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00:01Words and music.
00:03T-johns.
00:04Are a perfect match.
00:06Saxon.
00:07Tragedy waiting to happen.
00:11A well-made song will take you places
00:13that you would never expect to go.
00:15We have become pop stars.
00:19You are saving the world.
00:20This is our mission.
00:21What the?
00:22Mercer!
00:30作詞・作曲・編曲 初音ミク
00:40I'm John Legend.
01:02This show is called Words and Music.
01:10Come on and go with me.
01:33There's something new for you to see.
01:42Come on and go with me.
01:51There's something new for you to see.
02:01Just relax.
02:08Just relax.
02:10I've got something new for you.
02:17Oh, oh, oh, oh.
02:27I've got something new for you.
02:29When it hits you, I know what to do.
02:32Relax, let me move you.
02:38No resistance in the air.
02:41Just one taste will take you there.
02:44Let it flow right through you.
02:49I know you're getting tired of the same old thing.
02:53Well, I'ma break the rules, gonna change the game.
02:56You'll be screaming my name.
03:01And I'ma take your places you've never seen.
03:04You could picture this in your wildest dreams.
03:07But don't fear, cause you're here with me.
03:12Let's get lifted.
03:19I'm gonna get you high.
03:21I'm really gonna blow your mind.
03:24We'll get lifted.
03:29You're gonna fit in your soul.
03:32Maybe you will lose control.
03:35We'll get lifted.
03:38Oh, oh, oh.
03:43Oh, oh, oh.
03:46Once you take a hit with this, you won't ever wanna quit.
03:52You'll be so addicted.
03:57Or have you spinning round and round?
04:01Crazy, making freaky sounds.
04:04You won't want to come down.
04:08Put up your seeing things and hallucinate.
04:12Even walking funny cause you're late to shit.
04:15All night we'll be blazing.
04:20I'll take you four to the other side.
04:23We can get high and enjoy the ride.
04:26Hold tight.
04:27Hold tight.
04:28We'll be alright.
04:32We'll get lifted.
04:38I'm gonna get you high.
04:41I'm really gonna blow your mind.
04:43We'll get lifted.
04:45We're gonna feel it in your soul
04:51Baby, you will lose control
04:54We'll get lifted
04:55Hey, oh, oh
05:01Come on and go with me
05:08I'll take you high
05:12I, I will show you
05:19I'll take you high
05:25I, I will show you
05:32I'll, I'll take you there
05:37Come on, let me take you there
05:41Yeah, yeah
05:45Yeah
05:47Words and music
06:06Now people always ask me
06:09Which comes first, the lyrics or the melody?
06:13I usually start with the musical chords
06:16And then I start singing a vocal melody
06:19And I see where those things lead me
06:21I mumble nonsense
06:24Syllables that make no sense
06:27Over the melody
06:29Until the lyrics sing themselves to me
06:33And when the words
06:34And the music
06:37Are a perfect match
06:39The combination
06:40Feels
06:42Inevitable
06:43Kind of like a good marriage
06:45My first album
06:48Came out on December 28th
06:512004
06:52On my 26th birthday
06:55A day my life changed forever
06:58The album was called
07:00Get Lifted
07:01Tonight I would like to share
07:04With you the story
07:05Of how I became the man
07:08The artist
07:09Who wrote those songs
07:11And made that record
07:13It was quite a journey
07:14I started the album
07:16And tonight's show
07:17With the album's title track
07:20When I decided to call the album
07:23Get Lifted
07:23I was borrowing
07:24A phrase from Sunday morning church service
07:27A phrase that could mean
07:29Spiritual elevation
07:32But of course
07:34I was creating a secular album
07:36An album of soul music
07:38And I'm not the first to do that
07:39Soul music has a rich tradition
07:41Of artists who straddled that line
07:43Between the sacred
07:44And the secular
07:46Artists like
07:47Sam Cooke
07:49Who took gospel music
07:51And changed the lyrics
07:52From the sacred
07:53To the secular
07:54Ray Charles
07:56Took a church song
07:57Called It Must Beat Jesus
07:58And turned it into
07:59I Got a Woman
08:01Aretha Franklin
08:03The daughter of a popular preacher
08:06Took her gospel singing
08:07And musical style
08:09And infused it into soul music
08:11That shot to the top
08:13Of the pop charts
08:14Marvin Gaye
08:16Was another preacher's kid
08:18He made sensual music
08:20Infused with the spiritual
08:23So to understand me
08:25And where my music comes from
08:27You have to go back
08:28To the church
08:30I was born and raised
08:32In Springfield, Ohio
08:34I was born as
08:35John Roger Stevens
08:37To Phyllis and Ronald Stevens
08:39My family belonged
08:41To the Pentecostal church
08:42And I was there
08:43From the womb
08:44We weren't just
08:45Part of the church
08:46We were the first family
08:47Of the church
08:48My grandfather was our pastor
08:50My grandmother was our church organist
08:52My mother was the choir director
08:53And my father was a deacon
08:55Who taught Sunday school
08:56Played the drums
08:56Sang in the choir
08:57And drove the church band
08:58So I grew up
08:59Going to a lot of church
09:01A lot of church
09:03Bible study
09:05Revival service
09:07Choir rehearsal
09:08It shaped every aspect of my world
09:11It was the foundation
09:11For my music
09:13My family
09:14And my education
09:15Now if you know anything
09:17About the Pentecostal church
09:18Our services are not boring
09:21It's one of the more charismatic
09:22And energetic denominations
09:25Within the Protestant tradition
09:27We shout
09:28We dance
09:30We speak in tongues
09:32And the music serves
09:34As the catalyst
09:35And the soundtrack
09:36For all of that
09:37So my childhood
09:39Was steeped
09:40In that music
09:41Steeped in the church
09:43And that was the foundation
09:44For everything I did after that
09:45When I got to college
09:46I tried to make
09:47As much music as I could
09:49I sang in an acapella group
09:51I started writing
09:52My own solo music
09:53And I still found a way
09:55To keep playing in church
09:57I was hired to lead the music
09:59At an African Methodist
10:01Episcopal church
10:02In Scranton, Pennsylvania
10:03It was at that church
10:05In Scranton
10:06That I met a young lady
10:07In my choir
10:08Her name was
10:08Tara Michelle
10:09Now Tara loved
10:11To sing in the choir
10:12She also loved my music
10:14And she believed in me
10:15And she also happened
10:16To be very close
10:18With a woman
10:18Named Miss Lauren Hill
10:21Yes
10:22Now Miss Hill
10:23Had already taken off
10:24With the Fugees
10:25By that time
10:26Killing Me Softly
10:28Was a massive song
10:29The score
10:30Was a massive album
10:32She was beautiful
10:33Stylish
10:34Phenomenally gifted
10:35As a singer
10:36And rapper
10:37And actor
10:38And she was working
10:39On her highly anticipated
10:41Solo debut
10:42So Tara wanted me
10:44To meet her
10:45And she said
10:46Johnny
10:46Why don't you drive me
10:48Over to Lawrence Studio
10:49In New Jersey
10:50It's just a couple hours away
10:51So we drove to a house
10:52Just outside of
10:54Newark, New Jersey
10:55The house had a studio
10:56In the basement
10:57And there was this
10:58Incredible collective
10:59Of musicians in the room
11:01Several gifted writers
11:03And producers
11:04And instrumentalists
11:05Who helped her make
11:06The album were all there
11:07And they were writing a song
11:09And I was trying my best
11:11To stay out of the way
11:13Just witness the magic
11:15Stay in the cut
11:16But when they were taking
11:18A break from writing
11:20My friend Tara said
11:21Johnny
11:22This is your opportunity
11:23Why don't you sit down
11:25At that piano
11:26And play and sing
11:27A couple songs
11:28For Lauren
11:29So she can hear
11:30What you can do
11:31So I sit down
11:32At the piano
11:33And I start singing
11:34For her
11:35And I sang
11:36An original song
11:37That I'd written in school
11:38Called Too Late
11:39And then I sang
11:40A Stevie Wonder song
11:42Called Love's in Need
11:43And I guess she liked
11:45What she heard
11:45And she asked me
11:46To play piano
11:48On the track
11:48They were working on then
11:50You remember that one
11:58Everything is everything
11:59Well that was me
12:08On the piano
12:08Now
12:09I didn't know
12:10If they were going
12:10To use the track
12:11I didn't know
12:12If they were going
12:12To use my piano parts
12:13For the track
12:14But a few months later
12:15I get a call
12:16From a woman
12:17Named Suzette Williams
12:18She was an A&R
12:20At Columbia Records
12:22Now she was
12:23Lauren Hill's A&R
12:24She wanted to know
12:25How to spell
12:26My name
12:27For the album credit
12:29So I said
12:29Oh
12:30You want to know
12:32How to spell my name
12:33I said
12:34It's John R Stevens
12:37For some reason
12:38I thought I should include
12:39My middle initial R
12:40John R Stevens
12:43Sounds like
12:43A great lawyer
12:44Somebody who could
12:46Do your taxes
12:47Not the best stage name
12:48John R Stevens
12:49But then they asked me
12:50How much I wanted
12:52To get paid
12:52And I said
12:53I don't know
12:55I'll call you back
12:56So I reached out
13:00To my friend
13:00Who had some
13:02Experience interning
13:03In the music business
13:04And I said
13:05How much should I ask for
13:06He said
13:07Ask for $500
13:09I was like
13:11Alright
13:12That was a lot of money
13:13For me back then
13:14So I called Suzette Williams
13:15Back up and I said
13:16I would like
13:18$500
13:19Suzette quickly agreed
13:25Quickly
13:25No negotiation necessary
13:29I told you
13:32That was a lot of money
13:33For me
13:33So it was all good
13:34A couple months later
13:35The miseducation
13:36Of Lauren Hill
13:37Comes out
13:38And it just takes
13:39The world by storm
13:40You remember
13:41What it was like
13:42It was the most
13:43Talked about
13:44Most acclaimed
13:45Album of the moment
13:46She wins all the
13:47Grammys
13:48She's on top of the world
13:49And for a while
13:50That's my
13:51Claim to fame
13:52I went back to school
13:54I went back to school
13:54For my senior year
13:54I told everybody
13:55That's me
13:57Playing piano
13:58On track 13
13:59Everything is everything
14:00Look at my name
14:01John R. Stevens
14:02I said it so much
14:03They started calling me
14:04Track 13
14:05Meeting Lauren Hill
14:08At that point in my life
14:10Was an amazing
14:11Stroke of luck
14:13They say luck
14:14Is when
14:15Opportunity
14:16Meets preparation
14:17And I'm so glad
14:20I was ready
14:20To make the most
14:22Of that opportunity
14:23Another lucky break
14:25Happened a few years
14:26Later when I was
14:26Living in New York City
14:28I had graduated
14:29One of my roommates
14:30Was a fellow
14:32Penn alum
14:33Name was
14:34Devo Harris
14:35Devo introduced me
14:37To his cousin
14:38An up and coming
14:40Rapper and producer
14:41From Chicago
14:42His name was
14:43Kanye West
14:44Yes Kanye West
14:45Now Kanye and I
14:47Began to work together
14:48Writing songs
14:49And making demos
14:50When Kanye's first album
14:52The college dropout
14:53Became a huge hit
14:54I was all over it
14:55My profile was rising
14:57Kanye was producing me
15:00He really elevated my sound
15:01And made it feel more urgent
15:03And more ready
15:04For prime time
15:05He brought his
15:06Hip hop production
15:07And sensibility together
15:09With my musicality
15:10And my roots
15:11In gospel
15:11And soul
15:12And we made something
15:14Together
15:15That was fresh
15:16And beautiful
15:18Get Lifted
15:19Became what it was
15:21Because we worked together
15:22Because of our connection
15:23The merging
15:24Of our sounds
15:25And I also had
15:27A pretty significant impact
15:28On the college dropout
15:29As well
15:29You hear my voice
15:31And musicianship
15:32On a lot of his records too
15:34Even when you don't know
15:35It's me
15:35I'm the one who sang
15:37That high pitched
15:38Exotic sounding instrument
15:40On Jesus Walks
15:41I said
15:42That was me
15:52And my music kept evolving
15:56Kept getting better
15:58And I could feel
15:58That I was getting closer
15:59And closer to where
16:00I wanted to be
16:00In fact
16:01During this time
16:02Before I got a record deal
16:03I wrote most of what became
16:05Get Lifted
16:07Songs like
16:08Used to Love You
16:09And Let's Get Lifted
16:11And So High
16:12And more
16:13And speaking of
16:15Used to Love You
16:15Shall we sing that song
16:17Together everybody?
16:19That was my very first single
16:21Some of you might be shy
16:23But I want you to sing
16:24Like nobody's paying attention
16:26Are you ready?
16:27Your part's really simple
16:31You say
16:32Holla, holla, holla
16:35Are you ready?
16:42One, two, three
16:43Let's sing it
16:44Come on
16:50Maybe
16:56It's me
16:58Maybe I bore you
17:00No, no
17:02It's my fault
17:03Cause I can't afford you
17:05Maybe
17:07Baby
17:08Puffy
17:09Or Jay-Z
17:11Would all be better for you
17:13Cause all I could do
17:15Was love you
17:16Baby
17:17When I used to love you
17:19There's nothing that I wouldn't do
17:21I went through the fire for you
17:24Anything you ask me to
17:26But I'm tired
17:28Of living this life
17:29It's getting harder
17:30To justify
17:31Realize
17:33That I just don't love you
17:35Not like I used to
17:39Come on
17:44Maybe
17:50I should
17:52Rob somebody
17:53So we could
17:56Live a life
17:57Whitney and Bobby
17:59It's probably
18:01My fault
18:02My bad
18:04My loss
18:05That you are
18:07Above cost
18:08All I could do
18:09Is love you
18:10Baby
18:11When I used to love you
18:13There's nothing that I wouldn't do
18:15I went through the fire for you
18:18Anything you ask me to
18:20But I'm tired
18:21Of living this life
18:23It's getting harder
18:24To justify
18:25Realize
18:27That I just don't love you
18:29Not like I used to
18:32Come on
18:37I love you
18:38Oh baby
18:54When I used to love you
18:56There's nothing that I wouldn't do
18:58I went through the fire for you
19:01But I'm not gonna play the fool
19:03No, I can't live this life
19:06And I can't justify
19:08And I can't make it my right
19:11Cause I don't love you
19:13Not like I used to
19:15Come on
19:20Give it up for yourself
19:27Give it up for yourself
19:32You sound good
19:33Now if you remember
19:36The music video
19:37For used to love you
19:39You'll remember
19:39We set it out of church
19:41With a choir in the background
19:44Singing the holla holla hollas
19:46And some of my earliest memories
19:49Are being in choir rehearsal
19:51With my mother
19:53With my maternal grandmother
19:55I wasn't allowed to sing
19:57In the choir just yet
19:58But I was young
19:59And I was hungry
20:00And I kept begging for them
20:02To let me sing
20:04Let me join the choir
20:05They finally let me join the choir
20:07When I was seven years old
20:09And I was the only young kid
20:11In the choir
20:11And they had to make
20:12A special custom choir rope
20:14For seven year old Johnny
20:15I was singing in the church
20:17And that gave me
20:18That first taste of the joy
20:20And the thrill
20:21That I still feel
20:23Right now
20:25When I'm with you
20:27The feeling of making
20:28A crowd happy
20:29From connecting with them
20:31And feeding off
20:33Each other's energy
20:34And when you hear me
20:35Playing the piano today
20:36You're hearing
20:37My maternal grandmother's influence
20:39I would go to her house
20:40On Sundays
20:41After church
20:42And she would teach me
20:43How to play gospel piano
20:45And my parents were
20:47Prominent in the community
20:48My dad was a factory worker
20:51Built trucks for a living
20:52But he's also an artist
20:53A painter and a tailor
20:56And my mother was this
20:57Brilliant bright light
20:59A gorgeous talented woman
21:01With a beautiful singing voice
21:02And she was beloved
21:03In our community
21:04A sort of local celebrity
21:06She sang at a lot
21:07Of the churches in our area
21:09And when I got a little older
21:11My mom would bring me along
21:12To sing and play with her too
21:14So you would look at all that
21:16And say
21:16What a wonderful family
21:18They're raising their kids
21:19In a healthy environment
21:20And giving them
21:21A good solid foundation
21:23But in the middle of all that
21:25A major trauma
21:27Shook our family to the core
21:30And it caused a rupture
21:33That was lasting
21:35And really affected
21:36My entire adolescence
21:38When I was 10
21:40My maternal grandmother
21:43The one who taught me
21:44To play piano
21:45Died suddenly
21:46From heart failure
21:49She was only 58 years old
21:52I was heartbroken
21:54Our whole family
21:56And community were
21:57But nobody was more lost
22:00Than my mother
22:02They were so close
22:04They'd led the choir together
22:05Spent a lot of time together
22:07And after her mother died
22:08My mother spiraled into
22:10Depression
22:11And addiction
22:13And for a decade
22:14She was out of our lives
22:17In losing my grandmother
22:20Then my mother for a time
22:22I lost the two people
22:24Who were most influential
22:25In my music
22:26And education
22:27They had disappeared
22:28These losses
22:31Forced all of us
22:33To step up
22:34But it especially
22:36Forced me to step up
22:38As a musician
22:39I had lost my mother
22:42And my grandmother
22:42But our church
22:43Had lost their organist
22:45And their choir director
22:46So suddenly
22:48I had to play
22:49The keyboard
22:50Direct the choir
22:51Assuming musical
22:53And leadership responsibilities
22:55At the age of about
22:5612 or 13
22:57That were very far
22:59Beyond my years
23:00But all of that
23:01Helped me prepare
23:03For what was to come
23:05Because
23:05When you're leading
23:07The music in the church
23:08You're arranging vocals
23:10You're coming up
23:10With ideas
23:11For what to sing
23:11You're in charge
23:12Of making the service
23:14Move
23:14It turns out
23:16To be perfect training
23:17For what I do now
23:19And as I was moving
23:21Into adolescence
23:22I kept growing
23:23As a musician
23:24My musical horizons
23:26Started to broaden
23:27Beyond gospel music
23:28As well
23:29This is the early 90s
23:31So I got into
23:32R&B from the 90s
23:34You remember the 90s?
23:35Some of y'all do
23:36I love music like
23:38Jodeci
23:39And
23:40Boys to Men
23:42Whitney Houston
23:43Anita Baker
23:44Luther Vandross
23:45Guy
23:46Tony
23:47Tony
23:47Tony
23:48And then my dad
23:50Would play us music
23:51From his era too
23:52He loved Motown
23:53He loved the
23:55Smokey Robinson
23:56Classics
23:57Temptations
23:58He would walk around
24:00The house singing
24:00I've got sunshine
24:02On a cloudy day
24:06So many great soul artists
24:09A lot of those same artists
24:11Who bridge the sacred
24:12And the secular
24:14And those artists
24:15Are still with me
24:17They're still in my head
24:19And you can hear them
24:21In my music
24:22You can hear them
24:24In songs like
24:25This one
24:26From Get Lifted
24:28It's the oldest song
24:30I wrote
24:30On Get Lifted
24:32A song
24:33Called
24:34Stay With You
24:35We've been together for a while now
24:53Growing stronger every day now
24:57Feels so good and there is no doubt
25:01I will stay with you
25:05As each morning brings a sunrise
25:08And the flowers bloom in springtime
25:12On my love and you can rely
25:16And I'll stay with you
25:17And I'll stay with you
25:19I will stay with you
25:23Through the yars and the downs
25:27I will stay with you
25:30When no one else is around
25:34When the dark clouds are around
25:38I will stay by your side
25:42I know it'll be alright
25:45I will stay with you
25:50Though relationships can get old
26:01Have the tendency to grow cold
26:04We have something like a miracle
26:07Yeah
26:08And I'll stay with you
26:11I will stay with you
26:15Through the yars and the downs
26:19I will stay with you
26:22When no one else is around
26:26When the dark clouds are around
26:30I will stay with you
26:31I will stay by your side
26:33I know it'll be alright
26:36I will stay with you
26:41I will stay with you
26:44Heartaches and pain
26:46Through it all
26:51We will remain
26:53In this life
26:58We are known
26:59Friends may come and they may go
27:03Through the years I know
27:06I will stay with you
27:07I will stay with you
27:09In the end I know that we'll find
27:13Love so beautiful and divine
27:17We'll be lovers for a lifetime
27:21But I'll stay with you
27:24But I'll stay with you
27:25I will stay with you
27:28Through the ups and the downs
27:32I will stay with you
27:35When no one else is around
27:39When the dark clouds are around
27:43I will stay by your side
27:47And I know we'll be alright
27:50And I'll stay with you
27:54Everything will be fine
27:57And I will stay with you
28:01Through the end of all time
28:05I will stay with you
28:10I will stay with you
28:11Let's talk about ordinary people
28:26Ordinary people was almost a black eyed pea song
28:34One day in 2004
28:39Will.i.am invited me to a session
28:42To write with him
28:43And he asked me to come and write
28:44Some hooks for the black eyed peas
28:46And he would just play me
28:48Musical ideas and beats
28:49And I would sing
28:50Whatever ideas came to my head
28:52So he starts playing this beat for me
28:54I'm listening and eventually
29:01I start singing a little bit
29:04I said
29:04We love all the memories we've all
29:08We've lost all the memories we've all
29:14I told you my songs start out as gibberish first
29:21I just sing melodies until I figure out what I want to say
29:25And I finally figured out that night
29:28What the lyric for the chorus for that song would be
29:31And I recorded the chorus for ordinary people that night
29:36And it was supposed to be a black eyed peas chorus
29:41With a hip hop beat
29:42But after a few days I told Will.i.am
29:46You know what
29:47You can keep all the other ideas we wrote
29:50But I want to keep ordinary people for myself
29:53I'm glad I kept it for myself
29:56Aren't you glad I kept ordinary people for myself?
29:58The song really connected with people in 2005
30:08That stark, simple arrangement
30:11Didn't sound like anything else on R&B radio
30:14And I think people connected with the honesty
30:18The heart and the lyrics
30:21And that became my signature
30:24I wrote the songs that helped people
30:29Voice their most intimate thoughts on love
30:32The ballads that helped them profess their commitment
30:35And grapple with the complexities of their relationships
30:38And honestly
30:41I didn't know what I was talking about
30:44I wasn't in a serious relationship at the time
30:46But my family inspired me
30:51I told you the story of my mother
30:54Getting caught up in addiction
30:55She was even incarcerated for a time
30:59And I've learned through experience
31:03That people going through those mental health
31:06And addiction struggles
31:07Don't need more punishment
31:09And more brutality
31:10They need more help
31:14They need more love
31:15You'll be happy to know
31:18My mother's been sober for decades now
31:20She's in good health
31:24She's a wonderful grandmother
31:26We love having her back in our lives
31:28And she's been one of my inspirations
31:30When I put myself out there
31:32For a more just and merciful
31:34Criminal justice system
31:36For ending mass incarceration
31:39Around the year 2000
31:42My mother started to return to our family
31:45She literally had a come to Jesus moment
31:49Where she re-embraced her faith
31:52And started to surround herself
31:53With people who could support her
31:55Help her get off drugs
31:57And stay off drugs
31:58She even reconciled with my father
32:01Yes, my parents remarried
32:05A fairy tale ending
32:11Until it wasn't
32:14Right around the time
32:18I was writing this song
32:19Ordinary People
32:20My parents had been remarried for a few years
32:24And they decided
32:24They didn't want to be remarried anymore
32:26They got divorced for a second time
32:29So they were my inspiration
32:36When I wrote that song
32:38We're just ordinary people
32:41We don't know which way to go
32:43Girl, I'm in love with you
32:49But this ain't the honeymoon
32:51We're past the infatuation phase
32:56Right in the thick of love
33:01At times we get sick of love
33:04It seems like we argue every day
33:07I know I misbehave
33:12You've made your mistakes
33:15We both still got room left to grow
33:19Though love sometimes hurts
33:24I still put you first
33:27And we'll make this thing work
33:30But I think we should take it slow
33:34We're just ordinary people
33:37We don't know which way to go
33:43Cause we're ordinary people
33:48Maybe we should take it slow
33:54Take it slow
33:57This time will take it slow
34:06Take it slow
34:09This time will take it slow
34:18This ain't a movie, no
34:23No fairytale conclusion, y'all
34:26It gets more confusing every day
34:29Oh, sometimes it's heaven sent
34:34Then we head back to hell again
34:37We kiss, then we make them on the way
34:41I hang up, you call
34:45We rise and we fall
34:48And we feel like just walking away
34:53But as our love advances
34:57We take second chances
35:00Though it's not a fantasy
35:04I still want you to stay
35:08We're just ordinary people
35:14We don't know which way to go
35:19Cause we're ordinary people
35:25Maybe we should take it slow
35:28Oh, we're just ordinary people
35:36We don't know which way to go
35:42Cause we're ordinary people
35:48Maybe we should take it slow
35:52Take it slow
35:56Oh, this time will take it slow
36:04Take it slow
36:06Oh, this time will take it slow
36:12Oh, this time will take it slow
36:16Take it slow
36:18Take it slow
36:20Slow, this time we'll take it slow, take it slow.
36:35Baby, we'll take it slow.
36:39Oh, this time we'll take it slow, take it slow.
37:09Hey, we'll take it slow, take it slow.
37:39So I told you about my unfortunate stage name, John R. Stephens.
37:59So you may be wondering, how did John R. Stephens become John Legend?
38:06I'll take you back to the early 2000s during those sessions with Kanye, and we were working
38:15with a spoken word artist from Chicago named Jay Ivey.
38:19Now, Jay heard me singing, playing, and doing all I was doing on those college dropout tracks,
38:27and he was impressed.
38:29He said, man, we're going to have to call you the legend.
38:33And, okay, obviously I'm an old soul.
38:38I've got this throwback voice, this throwback style, and he thought I should be called John
38:44Legend.
38:45And he started calling me that.
38:47Kanye started calling me that.
38:48And I laughed it off at first, but after a while, a bunch of people on our crew started calling
38:54me John Legend.
38:54Then Kanye's putting out mixtapes and referring to me as John Legend.
38:58He put out another mixtape, put it in the credits.
39:01Song by John Legend.
39:03All right, all right.
39:06So this name I hadn't officially chosen was starting to gather some momentum.
39:12I was gently being nudged in that direction.
39:15And I had to make a decision.
39:17I'm starting to think about it.
39:19Should I make it official or not?
39:22I'd been performing as John Stevens for my entire life, but more and more people began
39:27to know me as John Legend, so I had to decide whether or not I was going to assume this stage
39:31name.
39:31Now, part of me is saying, how are you going to call yourself legend?
39:35You don't even have a record deal yet there.
39:40But maybe the better part of me said, you know what?
39:44We're going to make this work.
39:46This name is going to announce my presence.
39:49It's going to make people pay attention.
39:52And then I just got to go and live up to it.
39:54And I believed in myself enough as a musician, as an artist, to believe that I had the ability
40:00within me to live up to this name.
40:03And I didn't want to doubt myself so much that I wouldn't take the name because I was afraid
40:08of the name.
40:09It was time for me to stop hedging my bets, stop worrying about my backup plan, start to bet
40:19on myself and on my future, have faith in myself and my purpose.
40:25So, I was like, fuck it.
40:29I'm going to call myself John Legend.
40:34Okay.
40:35So, I'm in the studio calling myself John Legend.
40:38I'm introducing myself to record labels as John Legend.
40:41And that's when my lawyer told me we had to trademark the name John Legend.
40:51And lo and behold, there's a porn producer.
40:57I kid you not.
40:58A porn producer who dabbled in rockabilly music.
41:02And he went by the name Johnny Legend.
41:05Now, the key with trademark laws is if you're in the same business, you can't have a name
41:12that confuses the marketplace.
41:14So, the fact that he made music, made rockabilly music, and his name was Johnny Legend meant
41:20that there was a possible trademark infringement case.
41:23So, we had to figure this out.
41:24We had to find Johnny Legend, negotiate with him, cut a mutually exclusive deal stating that
41:33he was Johnny Legend, and I was John Legend.
41:37He wouldn't sue me.
41:38I wouldn't sue him.
41:40He wouldn't try to get into the soul music business pretending to be John Legend.
41:45And I'm happy to make clear that I kept my side of the agreement.
41:51I didn't produce any porn.
41:54Didn't make any rockabilly music pretending to be Johnny Legend.
41:59We worked it out.
42:00So, John Legend signed to Columbia Records in May of 2004.
42:09Get Lifted came out, like I said, on my 26th birthday, December 28th, 2004.
42:17And you know what?
42:17It really did feel like a new birth.
42:21That's why so much of the mood of the album is one of optimism and celebration.
42:28That's why I wrote songs like So High.
42:33Baby, since the day you came into my life.
42:56You made me realize that we were born to fly.
43:06You showed me every day new possibility.
43:12Let's go to a place only lovers go to a spot that we've never known.
43:32To the top of the clouds, we're floated away.
43:40Ooh, this feels so crazy.
43:44All this love is blazing.
43:47Baby, we're so high.
43:50Walkin' on cloud nine.
43:57So high.
44:01So high.
44:05Oh.
44:06Maybe later we could go up to the moon.
44:18We'll sail among the stars before the night is through.
44:25And when morning comes, we'll see the sun is not so far.
44:34And we can't get much closer to God than where we are.
44:41Oh, we'll go to a place only lovers go.
44:46Oh, we'll go to a spot that we've never known.
44:51To the top of the clouds, we're floated away.
44:58Oh, this feels so crazy.
45:02Oh, this love is blazing.
45:06Baby, we're so high.
45:09Walkin' on cloud nine.
45:14So high.
45:16So high.
45:18So high.
45:22Oh.
45:24Oh, this feels so crazy
45:46Oh, this love is blazed
45:51Baby, we're so high
45:54Walking on cloud night
46:00You got me up so high
46:03You got me up so high
46:07You got me up so high
46:11My shoes are scraping the sky
46:14You got me up so high
46:19You got me up so high
46:22You got me up so high
46:26You got me up so high
46:28From the sky
46:32Oh, yeah
46:38Yeah
46:40Let's go to the moon
46:46Oh, let's go
46:53To the moon
46:55Let's go
47:04Go
47:08To the moon, baby
47:12Soul
47:20Soul
47:25Soul
47:30Soul
47:36We're so high
47:40We're so high
47:42We're so high
47:44We're so high
47:50You know, I played you a couple beautiful songs
48:04about being deeply in love on Get Lifted.
48:10But I was a fraud.
48:11I didn't know what I was talking about.
48:15It wasn't until after that album
48:16that I actually was able to know for myself
48:20what it felt like to be deeply in love.
48:24Started in 2006.
48:26My second album, Once Again, was about to come out.
48:30I had a photographer friend named Nabil Eldakin,
48:33and he had the idea to make a music video
48:35for a song that he loved from Once Again,
48:38a song called Stereo.
48:40And his video treatment would feature me and a love interest.
48:44Who to cast?
48:45Well, he had recently worked with this up-and-coming model
48:51at a billabong photo shoot,
48:53and he thought maybe he should cast her.
48:56So he showed me a picture of her
48:58and asked me if I wanted her to play my love interest in the video.
49:03And I said, yes.
49:05I looked at those pictures, and I was like, yes, absolutely.
49:10Please do cast her in the video.
49:13And that's how I met my future wife, Chrissy Teigen.
49:16We shot that video in mid-September 2006.
49:26We had instant chemistry,
49:28and I fell in love with her.
49:32I fell in love with her sense of humor
49:34and how dynamic and spontaneous she is.
49:39She's the fire to my ice.
49:41She makes my life a lot more exciting.
49:45And she can cook.
49:46Oh, yes, she can cook.
49:47Lord, she can cook.
49:50Make you want to write a song.
49:53So I proposed to her in 2011.
49:57We got married in Italy on September 14th of 2013.
50:01Our rehearsal dinner, the night before our wedding,
50:03was the exact seven-year anniversary of the day we met.
50:06And in another full-circle moment, on that day,
50:10we finished shooting the music video
50:12directed by that same director that introduced us,
50:17Nabil Eldakin, for a very special song
50:20that I had written for Chrissy,
50:21a song called All of Me.
50:26I was excited about it when I finished,
50:28and I wanted Chrissy to hear it.
50:30But I didn't play her the record.
50:31I sang it for her.
50:33I whispered it in her ear.
50:37And she cried.
50:39I don't want to embarrass her,
50:41but she did cry the first time she heard this song.
50:43She doesn't cry like every time she hears this song.
50:45She's heard it like a billion times now.
50:48But she cried the first time,
50:50and she knew it was for her.
50:52From the first lyric,
50:54what would I do without your smart mouth?
50:57And for our wedding reception,
51:02I got to sing it live for the very first time.
51:04And of course, it's been a part of some of people's weddings
51:07and celebrations since then.
51:09But the first time I sang it live was at our own wedding
51:12in the presence of our family and friends.
51:17And I want to sing it for you tonight.
51:19Is that all right?
51:19What would I do without your smart mouth?
51:37Drawing me in and you kicking me out.
51:41You've got my head spinning.
51:44No kidding.
51:46I can't pin you down.
51:49What's going on in that beautiful mind?
51:53I'm on your magical mystery ride.
51:57And I'm so dizzy.
52:00Don't know what hit me,
52:02but I'll be all right.
52:04My head's under water,
52:09but I'm breathing fine.
52:13You're crazy and I'm out of my mind.
52:18Cause all of me loves all of you.
52:25Love your curves and all your ashes.
52:29All your perfect imperfections.
52:32Give your heart to me.
52:36I'll give my heart to you.
52:40You're my end and my beginning.
52:44Even when I lose, I'm winning.
52:47Cause I give you all of me.
52:54And you give me all of you.
53:00How many times do I have to tell you?
53:08Even when you cry and you're beautiful too.
53:12The world is beating down.
53:16I am around through every move.
53:20You're my downfall.
53:22You're my muse.
53:23My worst distraction.
53:25My rhythm and blues.
53:27I can't stop singing.
53:30It's ringing in my head for you.
53:35My head's under water,
53:39but I'm breathing fine.
53:42You're crazy and I'm out of my mind.
53:48Cause all of me loves all of you.
53:55Love your curves and all your ashes.
53:58All your perfect imperfections.
54:02Give your all to me.
54:06I'll give my all to you.
54:09You're my end and my beginning.
54:13Even when I lose, I'm winning.
54:16Cause I give you all of me.
54:24And you give me all of you.
54:30Oh, cries on the table.
54:37We're both showing hearts.
54:41We're risking it all though it's hard.
54:45Cause all of me loves all of you.
54:54Love your curves and all your ashes.
54:57All your perfect imperfections.
55:01Give your all to me.
55:04I'll give my all to you.
55:08You're my end and my beginning.
55:12Even when I lose, I'm winning.
55:15Cause I give you all of me.
55:23And you give me all of you.
55:30Oh, I give you all of me.
55:37And you give me all of you.
55:46Oh, I give you all of you.
55:50Thank you so much.
56:08I began my life as a musician in the church.
56:17And music has always been about elevation for me.
56:24Bringing us closer to God.
56:26Helping us experience our humanity and our spirituality at their highest heights.
56:34Helping us feel more love.
56:40Making our world more beautiful.
56:43And as we celebrate the album that began my career, I'm so grateful.
56:52I'm grateful for the legacy I'm building and for the soul music tradition that I'm continuing.
57:04I'm so honored that my music has been a part of your lives and that you've been such a huge part of mine.
57:17That we've been getting lifted together for all these years.
57:26Here's to many more.
57:30Thank you so much.
57:31And you give me all of you.
57:51Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
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