Jordan - Pride Song of the Day - June 8th

“They drowned me in the Jordan
Then they tried to wash me clean
They got the stains out
But now it's too damn hard to breathe

They told me he's a good Lord
As they tied the shackles to my feet
They drowned me in the Jordan
And then they walked away from me”

A baptism into suffocation.

Shackles called freedom, forgiveness, or love.

Abandonment.

On the day of her coming out, Joy Oladokun - one of music’s most prolific, acclaimed, and exciting young singer-songwriters - penned the beautifully gut-wrenching words to “Jordan,” which describe her liberation from the spiritual abuses that held power over her, and into the redemption of her lover - who rescued her from drowning, and breathed new life, faith, and hope into her weary soul.

In “Jordan,” Oladokun is able to so delicately and so brilliantly expose the bitter root of toxic religion, and the harm it inflicts upon Queer persons. The irony drips so vividly from the baptism as drowning metaphor. The weight is so intense from the shackles issued in the name of the “good” Lord.

But “Jordan” is not a song about death.

It’s a song about life.

Fullness.

Beauty. 

Rescue. 

Embrace.

And in a stunningly beautiful redemption and reclamation of faith and hope, Joy petitions God’s blessing upon the love and life that her and her lover have found, and are building together. 

“Now we're building our own promised land
On this new ground we stand
God bless the work of our hands
And make good on our plans
'Cause now I've found love
There's no turning back
Oh-oh-oh-oh.”

Salvation is love.

Salvation is embrace.

Like Joy, you may have been looking for hope, looking for love, looking for salvation, and experienced a hijacking of your soul that left you drowning. 

But there is hope.

Pride is about hope. Pride is love. Pride is embrace in the face of exclusion. Pride is a protest against fear, control, and oppression - in all their forms.

You are welcome here.

You are loved here.

The waters are safe.

Make sure to check out the rest of Joy’s brilliant catalog on your favorite streaming platform, grab a copy of “Jordan” on her breathtaking 2021 debut album, “in defense of my own happiness,” OR her BRAND NEW album “Proof of Life,” from your local, independent records store, AND make sure you watch this gorgeous #MTVFreshOut performance of “Jordan” below!