Just popping on here quickly to document that My Love is like Woa is twenty years old.
What is My Love is Like…Wo[a]:
“My Love Is Like…Wo” is a mid-tempo song composed in the key of G major. The song’s tempo is set a slow moderate sixty-nine beats per minute in common time…The lyrics for “My Love Is Like…Wo” are composed in the traditional verse-chorus form. Mýa opens the song with brief spoken lyrics. She begins the first verse, followed by the chorus leading her into the second verse. The song continues to the bridge, chorus, then fades out with the piano and Missy chanting “Wo! Wo! Wo! Wo! Wo!”.
Wikipedia entry for My Love Is Like…Wo
I like to recognize random pop culture references that are now considered obscure or dated.
If you have been following this blog for a while, you probably have picked up that I like to post in arrears. That way, when I’m reporting on a subject matter, I’m more detached.
By the way, my storytelling style is magical realism, where the mundane is amplified and signficant events / plot points are glossed over. A Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez, is told in the style of magical realism. It’s one of my favo(u)rite books.
I tried posting a “My Love is Like…Wo[a]” reel on my IG but was unsuccessful.
Mya is posting retrospective reels on her IG page to celebrate her silver anniversary in the music industry.
Mya’s catalogue was the soundtrack of my late teens through mid-20s. I especially have a soft spot for “Case of the Ex,” the 2001 “Lady Marmalade” cover with Missy Elliot, Pink, Lil Kim, and Christina Aguilera for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack (it was huge in Spring 2001), “Take Me There” — which was the Rugrats theme — and 2004’s “Fallen.” “Fallen” and “My Love is Like…Wo[a]” are both included in her 2003 album Moodring.
In the summer of 2003 through 2004, I literally looped this music video on Yahoo’s “Launch” all the time. I was an intern for the Illinois State Treasurer’s office, back when it was under the leadership of the late Honorable Judy Baar Topinka.
As interns, we were assigned to cover events and festivals in Chicagoland throughout summer 2003 to promote the State’s unclaimed property program now called “ICash” but at the time it was called something else, I believe “Cash Dash.” I was always around people my age that summer, back when Gem Z were babies and toddlers. We would look up on laptops, before iPads, if people had forgotten & forfeited funds for which the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office was (and still is) a custodian. It was cool to match people with forgotten money. That summer they had The Price is Right campaign if memory serves.
It was also that summer where I tried arugula for the first time at the Taste of Chicago. I had never heard of arugula before that summer. I didn’t care for its peppery flavor at the time. Fast forward two decades later, I love arugula.
My 2003 summer wardrobe was black and cream. I had this gorgeous pleated cream skirt with black polka dotes. The skirt flowed to my shins. The flowy skirt also had a pair: a matching halter top that was likewise flowy and was appropriate to wear to work when paired with a black jacket. In addition, I had not one, but two beautiful two-sets from The Limited back when they had brick and mortar stores. Another two-piece set was was a pencil skirt with a flare and a matching halter top. Both were black and had cream trim. I wish I never rehomed them – I would still wear them like I wear the grey “I Climbed the Great Wall” sweatshirt that I referenced in “The Great Fall on the Great Wall” post.
“Launch” predates YouTube and has been Yahoo! Music Radio since 2005.
I recently showed this music video to my husband who is also around my age to see if this unlocked any memories for him. We were dating at the time. He said he remembered me streaming it from my computer.
An aside, my husband also burned me a CD of the Moulin Rouge soundtrack in 2001, two years before this retrospective post takes place.
He said the tap dance scene reminded him of Chicago the musical, which I thought was an interesting observation. Chicago the musical was big around this time. The movie came out in 2002 and it is the longest running musical in Broadway history, since 1975, according to Google search results. So it makes sense it would appear in pop culture circa 2003.
Mya was so stunning & talented in this music video. And the tap dancing 😄 had me wanting to enroll in tap classes as a young adult. Now, I fear for my joints. I don’t know how Paula Abdul does it in her 60s. I’m sure she won’t share with us her joint-health secrets since it’s not in alignment with her current brand.
I wanted to raid the set’s wardrobe closet, for me it was:
1️⃣ the cut-out black jumpsuit
2️⃣ the 80s-style neon green lamé leggings before those style of leggings became cool again. I also liked how it was paired with the leopard print dress.
3️⃣ I wanted her neon green and black-and-white stripped tap shoes even though the last time I took tap classes was in 1990. Mya began tap classes in 1982, stopped in 1987, and then picked up tap again in 1991 and the rest is history.
Separately but similarly, I really hope there was a replacement liquid in the Belvedere bottle (product placement?) she threw at the camera. And I hope no one was injured during the filming of the throw.
Praise for “My Love is Like…Wo[a]” in the YouTube comments:
Probably one of the best choreographed dance videos in modern history.
Can somebody tell me why Mya didn’t get the recognition she deserves??? She’s extremely talented and so beautiful. She deserves to be huge. She’s a Goddess 😘
20 year anniversary and this video is STILL a LESSON on SHOWMANSHIP!!!! 🎉
This video deserves an AWARD!!!! I don’t know why it has been overlooked! That ain’t right because this is iconic!
For me, hands down, this is the best video performed by a female artist that I have seen. Mya served on every level. She is lovely and so talented…love her.
This NEVER gets old….. She literally made this a timeless video just by her hard work.