, that it’s not.”
I struggle some times with the fact that I’m drawn most to the period of time when things were at their absolute worse for Tina. I’m not sure I’m equipped enough at the moment to really dive deep into the why of that. But one of the things that I do find fascinating about this period of time are those moments where Tina was able to have control, write her own lyrics and even get credit for them. One of the songs I thought about sharing, “Up In Heah,” is one of those moments. It’s a song that is too slow to be played in most clubs, too fuzzy to be played at funk spots, too funky to be played at rock spots, one of those songs that doesn’t easily find a way to ears. But it’s a song, that ever since I first found it in Bill Wolfe’s collection of 45s at the old Brookhaven Records in Atlanta, I’ve always enjoyed finding a way to work it into a set (generally, very early in the night). Or the song I have chosen to highlight here with this post, “Let It Be.” The Beatles’ music is such that virtually no cover sounds as good as the original, and I don’t claim that isn’t the case here. But what is striking, in addition to Tina’s pained and soulful performance, is that this is one of the few times I can think of where artists completely changed the Beatles’ original lyrics, found here in an alternative form that seem to be unique to this sole version. Given that there’s no credit to who changed the lyrics, even though Ike is listed in two different ways on this album, it’s possible that Tina wrote these lyrics.
When I find myself in times of trouble,
Evil thoughts they come to me,
Taking away my wisdom,
But I let it be.
When prejudiced people finally agree,
Open their eyes and they will see,
There’s gotta be an answer,
If they’ll let it be.
Let it be,
Let it be,
Let it be,
There will be an answer,
If they’ll let it be.
When things are dark and its hard to see,
Trouble seems to want to follow me,
But I remember my words of wisdom,
Let it be.
Although its hard, there’s still a chance,
A chance that they all will see,
That we could live together,
If they’ll let it be.
Let it be,
Let it be,
Let it be,
Lord Let it be,
There will be an answer,
If we’ll let it be.
They say to learn to love is to understand,
I’m givin’ my all, I’m doin’ what I can,
Using my thoughts of wisdom,
Let it be.
And if I find it hard, I’ll kneel and pray,
Hoping things will change some day,
Use our minds of wisdom,
To let it be.
Let it be,
Let it be,
Let it be,
Lord let it be,
There will be an answer,
If we’ll let it be.
Say it again,
Let it be,
Let it be,
Lord, Lord Let it be,
Use our minds of wisdom,
Let it be…
These lyrics change the tenor of the song dramatically, even if they don’t always make logical sense. From a “this too shall pass” mediation, this song becomes more of a call to not just accept things as they are, but to use the words of wisdom you have learned to effect change. Ultimately, it’s the feeling that counts, and how these words, with Tina’s performance, transform the song. As far as Beatles covers go, it’s got a unique sound, and given what else the group was recording around this time, it makes you wonder what else Tina might have been able to showcase if she’d been in a different situation and in a situation where all her talents could truly shine. We’ll never know that of course…By the time she had found her freedom, the landscape of music had changed, but I do find it fascinating to listen to songs like this and dream a little about what psychedelic soul nuggets Tina Turner might have been able to conjure up if given true freedom in the late 1960s & early 1970s. All told, I am thankful for all of the music she created and the extraordinary example she set through living her life…And now, Rest In Peace Queen, never to be forgotten.