Mahalia and The Imitation of Life - Live from State Theatre|spoken

I had to spend more time at home, I had to spend some time with my parents
But I couldn't do it while Mum and Dad were in the house at the same time
'Cause they'd always be fighting and belting each other and stuff like that
So, if Mum was there on her own it was good, you know
Because Mum would be scratching around trying to find something for us to eat
And she'd sing a bit, and she'd tell me stories about how bad my father was, you know, um

Whereas if my dad was there, it was a different story
My dad generally was recovering or hung over or something like that
And he liked to sit and watch TV a lot
So even as a kid, I wanted to spend time with my dad right
So, I'd sit down next to him on the couch and I'd put my head on his shoulder
And I'd watch whatever he was watching

Um, this day, he was watching a movie, ah, called "Imitation Of Life"
It's a movie about a young black girl who's born with very pale skin
And as she gets older, she starts pretending she's, she's white, and leaving her family behind
She didn't want to be with her family, she was ashamed of where she came from
You know, at seven years old, I'm sitting there and I'm thinking to myself
I'm ashamed of how we're being brought up
I'm ashamed of how we're living, but I couldn't tell my father that, it would've been bad

So anyway I sat there, and to tell you the truth, by this point I was gettin' a bit bored with the movie anyway
I wished it was a western or something you know
But I'm sitting there, and, in the movie the young girl's mother dies towards the end of the film right
And it's sad and all that, you know
I'm sort of lookin' away, not really payin' that much attention
But they have a funeral, in this church, at the end of the film, right

And, and this woman starts singin' in the church
And I sat bolt upright in my chair
This voice, it reached down and it grabbed my heart and it sort of affected me that much
It affected me so much that I sat and I waited for the credits to roll so I could find out who it was
It was Mahalia Jackson
And I remember as, as a seven year old, this is true, I sat there and thought to myself
When I grow up, when I get big, if I have a baby girl, I'm gonna call her Mahalia

But, don't get me wrong, we weren't a spiritual family, we weren't religious at all
In saying that, I'd quite often see my father on his knees going "Jesus Christ"
But that was normally Saturday night, um
But, I think we needed all the help we could get, you know
And, and Mahalia Jackson inspired me you know
Her voice was so strong and so pure
This is one of my favourite Mahalia Jackson songs