She is best known for her singles You Got Me her collaboration with The Roots, as well as her own songs Tyrone, Love of My Life, On & On, Bag Lady, The Healer, Honey and Soldier. Her lyrics are highly personal urban philosophy which throw emotional challenges in the face of the listener. She weaves unusual musical influences together creating a rich texture of sound.
Some music journalists have labeled her Nu soul, nouvelle-soul or neo soul, often comparing her to Billie Holiday in lyrical delivery and grouping her with Maxwell and D'Angelo in musical genre.
Baduizm, Badu's highly acclaimed debut album, was released in early 1997 and debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts. Lead single On & On reached #12 on the singles charts in both the U.S. and UK. Badu received notice for her introspective lyrics and jazzy, bass-heavy sound, and was hailed as one of the leading lights of the burgeoning neo soul genre. Her sophisticated style of singing drew many comparisons to Billie Holiday. Baduizm eventually went triple platinum and, along with On & On, won Grammy Awards at the 1998 ceremonies.
During that year, Badu became involved with rapper André 3000 of OutKast, with whom she had a child, Seven, who was born in 1997. Their relationship ended sometime in the late 90s. Badu recorded her first live album, Live, while pregnant with Seven, and the release of the recording coincided with the birth to her child. Live reached #4 on the Billboard charts, selling double platinum, and spawned another R&B hit single in Tyrone a song chiding a selfish, cheap, and inattentive boyfriend. Badu also collaborated with The Roots (who had previously handled production duties on a number of tracks on Baduizm) on their breakthrough 1999 release, Things Fall Apart. She was featured on the song You Got Me co-written by Jill Scott, which hit the top 40 and won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
After taking some time off to raise her child, Badu returned in 2000 with Mama's Gun, an album more organic in sound than her previous studio album, and primarily produced by the Soulquarians and noted bassist Pino Palladino. A remix of one of the album's songs, Bag Lady was issued as the first single and topped the R&B charts for seven weeks. The album was well-received, with the lyrical content winning notices from many publications who found some of her lyrics hard to decipher on her initial releases. Despite not charting as high as her first two albums, Mama's Gun was another platinum-selling success, and Bag Lady was nominated for a Grammy.
By 2000, Badu was in a romantic relationship with fellow Soulquarian Common, and Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop) was released as a collaboration between the two on the Brown Sugar soundtrack. Love of My Life hit #9 on the pop charts, topped the R&B listings, and Badu was awarded her fourth Grammy for the song in 2003.
After the release of Mama's Gun and Love of My Life, Badu went through a period of writer's block. She hit the road throughout 2002 and much of 2003 on what she dubbed the "Frustrated Artist Tour," in search of inspiration to write and perform new material. The conclusion of the tour saw Badu head back to the studio with new material, and in September of 2003, the Worldwide Underground was released. More jam-oriented than any of her prior releases, Badu was quoted as saying that the release was designed to serve as one continuous groove. Worldwide Underground reached #3 on the Billboard charts and was certified gold not long after its release, and Badu received four further Grammy nominations for the EP.
After almost four years and the birth of a daughter, Puma, it was revealed in 2007 that Badu had three albums in the works over the course of 2007 and 2008. Honey, a new single produced by 9th Wonder, was leaked online in November 2007, and the new album, titled New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), was released on February 26, 2008.
On August 23, 2008, Badu joined the rock band My Morning Jacket on stage at their show in Dallas, Texas to perform her song Tyrone. Her surprise appearance was met with an enthusiastic reaction from the audience.
On February 1, 2009 Badu gave birth to her third child, a girl named Mars Merkaba with her boyfriend Jay Electronica.
Her album New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) was released on March 30, 2010.
Green Eyes
Erykah Badu Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause I eat a lot of vegetables
It don't have nothing to do
With your new friend
My eyes are green
'Fause I eat a lot of vegetables
It don't have nothing to do
With your new friend
I don't care I swear
I'm too through with you, I am
And you don't mean nothing to me
So go ahead and be
With your friend
My eyes are green
'Cause I eats a lot of vegetables
It don't have nothing to do
With your new friend
I'm insecure
But I can't help it
My mind says "move on"
My heart lags behind
But I don't love you anymore
I'm so insecure
Never knew that love did this
Ooh ooh ooh
I can't remember the last time
I felt this way about somebody
You've done something to my mind
That I can't control
But I don't love you anymore
Yes I do I think
Loving you is wrong
Is it?
Ooh ooh ooh
Ladida dumb de dada
Dumb di de da de da
Dumb de da de dumb de
I'm so confused
You tried to trick me yeah
Ooh oh ooh
Never knew that love could hurt like this
Never thought I would but I got this
Makes me feel so sad and hurt inside
Feel embarrassed so I want to hide
Silly me I thought your love was true
Change my name to silly e badu
Before I heal it's gonna be a while
I know it's gonna be a while chile
Da de da dee dee da
Da dee dee dee dee
I hope it's not too late
Too late too late too late
Feelin' insecure
Love has got me sore
I don't want no more ooh
Yeah it's too late oh ooh
I'm sorry I love you
It hurts me ooh
You told me you loved me too
Ooh then you lost your love
Oh then you lost your love
And then you lost your love, wanted me to go away
But I can't sleep
I can't leave it's too late
I can't leave it's too late
I can't leave it's too late
I can't leave it's too late
Just make love to me
Just one more time
And then you'll see
I can't believe I made a desperate plea
What's with me?
Me me yeah
See I can't leave it's too late
I can't leave it's too late
I can't leave it's too late
Yeah I ain't goin' nowhere no
It's too late too late
Too late too late
Come on babe
Don't you want be strong with me
You told me we had a family
Want to run 'cause I weigh ya down
But times get tough and there you go
Out the door you want to run again
Open my heart will you come back again?
Want to run 'cause you say that you are afraid
You're afraid oh
Never knew what a friendship was
Never knew how to breathe love
You can't be what I need you to
And I don't know why I fuck with you
I know our love will never be the same
But I can't stand these growin' pains
Erykah Badu's song Green Eyes is about love and insecurity. In the first stanza, she proclaims that the green color of her eyes has nothing to do with her ex's new friend. Her eyes are green because she eats a lot of vegetables. She is not bothered by her ex's new girlfriend because she is "too through" with him. In the second stanza, Badu admits she is insecure, and though her mind is telling her to move on, her heart lags behind. She is no longer in love with her ex. However, she is confused about her emotions towards him.
Badu's love for her ex-boyfriend is turning into something painful that she cannot control. She feels embarrassed and wants to hide. She changes her name to "Silly E Badu," indicating that she should have known better than to trust her ex. In the chorus, she hopes it is not too late to rectify their love, but she is uncertain. She wants him to make love to her one more time because their love had been so strong. However, her ex has lost his love for her and wants her to go away.
Line by Line Meaning
My eyes are green
'Cause I eat a lot of vegetables
It don't have nothing to do
With your new friend
The color of my eyes is caused by my diet and not related to your new friend
I don't care I swear
I'm too through with you, I am
And you don't mean nothing to me
So go ahead and be
With your friend
My eyes are green
'Cause I eat a lot of vegetables
It don't have nothing to do
With your new friend
I am over you and you do not matter to me, so you can be with your friend. The color of my eyes is due to my diet, not related to your friend.
I'm insecure
But I can't help it
My mind says "move on"
My heart lags behind
But I don't love you anymore
I'm so insecure
Never knew that love did this
I am insecure and trying to move on, but my heart is struggling to catch up. I did not know that love could create this much doubt and insecurity.
I can't remember the last time
I felt this way about somebody
You've done something to my mind
That I can't control
But I don't love you anymore
Yes I do I think
Loving you is wrong
Is it?
You have affected my thoughts and feelings in a way that I cannot control, but I no longer love you. However, deep down, I am still questioning whether loving you is right or wrong.
Ladida dumb de dada
Dumb di de da de da
Dumb de da de dumb de
I'm so confused
You tried to trick me yeah
Ooh oh ooh
I am confused and feeling tricked by you, as represented by the nonsensical lyrics.
Never knew that love could hurt like this
Never thought I would but I got this
Makes me feel so sad and hurt inside
Feel embarrassed so I want to hide
Silly me I thought your love was true
Change my name to silly e badu
Before I heal it's gonna be a while
I know it's gonna be a while chile
I did not anticipate that love could cause this much pain and embarrassment. I thought your love was sincere but now I am feeling foolish. It will take a while before I can heal from this experience.
Da de da dee dee da
Da dee dee dee dee
I hope it's not too late
Too late too late too late
Feelin' insecure
Love has got me sore
I don't want no more ooh
The melody symbolizes my inner turmoil, wondering if it is too late for us. I am feeling vulnerable and emotionally hurt, and I do not want to experience any more pain.
Yeah it's too late oh ooh
I'm sorry I love you
It hurts me ooh
You told me you loved me too
Ooh then you lost your love
Oh then you lost your love
And then you lost your love, wanted me to go away
But I can't sleep
I can't leave it's too late
I can't leave it's too late
I can't leave it's too late
I can't leave it's too late
It is too late for us to make things better, but I cannot seem to let go. I am sorry that I love you because it hurts me, but you also claimed to love me before pushing me away. Even though I want to leave, I cannot do it now.
Just make love to me
Just one more time
And then you'll see
I can't believe I made a desperate plea
What's with me?
Me me yeah
I am asking for one last time together in the belief that it will change things. Afterward, I will realize my plea was desperate, and I will question what is wrong with me.
See I can't leave it's too late
I can't leave it's too late
I can't leave it's too late
Yeah I ain't goin' nowhere no
It's too late too late
Too late too late
Come on babe
I am admitting that I cannot leave despite knowing that it is too late, and I will not go anywhere. I am pleading with my partner to try and make things work between us.
Don't you want be strong with me
You told me we had a family
Want to run 'cause I weigh ya down
But times get tough and there you go
Out the door you want to run again
Open my heart will you come back again?
Want to run 'cause you say that you are afraid
You're afraid oh
Never knew what a friendship was
Never knew how to breathe love
You can't be what I need you to
And I don't know why I fuck with you
I know our love will never be the same
But I can't stand these growin' pains
I am asking my partner to be strong with me and not abandon me. You previously said that we had a family, but now you are running away when things get difficult. I am asking you to come back to me, but you keep saying that you are scared. Our relationship has never been a true friendship or full of love, and I am not sure why I am still with you. I know things will never be the same, but I cannot deal with the pain involved in moving on.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Erica Wright, Victor E. Cooke, James Jason Poyser
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind