The Consecrated Souls of Whitney Houston and Don Cornelius (Part 2)

(“Souls in Consecrated Flight No. 2” art by Aberjhani ©2021)

With six Grammy Award wins out of 25 nominations, plus 21 roles to her credit as an actress and 10 as a film producer, the body of Whitney Houston’s creative output speaks better than anything or anyone else on her behalf. The elegy at the bottom of this post does comprise a principle part of this commentary but to it should be added this: much has been rightfully said about the quality of Houston’s powerful voice but too little, perhaps, about how masterfully she employed it as a musical artist.

If you missed part 1 of this article please click here.
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From her gospel-singing mother Cissy Houston, her legendary pop-diva cousin Dionne Warwick, and her Queen of Soul godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston inherited gifts for skillfully interpreting lyrics and endowing them with new depth and jeweled nuance. In less than a split second, she could switch instinctively from soprano to alto, or from contralto back down to soprano and all the notes in between like a sparrow flitting from one blossoming shrub to another. She could growl like a blues-woman on the prowl or croon barely-contained passion like a mystic singing for her God and nobody else.  

​“I Will Always Love You” was already a beautiful song as recorded by its composer, Dolly Parton, as well as by rock star Linda Ronstadt long before Houston put her indelible stamp on it.  Likewise, “The Star Spangled Banner” was already a staple of American culture. But it was Houston’s talent for original interpretation that allowed her to transform Parton’s song into powerhouse declaration of unconditional love in the face of unavoidable pain.  And that same talent allowed her to wake up an entire nation to the deeper inspired meaning of words many had previously sung with bored impatience. 

Elegy for Timeless Diva 

​The following praise poem/elegy, The Consecrated Soul of Whitney Houston, is one humble acknowledgement of the musical artist’s exceptional life, talent, and titanic legacy: 

                                 The Consecrated Soul of Whitney Houston
                                      (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012)
                                   
                                “Share my love, take me for what I am…”
                                ––Whitney Houston (from song I Have Nothing
                                 lyrics by Linda Thompson / David W. Foster)

Your greatest hit is your consecrated soul,
notes dipped in gold by the one who made you.
Your style could burn valentine-heart red,
or smolder soulfully brilliant, ingeniously blue.

Sometimes on wings of diamond soprano,
or then again on comets of billion-dollar contralto...
you flew heights profoundly sacred––
one moment adored, the next embattled.

With blood flowing from gospel’s rock of ages,
you sang the world’s fury into rose-scented grace.
Time dressed you in gowns of astonished majesty;
starlight blessed you with an angel’s glittering face.

Who among humans are equipped to judge you?
Many still squint trying to glimpse your light.
Beauty from another world gave birth to your voice––
sent to rescue scorned hearts from traumatized nights.
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Your greatest hit is your consecrated soul,
notes dipped in gold by the one who made you.
Gently now, eternity engraves your name with hymns,
weeping ballads of love––and psalms of gratitude.                      

By Aberjhani
Author of The Black Skylark zPed Music Player
Co-author of Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance