- Hey guys, it's Jewel.
Welcome to MTV Unplugged.
I'm gonna do three
songs for you today.
This first one I wrote
when I was homeless.
I ended up homeless because I
wouldn't have sex with my boss
and I couldn't pay my rent
and I started living in my car
and then my car got
stolen, and it just sucked.
But I wasn't in my car
when it got stolen,
so that's way less sucky.
I was having panic
attacks, I was agoraphobic,
and I was shoplifting a lot
and I realized I would
end up in jail or dead
if I didn't do
something about it.
And I remember this quote
by Buddha that said,
"Happiness doesn't depend on
who you are or what you have,
"it depends on what you think."
And I decided to see if I
could turn my life around
one thought at a time.
And it was such an
amazing year for me.
It was the best,
worst year of my life.
I started developing
tools to help me solve
for anxiety and depression
and a neuroscientist
named Dr. Judson Brewer
actually came along
and proved why these
little exercises
that I invented worked.
And they're up for free,
it's part of a non-profit.
So if anybody wants to
learn how to meditate
or learn to rewire your
brain just using simple tools
and neuroplasticity, which
is basically just practicing
and starving old path
ways, building new ones.
It's really simple exercises
and they're up at
jewelneverbroken.com.
Jewelneverbroken.com.
But I wanna play you this
song I wrote during that time
in my life about my first
mindfulness exercise,
really, which was
watching my hands
and just the
importance of kindness.
And I can't think of anything
that's more important
than that right now.
(guitar playing)
♪ If I could tell the
world just one thing ♪
♪ It would be they're all okay ♪
♪ And not to worry 'cause
worry is wasteful ♪
♪ And it's useless
in times like these ♪
♪ I won't be made useless ♪
♪ I won't be made
idled with despair ♪
♪ I'll gather myself
around my faith ♪
♪ For light does the
darkness most fear ♪
♪ My hands are small, I know ♪
♪ They're not yours
they are my own ♪
♪ But they're not
yours they are my own ♪
♪ And we are never broken ♪
♪ Poverty stole
your golden shoes ♪
♪ But it didn't
steal your laughter ♪
♪ Heartache came to visit me ♪
♪ But I knew it was
not ever after ♪
♪ And we will fight, but
it's not out of spite ♪
♪ It's just 'cause someone must
stand up for what's right ♪
♪ Cause where there's a
man who has no voice ♪
♪ There ours shall go singing ♪
♪ My hands are small, I know ♪
♪ They're not yours,
they are my own ♪
♪ They're not yours,
they are my own ♪
♪ We are never broken ♪
♪ 'Cause in the end ♪
♪ Only kindness matters ♪
♪ In the end ♪
♪ Only kindness matters ♪
♪ So I will get
down on my knees ♪
♪ And I will pray ♪
♪ I will get down on my knees ♪
♪ I will pray ♪
♪ I will get down on
my knees and pray ♪
♪ 'Cause my hands
are small, I know ♪
♪ But they're not
yours, they are my own ♪
♪ But they're not
yours, they are my own ♪
♪ And we are never
broken, oh, no ♪
♪ We are never broken ♪
♪ 'Cause we are ♪
♪ We are God's eyes ♪
♪ And we are God's hands ♪
♪ And we are God's heart ♪
♪ We are God's eyes ♪
♪ We are God's hands ♪
♪ We are, we are ♪
That was Hands.
I'm gonna play a brand
new song for you.
I have a new record coming out.
It's gonna be a slightly
different style,
I guess as all my albums are.
(laughs)
This has more of a soul feel.
Grew up listening to a
lot of great soul music.
I think my favorite singer
of all time is Sarah Vaughan.
This song, did you know
there's only two basic states
of being dilated and contracted?
And every thought,
feeling, and action
leads to one of
those two states.
So if you're anxious, your
whole system contracts
and you have these biochemicals
flooding your system.
But I realized you can hack
your way into a dilated state.
I use gratitude.
So if I'm feeling really
anxious, I force myself
to think of something that
I'm truly grateful for.
And there's always a
lot to be grateful for.
And your whole
vascular system dilates
and different biochemicals
floods your system
and your brain blood flow
reroutes, it's incredible.
That's one of the exercises
on jewelneverbroken.com.
So this is a brand new
song, it's called Grateful.
(clears throat)
And it's, I don't know, gonna
be out sometime soon, I guess.
(guitar playing)
♪ When everything's wrong ♪
♪ When I can't find my song ♪
♪ When darkness is all I see ♪
♪ There is a remedy ♪
♪ It's all the little things
that make the world go round ♪
♪ It's all the little things
that are most powerful ♪
♪ There's no politician,
no sky too dark ♪
♪ No one can take the
love from my heart ♪
♪ The sun gonna shine ♪
♪ And in this heart of mine ♪
♪ The sun gonna shine ♪
♪ And in this heart of mine ♪
♪ The sun gonna shine,
ooh ooh, it's true ♪
♪ Cause I can
always be grateful ♪
♪ Ooh ooh, ooh ooh
ooh, ooh ooh ooh ♪
♪ When the loudest sound ♪
♪ Is your own life
crashing down ♪
♪ And when your friends,
when your friends, ♪
♪ They don't come around ♪
♪ There's one true
thing I've found ♪
♪ It's all the little
things, the bells that ring ♪
♪ The green, green grass
and the birds that sing ♪
♪ I'm gonna choose the
bright side to see ♪
♪ And no one, no one
can take that from me ♪
♪ 'Cause the sun gonna shine ♪
♪ And in this heart of mine ♪
♪ The sun gonna shine ♪
♪ And in this heart of mine ♪
♪ The sun's gonna shine,
ooh ooh, it's true ♪
♪ Cause I can
always be grateful ♪
♪ Ooh ooh, ooh ooh
ooh, ooh ooh ooh ♪
♪ Ooh ooh, ooh ooh
ooh, ooh ooh ooh ♪
♪ So bring it on, bring it on,
bring it on, bring it on now ♪
♪ Bring it on, bring
it on, bring it on, ♪
♪ Bring it on, bring it
on, bring it on now ♪
♪ Sing it on, sing it on,
sing it on, sing it on now ♪
♪ I'm singing on,
I'm singing on ♪
♪ Singing on ♪
♪ 'Cause the sun gonna shine ♪
♪ In this heart of mine ♪
♪ The sun gonna shine ♪
♪ And in this heart of mine ♪
♪ The sun's gonna shine,
ooh ooh, it's true ♪
♪ 'Cause I can always be ♪
♪ Ooh, I could always be ♪
♪ Ooh, I can always
be grateful ♪
That's Grateful, it's
a brand new song.
My dog is scratching
my leg while I sing.
This is my dog.
He apparently thinks he
needs to be on camera.
Hi.
Will you be good
and sit behind me?
I'm gonna do one more for you.
Let's see.
I'm gonna play you the
first song I ever wrote.
I wrote this when I was 16.
I wrote this because I...
I moved out when I was 15.
And got accepted to an
amazing fine arts school
in Michigan from Alaska.
But I didn't have enough
money to make it home
on spring breaks so I
decided to make lemonade,
which was hitchhike across the
country and through Mexico,
'cause I'm super smart.
To earn money, I decided
I would street sing
and so I learned four chords.
And I just started
improvising lyrics
about people as they walked by.
And I wrote my first song.
I made it back to school
without being murdered,
so it was like a total success.
And then this first song I
wrote became my first single.
Crazy.
So this is called Who
Will Save Your Soul.
(guitar playing)
♪ People living their
lives for you on TV ♪
♪ They say they're better
than you and you agree ♪
♪ She says hold my calls from
behind those cold brick walls ♪
♪ Says come here boy,
there's nothing for free ♪
♪ Another burger, another
hot dogs and fries ♪
♪ You wish in the well, hope
your help don't go to hell ♪
♪ Well, another doctor's
bill, a lawyer's bill ♪
♪ Another cute cheap thrill ♪
♪ You know you love him if
you put in your will but ♪
♪ Who will save your soul ♪
♪ When it comes to the babies ♪
♪ And who will save your soul ♪
♪ After all those
lies you told ♪
♪ Who will save your souls ♪
♪ If you won't save your own ♪
(vocalizing)
♪ We try to hustle them,
try to bustle them, ♪
♪ Try to cuss them ♪
♪ And the cops want someone to
bust down on Orleans Avenue ♪
♪ Another day, another dollar,
another war, another tower ♪
♪ Went up where the
homeless had their homes ♪
♪ So we pray to as
many different Gods ♪
♪ As there are flowers ♪
♪ We call religion our friend ♪
♪ We are so worried
about saving our souls ♪
♪ Afraid that God
will take his toll ♪
♪ That we forget to begin but ♪
♪ Who will save your soul ♪
♪ When it comes to the flower ♪
♪ And who will save your soul ♪
♪ After all those
lies that you told ♪
♪ Who will save your soul ♪
♪ If you won't save your own ♪
(vocalizing)
♪ Now some are walking,
some are talking ♪
♪ Some are stalking and kill ♪
♪ You got so-called
social security ♪
♪ But that don't
pay your bills ♪
♪ 'Cause there's
addictions to feed ♪
♪ And there are mouths to pay ♪
♪ So we bargain with
the devil, say ♪
♪ You're okay today ♪
♪ Say but you love 'em ♪
♪ Take your money and run ♪
♪ Say it's been
swell, sweetheart ♪
♪ But it was just
one of those things ♪
♪ Those strings, those flings ♪
♪ Those strings, those flings ♪
♪ Those strings, those flings,
those strings, those flings ♪
♪ Those strings, those flings,
those strings, those flings ♪
♪ Those strings, those flings,
those strings, those flings ♪
♪ Things you've got to cut
so get out on the streets ♪
♪ Girl right now and
bust all your butts ♪
♪ It will save your soul ♪
♪ When it comes
to the memories ♪
♪ Save your soul ♪
♪ After all of those
lies you told, boy ♪
♪ Who will save ♪
♪ Save your ♪
♪ Soul if you won't
save your own ♪
Thank you for joining
me on MTV Unplugged.
