Erykah Badu “Next Lifetime.” 1996 Baduizm
Erykah Badu’s shtick is, and most likely always will be, of the Afro-new-agey type. Retro-60’s early 70’s–the Alice Coltrane era–with a beat. Her aesthetics (her vibe, as the kids like to say) is all Egyptian symbolism, regeneration and lava lamp woo-woo. This is the era of fake vinyl scratch sounds and album covers ripping off Roberta Flack left and right. And yet, for me, her songs are so catchy and toe-tapping that the artifice doesn’t really matter. I can flit through song by song and enjoy the sonic flow, knowing full well that Badu’s messaging might be derivative as hell. Who cares? It sounds good.
What makes “Next Lifetime” special is its universal wisdom. Boy meets girl. Girl likes boy but girl is already in a relationship, a “situation” as the pre-song dialogue tells us. What to do? Well, as Badu makes clear, she is a lot of woman but not enough to divide the pie. She is not about to cheat just because guy number two gives her the tingles. As a result, “Next Lifetime” offers the insight that, when and if confronted with this situation, why not just say “see you next lifetime?” Next time around the bend. It’s a way to soften the rejection but also a kind of metaphysics. The notion is that even if we have feelings for each other, perhaps now is not our time. And just as well, the next one could be. This could be a profoundly liberating and inventive idea—and one that could potentially keep many a couple out of divorce court. Why cheat when you can just wait patiently for the next go round (as unlikely as that might be)?
As the song builds to this lovely insight, Badu also explores, honestly, the notion that even one who is “taken” may develop feelings for someone else on the side. Contrary to current opinion, this doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that the feelings must be acted on, or even that the feelings count as “cheating.” Yet, as “Next Lifetime” explores, acknowledging an awareness of such feelings is a kind of honest assessment, and as long as they are not acted upon, no harm done.
As a snap judgment I would offer the insight that Erykah Badu’s range is a bit limited–perhaps this is why she has not released a new album since 2010. There is some variation to her albums sure (with the later work becoming clearly trippier and acid jazzier), however, mostly she riffs on the motifs she already established back in 1996’s Baduizm. With such a musically unique fingerprint there is only so far you can go. You may run out of boundaries to explore when you are already hell-bent on such a retro-sound.
Still, the dreaminess of “Next Lifetime” gets me every time. It is sonic cloud-watching. It is a way of considering far-fetched notions. The song is whimsical as hell–in a good way.
The other side of the coin is that “Next Lifetime” engages with a certain kind of confessional truth-telling, an honest assessment of desire. Badu’s speaker is “spinning all around” as a result of seeing the “beautiful” man again. She enjoys the attention and is almost tempted, it seems, but she pulls off. This is not “Me and Mrs. Jones” territory. It is the next lifetime when they will be free–and the song even suggests a kind of reincarnation (in the next lifetime they will even possibly be butterflies). Nice silver medal.
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