At the age of sixteen, Esthero moved from small town Harriston, Ontario on her own to Toronto, where she began singing at open-mic nights, a journey that in 1997 led to a meeting with the president of EMI Publishing Canada, whom she charmed so well during their first meeting that without hearing her sing a single note he was moved to set up and finance recording sessions with Doc, a guitarist and studio engineer. Their debut album, Breath from Another, was released to critical acclaim in 1998 and is widely seen as one of the more accessible albums of the trip-hop genre.
Though she remained active following the moderate success of the debut album, featuring on tracks by such artists as Nelly Furtado and The Black Eyed Peas, it would take over 7 years for a proper follow-up to be released (due to a confluence of factors that included a lengthy creative process, the closure of the WORK record label and marketing delays) in the form of 2005's Wikked Lil Grrrls, an album that crossed genre boundaries with its heavy debt to jazz and hip-hop. The album was preceded in 2004 by a pair of EPs, The O.G. Bitch Remixes (with the title song reaching Number 1 on the Billboard Dance Chart) and We R In Need of a Musical Revolution, which served as a preview of the full length album.
After the release of Wikked Lil Grrrls, Esthero devoted an increasing amount of time to songwriting and production, with her work featuring on albums by Brandy and Kanye West (most prominently on West's single Love Lockdown).
2012 saw the release of Esthero's third full-length album, Everything is Expensive (Universal Music Canada), preceded by the release of Never Gonna Let You Go as the lead single and video. The album was partially funded through a campaign on PledgeMusic in which backers could choose from exclusives such as artwork by the singer. Everything is Expensive debuted on Billboard's Heatseeker chart at #13.
Official Websites
www.esthero.net
Bad Boy Clyde
Esthero Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But rebellion always turned her on
She liked the dangerous type, pullin' stick up heists
Waitin' for him to come around so they could be alone
And she would say
Bad Boy Clyde, you know you drive me wild
Put away your gun, why don't you play with me?
For just this once, why can't you stay with me?
She had a gut feeling, call it intuition
Wishing that it would subside
It's just a day like any other, there's no need to cause a fight
He has to go, his boys are counting on him, you know
Oh my, my
Bad Boy Clyde, you know you drive me wild
Put away your gun, why don't you play with me?
Rollin' with your boys, you're always on the run
For just this once, why can't you stay with me?
Bad Boy Clyde, you know you drive me wild
Put away your gun, why don't you play with me?
Rollin' with your boys, you're always on the run
For just this once, why can't you stay with me?
Thinkin' about, thinkin' about the life that we have
You're always on the run (you were always running around)
Thinkin' about what you take for granted
And if you cared about yourself, you'd let go baby
(The cycle never ends)
I love me, I love me some bad bad boys
In Esthero's song Bad Boy Clyde, the lyrics illustrate a woman's attraction to a dangerous, rebellious man. She knows that being involved with him will only lead to heartbreak, but her attraction to his dangerous lifestyle overwhelms her. She waits for him to come around so that they can be alone, and she pleads with him to put away his gun and spend time with her. Despite her intuition, she still finds herself drawn to him, lamenting his perpetual absence due to being on the run with his boys.
The lyrics, "Thinkin' about what you take for granted, And if you cared about yourself, you'd let go baby," speak to the hopelessness of the situation. The woman begins to consider the depth of their relationship and realizes that she deserves more than just being a passing fling for a bad boy who takes her for granted.
The overall message of the song seems to be about the danger of getting involved with someone who is not good for you. The attraction to the "bad boy" image may be thrilling, but it can lead to disastrous consequences. The lyrics also touch on the theme of self-worth and learning to let go of toxic relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
She knew this love would break her heart
She was aware that this kind of love would hurt her in the end
But rebellion always turned her on
She found rebellion attractive and exciting
She liked the dangerous type, pullin' stick up heists.
She was drawn to risky and criminal behavior
Waitin' for him to come around so they could be alone
She eagerly anticipated being alone with him
And she would say
She would express her feelings to him
Bad Boy Clyde, you know you drive me wild
She found Bad Boy Clyde irresistible
Put away your gun, why don't you play with me?
She wanted him to choose her over his criminal activities
Rollin' with your boys, you're always on the run
He was constantly involved in criminal activity with his friends
For just this once, why can't you stay with me?
She begged him to spend time with her instead of his criminal activities
She had a gut feeling, call it intuition
She had a strong feeling about something, which she attributed to intuition
Wishing that it would subside
She hoped that her intuition would go away
It's just a day like any other, there's no need to cause a fight
She tried to prevent an argument from happening
He has to go, his boys are counting on him, you know
He had obligations to fulfill with his friends
Bad Boy Clyde, you know you drive me wild
She couldn't resist Bad Boy Clyde
Put away your gun, why don't you play with me?
She wanted him to choose her over his dangerous lifestyle
Rollin' with your boys, you're always on the run
He was always involved in bad activities with his friends
For just this once, why can't you stay with me?
She begged him to spend some time with her
Thinkin' about, thinkin' about the life that we have
She was reflecting on their relationship
You're always on the run (you were always running around)
He was always involved in bad activities with his friends
Thinkin' about what you take for granted
She was considering the things he didn't appreciate
And if you cared about yourself, you'd let go baby
She believed he needed to let go of his dangerous lifestyle for his own sake
(The cycle never ends)
Their unhealthy relationship continued
I love me, I love me some bad bad boys
She had a weakness for bad boys
Lyrics © ANTHEM ENTERTAINMENT LP, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Martin Mckinney, Krista Gonzales, Jenny Englishman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind