Artist: Erykah Badu
Song: Next Lifetime
Album: Baduizm
Year: Spring ‘1997
The song starts off with Erykah saying, “But we’re friends and I’m in a situation. I’m in a relationship. You know what that means”. This song not only places me in a jazz setting, with wine, soft music playing and poets engaging in spoken word but it also takes me back to the moment where I sat on my mom’s porch, reminiscing about two guys that I was strongly in love with. It was not easy to unfold this secret because I was with one man physically but loving the other through my mind and soul. I could remember playing this song over and over thinking about who I wanted right at that moment and who I wanted for my next lifetime. Here I was in this guy’s world but trying to find a way to be the other man’s girl. My man was perfect. He was my baby. I could not drop him for the overwhelming emotions that I was feeling. I was one woman so therefore, sharing was not an option. It goes back to the phrase, “Where were you when I was single”? It was too late to make a decision because I was already in a relationship. To the confused ladies, always go with your heart and tell the other brother, “I guess I’ll see you next lifetime who knows, maybe we’ll be butterflies”.
~Written by: Patrice
