This week’s inspirational “Music Monday” song is ”Keep On” by D. Train.

The song was only a blip on the top 20 R&B charts in 1982, but a lot of D. Train’s songs were later covered and sampled by others more well-known than their original, including Miles Davis’ version of “Something On Your Mind” and Notorious B.I.G. “Sky’s The Limit”.

The Prelude Records duo was an interesting pair. D. Train earned their nickname from vocalist James Williams’ hard-hitting defense on his city championship football team in Brooklyn. So what stud did he choose? In this case, a geeky keyboard nerd named Hubert Eaves III from the local high school glee club. Kind of sounds like Gnarls Barkley (Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse) getting together, come to think of it.

Although D. Train broke up a few years, “Keep On” survives to this day thanks to fleeting dance radio airplay. The lyrics remind ourselves to keep reaching for our goals until we touch the sky, and planting our feet on solid ground (wait, did this rip off Casey Kaseem’s signoff of “keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars”?).

The last chorus implores you even more: listen, i can’t let nobody keep me from reachin’ the top
don’t you give up for nothing keep on ‘til you get by
reach, reach, reach you’re almost there
if you have a goal, set it in your mind
reach for it, say to yourself, this will be mine!
keep, pressin’ on spells keep on, keep on pressin’ my friend!
ain’t no half steppin’ you’ve got to keep on pressin’!

And then concludes with a self-commandment: THIS WILL BE MINE!Keep on pressin’ on …

I read somewhere once that this song is like a prayer of self assurance, self awareness, self awareness, and self determination, of ones self. I think that’s appropriate.

When you feel down, put on this song, get off the couch, stretch those back muscles & dance a little. Psych yourself up like a boxer. Keep positive. Keep the faith. And keep on pressing on!

By Jeff Fryer, 405 Club Member, Music Connoisseur, Contributing Writer, & active job seeker

Read more of Jeff’s weekly Inspirational Music Monday posts here.