The origin of those sassy horny-horn blasts in Madonna’s ‘Vogue’, this is ‘Ooh I Love It (Love Break)’ by The Salsoul Orchestra, which aligns us back on our Solid Gold Summer journey, following a recent Egyptian excursion. Things have decidedly changed, however, and this Solid Gold Summer is melting itself into something different – a new form, perhaps revealing that all is not just gilded pleasure and superficial shine. It changes the original trajectory of where I thought this summer was headed, and in today’s climate you have to be willing to evolve and roll with the punches – that’s survival. I thought that we were going to pull back the mask of golden splendor, uncovering the empty and false interior of an entity only cloaked in gold, with nothing solid or substantial about it. I guess I’ve always sort of thought of myself that way, but it turns out I do have some gold within, and a pretty decent amount of it. It just needed a little melting and reworking to realize its worth, and I’ve very much had that this sultry summer (whether I wanted it or not).
To that end I am revving up and returning to the sparkle and pizzazz that has always been on display here, only now it comes with a more sturdy and secure base – a solid gold realization that took most of spring and summer to discover at this mid-to-late stage of the game. Empowerment sometimes happens when you are just trying to get through a difficult stretch of days, and it’s somehow more potent when you don’t even realizing you’re doing it.
What does that mean for the final half of summer that stretches out before us? A bit more of the golden glamour that was initially promised, a promise that part of me was ready to let go in a few moments of doubt and despair. Fuck all of that, fuck any who fail to realize our value, and fuck all those who assume there is nothing solid beneath the sparkling veneer. There is more dancing to be done, more divas to be adored, and more gold to be polished before August slips away, so strike a pose because there is very much something to it.
