Born in McComb, Mississippi, Norwood was raised in Carson, California, beginning her career as a backing vocalist for teen groups. After signing with Atlantic Records in 1993, she released her self-titled debut album, Brandy, the following year, which sold six million copies worldwide. Norwood ventured into acting with the UPN sitcom Moesha (1996–2001), which won her an NAACP Image Award, and resulted in numerous other roles, such as the titular character in the television film Cinderella (1997) and Karla Wilson in the slasher film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). Her musical breakthrough came with the wildly successful single "The Boy Is Mine" (1998), a duet with fellow R&B contemporary Monica, which went on to become one of the best selling female duets of all time. Her second album, Never Say Never, won Norwood her first Grammy Award. In 2002, Norwood starred in the reality series Brandy: Special Delivery, documenting the birth of her daughter. Her third and fourth albums, Full Moon (2002) and Afrodisiac (2004), were released to critical success.
Norwood served as a judge on the first season of America's Got Talent before being involved in a heavily publicized car accident in 2006. Norwood's fifth album, Human (2008), was released to positive reviews, although it was a commercial failure. In 2010, she returned to television as a contestant on the eleventh season of Dancing with the Stars and starred in the reality series Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business. She was a series regular in the BET series The Game (2012–2015) and released her sixth album Two Eleven (2012) thereafter, both earning her critical praise. In April 2015, Norwood made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago. She starred in and executive produced a sitcom titled Zoe Ever After on BET which premiered in January 2016. In July 2020, Norwood released her seventh studio album, B7, also her first project as an independent artist, to critical acclaim. In 2021, Norwood starred alongside Naturi Naughton, Eve and Nadine Velazquez in American Broadcasting Company's music drama series Queens to critical acclaim.
In June 2022, Norwood announced her major label return after signing with Motown Records under which she is expected to preprare her eighth studio album.
Like It Was Yesterday
Brandy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We were once closer than close
No one could tell who loved each other the most
It was a beautiful thing
Then everything around us started to change
As did we
Who's to blame?
I remember it
CHORUS
Like it was yesterday
It's on continuous play
In my mind, in my mind
All of the good times we had
Suddenly turned bad
So bad
VERSE 2
How did we go from being in love
To barely speaking
What became of us
How did we lose our way
We shouldn't of let our so-called friends
Get in our ear
And cloud up our minds
We couldn't think clear
I remember it like it was
CHORUS
Like it was yesterday
It's on continuous play
In my mind, in my mind
All of the good times we had
Suddenly turned bad
So bad
BRIDGE
If only I could go back and right all the wrong
Then I would but it wouldn't help being that we both moved on
And I remember it, yeah yeah
CHORUS
Like it was yesterday
It's on continuous play
In my mind, in my mind
All of the good times we had
Suddenly turned bad
So bad
FADE OUT
The lyrics of "Like It Was Yesterday" by Brandy talks about reminiscing a past love that ended badly. The song starts with the singer expressing how close they once were with their significant other, that they were almost indistinguishable who loved each other more. They deemed their relationship as a beautiful thing until change creeped in, and they also changed. The question of who exactly caused the relationship's failure was never answered. Despite such a statement, the singer remembers all of it bitterly, replaying the memory of their love's downfall like a broken record. The chorus emphasizes the hurt that won't go away from their mind, the pain of losing all the good times they shared that turned sour.
In the second verse, the singer further explores how their relationship dwindled, from an intimate partnership to barely conversing. They question how they ended up this way and realized that their friends might have caused the damage. They let their friends' opinions cloud their judgment and made them lose sight of what was essential to their relationship. The chorus repeats, and the bridge follows it, conveying the singer's regret in wishing they could undo the faults that eventually lead to the split. However, they have both moved on, so there's no point in trying to make amends.
Overall, "Like It Was Yesterday" is a somber song about a relationship that ended poorly. The singer reminisces their love while regretting the choices that lead to their separation. It is a story that anyone who experienced a heartbreak could relate to on some level.
Line by Line Meaning
We were once closer than close
We had an incredibly strong bond, closer than any other.
No one could tell who loved each other the most
It was never clear who was more in love between us and it didn't matter, we both loved each other deeply.
It was a beautiful thing
Our relationship was a thing of beauty and we cherished it deeply.
Then everything around us started to change
Our surroundings and circumstances started to change and it affected our relationship.
As did we
We changed too and it had an impact on our relationship.
Who's to blame?
We are not sure who is responsible for the changes and it's unfortunate.
I remember it
I remember the way things used to be between us.
How did we go from being in love
We went from being head over heels in love with each other.
To barely speaking
To not speaking much anymore at all, distance between us grew.
What became of us
We wonder what went wrong with us, why we couldn't hold on to what we had.
How did we lose our way
We wonder how we ended up getting lost from the path we wanted to be on.
We shouldn't of let our so-called friends
We regret listening to our friends who we thought had our best interest at heart.
Get in our ear
We should not have let them get into our heads.
And cloud up our minds
Their influence caused confusion and clouded our judgement.
We couldn't think clear
Our thoughts were not as clear anymore, we were consumed by the outside influences.
If only I could go back and right all the wrong
I wish I could turn back time and fix all of the mistakes we made.
Then I would but it wouldn't help being that we both moved on
Unfortunately, we both have moved on even though I would still try to make things right.
And I remember it, yeah yeah
I still remember everything in great detail, no matter how long ago it was.
All of the good times we had
We shared some amazing moments together, ones that stay with me to this day.
Suddenly turned bad
Unfortunately, things turned sour and it was a hard pill to swallow.
Like it was yesterday
All of these memories, both good and bad, feel like they happened just yesterday.
It's on continuous play
These memories keep replaying in my head, almost like a broken record.
In my mind, in my mind
These thoughts and memories are just stuck in my head, and I can't seem to let them go.
So bad
It was painful and sad that things had to turn out the way they did.
Contributed by Alyssa N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Kaaun Hall
Brandy voice is so pure.. She can sing anything😫😫😫. Ugh i never heard this song. Im melting🤧
DeShawn Woods-Carter
Brandy has an incredible ability to transport us back to 90s R&B it’s unreal. Thank you for sharing👏🏾
Phillip Brown
The tone all day!! The emotion
Optimistic Lane
the vocal layering on this song is INSANE!
L F
Very original..Very Brandy..I love it
Sherwin Jansen
Yes, does feel like we're in the 90s
I love it, B can do no wrong vocally
Nici M
The sounds...it's eargasmic!
maya
love this song!!
Jennifer Sutton
I'm feeling this song deeply. I'm keeping it real. I Remember the time my eyes and mind was so cloudy. But now thing's with me is so much better.
Ali
a gem!