My Gen X Playlist: I Try – Macy Gray

There is a basketful of things I could do less of. Here is a partial list off the top of my head.

• Crave potato chips
• Overreact
• Watch Netflix
• Always think I’m right
• Look up hiking trails but not hike them
• Worry about what others may think
• Eat chocolate
• Overthink things

I really try to do less of these things, but some are at the core of who I am. I think I just have to try to manage myself instead of stop cold turkey. Some things are just impossible. Pass the chips, please.

Macy Gray released I Try in 1999. It has a smooth sound, with her textured, raspy voice for flavor. It’s a reminder that some things are just too difficult to let go.

This song has a very sweet melody, which makes the lyrics about getting choked up over someone and wanting him in your life sound like it could be a love song, but it’s really a heartbreaker with a very personal story behind it.

Macy Gray was signed to Atlantic Records in the mid-’90s as part of a rock band, but the album they made never got released. With her music career kaput, Gray became a secretary and married her boyfriend, a mortgage broker named Tracy Hinds. They had three children together but split up just as Gray got a solo deal with Epic Records. Many of the songs Gray wrote for her first album were about Hinds, including “I Try,” where she explains that she wants to be strong and leave his memory behind, but can’t bring herself to do so:

Though I try to hide it, it’s clear
My world crumbles when you are not near

When you listen to this delicious, gravely voice, which sounds like it’s made of smoke and scotch, it’s hard to remember that Macy Gray was just 32 years old when it was recorded. While that voice provided her with a career, she found it troublesome growing up. Said Gray: “I kept real quiet. I had a peculiar voice and I was a bit ashamed of it when I was little. You know how kids are. I would say something at school and kids would start to crack up, so I just held back a little bit.”

– songfacts

It’s a good thing Gray let her voice shine. It would be a shame if her discomfort with her voice held her back from singing. Thank goodness we have the ability to outgrow our insecurities. There’s nothing wrong with a little gravel.

–

For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Games, changes, and fears
When will they go from here?
When will they stop?
I believe that fate has brought us here
And we should be together, babe
But we're not

I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you
I'll keep my cool, but I'm fiendin

I try to say goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not near
Goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not near

I may appear to be free
But I'm just a prisoner of your love
I may seem alright and smile when you leave
But my smiles are just a front, just a front

I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you
I'll keep my cool, but I'm fiendin

I try to say goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not near
Goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not near

Here is my confession
May I be your possession
Boy, I need your touch
Your love kisses, and such
With all my might I try
But this I can't deny, deny

I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you
I'll keep my cool, but I'm fiendin

I try to say goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not near
Goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not near

Goodbye and I choke
I try to walk away and I stumble
Though I try to hide it, it's clear
My world crumbles when you are not near