Cyndi Lauper's Gentle Soul Rings True

I swear it's National Honesty Day!! That makes Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" an ideal song to reflect upon. It gave the sassy New Yorker her second Billboard #1 in 1986. The video is a dazzling display of what made her album title "She's So Unusual" so refreshingly accurate. The skirt made of newspapers alone should tell you this woman marches to the beat of her own drum. "Colors" opens with a percussion tap that would not be out of place at a campfire where loyal chums entertain each other with words and music. Such warmth springs from the guitar melodies. From the start Cyndi is a calming presence who makes it hard to be too defeated. Hers is the kind of voice you'd want waking you up first thing in the morning to usher in a day more promising than the conflict filled night that preceded it. The thought of listening to this while basking in a hot tub's bubbles doesn't sound half bad at all. The messages are easy to relate to. No matter who you are you can get identify with an overwhelming world. We're humans expected to confront seemingly impossible challenges. Comfort the four year-old girl with this song. Reassure your embattled hubby with it. The speed is nice and gentle. During the song Cyndi belts out her passion just enough to get our attention but doesn't fall victim to emoting way too much. With each choral refrain she grows more and more empowered. For its last go around she returns to that whisper soft tone meant to bring down our guard so the sunshine can race back in. There's a definite dignity to the song that makes you actually feel like being you isn't the worst assignment imaginable. "True Colors" supplies us with the entire rainbow of natural beauty. Sometimes admitting that what you see is what you get isn't a loathsome idea. Cyndi surely finds the right touch here.