"STILL C U" / "Figures" | Jessie Reyez | TED

foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] how come I still see you when I am true but it thought I do no matter what I do I can't get away from you I came get away from [Music] you y'all make some noise for my girl Heather Ann Crawford please [Applause] hello everyone my name is Jesse Reyes and I'm here because I've made a profound discovery were born we grow

we die and life is suffering thank you for coming to my TED Talk [Applause] when we need to eat and we can't we suffer when we need to breathe and we can't we suffer communal beings need to love and when we can't we write sad love songs in March of 2016 I was just getting started as a songwriter I was knee-deep in demos and potential but

I had nothing to show for it AKA broke and to top it off I was incredibly heartbroken over someone who had betrayed me one night I went into the studio and I emotionally vomited into the microphone kind of like what I did here the song I made that night ended up changing the course of my life forever I made figures it went viral I got signed

I went on tour I made some bread I officially retired my parents I made an album made another album got called by Ted Talk and now I'm here with you lovely people sounds great but I'm not saying my life is perfect and I obviously still deal with my fair share of problems however after that experience I naturally came to subscribe to the school of thought that

even when we can't see it in the moment it seems as though the greater good is always working in our favor anytime that we connect the dots backwards in case you missed the sarcasm in the beginning I don't think I've made some profound Discovery but when I was presented with this opportunity I wanted to take the chance to almost serve as a reminder for what seems

like the obvious sometimes at my shows near the end of the set I tell this story and every time I do I always acknowledge the possibility of there being a Negative Nancy in the audience thinking to herself well Jesse I don't write sad love songs or well Jesse I don't have faith in the greater good so what the [__] does this have to do with me

Nancy I'll tell you it doesn't matter what conduit you use whether it's music whether it's painting whether it's a robotic electrical bird conspiracy it doesn't matter what tool you use but what's important to remember is this the burdens of Life get significantly lighter when we acknowledge the agency that we all have in converting a loss to a win contingent on how we approach and or capitalize

off of the ruins at our feet [Music] a very verbose way of saying life is what you make it we're all capable of magic and it just so happens that my version of this magic comes by way of turning heartbreak into songs hardship hardship this is a good one are you ready a hardship can either be a trojan horse or the Trojan condom you put on

when you finally say [__] it my Big Brother's gonna like that one not saying like do nothing and let go of the wheel when things go left but when we employ some faith while simultaneously working on self-betterment I think that we can get to wherever the River of Life was going regardless of us trying to resist because there is no escaping it it seems like the

writing's on the wall life's ah [__] but I prefer the way that my Colombian dad pronounces it life said Beach the beach the irony is poetic so I think sometimes it's better to ride the wave instead of drowning my name is Jesse Reyes thank you for your time and this will be my last song thank you figures [Music] I gave you a ride to die and

you gave me games love figures I know I'm crying cause you just won't change love figures [Music] I gave it all and you gave me [__] love figures I wish I could do exactly what you did wish I could hurt you back [Music] you're the one of gonna lose [Music] [Music] that's the way I wish that I could do to you you who love to you

who figures I'm the bad guy cause I can't learn to trust love and figures [Music] you say sorry once and you think that's enough I've got a lineup of girls in a lineup of guys [Music] I'm willing to stay cause I'm sick for your love [Music] [Applause] I wish I could hurt you bad [Music] love what would you do if you couldn't get me back yo

you're the one who's gone don't lose something so special something so real tell me boy how in the [__] would you feel if you couldn't get me back that's why I wish that I could do oh two [Music] oh [Music] thank you thank you thank you very much