Faada (the stage name of Abdou Fatcha Seck), comes from a 6-children family, his father was teacher and school inspector in Senegal. Strict and demanding when it comes to discipline and school results, the music loving father unknowingly gave a musical education to one of his boys. Faada would then spend his free time crafting makeshift guitars with oil cans, and making Toukouss ngalam, a small west-African lute, with tin cans. When he was a pupil at Lycée Maurice de la Fosse, Faada, along with his friends NDongo D and Alajiman also recorded their first cassette, the first step toward sending their band, Daara J, at the top of the African rap scene and gaining international recognition, with prestigious opening acts and collaborations (Damon Albarn, Peter Gabriel, Wyclef Jean, Rita Mitsouko, Mos Def…), as well as a BBC award for the Boomerang album in 2003.
Embarking on a new adventure, Faada kept from his hip-hop experience a partiality for beatboxing, a musical technique of vocal percussion where the artists imitates instruments and produces rhythms with his mouth. Gospel Journey gives a prominent place to this technique, along with other body techniques such as hand clapping and body percussions (when the body is used as a drum). The album therefore manages to avoid the more traditional style of production and goes back to the roots, gospel music, a musical tradition craving for spirituality and born in barren cotton fields and country churches. Like a baptism, an act of purification, Faada seems to plunge into this original stream of Afro-American music from where the blues and the soul – other inspirations of the singer -, emerged.
Along with this deep diving, the album accomplishes another feat: virtually all the songs are covers of contemporary songs from very diverse styles: soul, R’n’B, folk, punk, indie rock… Letter To The Lord, from Cameroon’ Irma, Truth from USA’s Alexander, punk band Rise Against’s Generation Lost, The Lonely Forest’s We Sing In Time, Imany’s Sleep Down, Let it Go from Senegal’s Wasis Diop, Little Black Sandals from Australia’s Sia, The Death of Me from Canada’s City & Color or Lost from USA’s Grace: a fine selection of titles that become reborn under a cleaner, purer aesthetic approach. In addition to the covers, the album also includes Reality Cuts Me Like A Knife, an original composition from Faada, as well as an old title of Daara J, Borom Bi. The result goes beyond pure style, even if it is reminiscent of other similar vocal endeavors such as Bobby Mc Ferrin, Björk, Fredo Viola, or Camille.
Little Black Sandals
Faada Freddy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The hand of a golden giant man
He's crushing my knuckles
Splitting my skin, he says he'll let go
If only I'd ask it of him
He says
Girl, it's your call
You wanna fall
So I shout
I wanna get away from you
As fast as I can
I tell my feet to move it
I hope they have a plan
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Are heading the right way
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Saved my life today
So now I'm free
Free
From the big bad giant
Who was stalking me
Thank you feet, for guiding me
I'm glad somehow I got brains down there, at least
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Are heading the right way
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Saved my life today
Sometimes I'm tempted
Sometimes I am
I would be lying if I said I didn't miss that giant man
He was the line between pleasure and pain
But me and the feet have some years to reclaim
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Are heading the right way
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Saved my life today
The song Little Black Sandals by Faada Freddy is about the journey of breaking free from a toxic relationship. The song starts with the singer feeling trapped and being dragged down by the hand of a golden giant man. The giant man represents the oppressive partner in the relationship who is causing the singer physical and emotional pain, as described by the line "He's crushing my knuckles, splitting my skin."
Despite the pain, the singer is hesitant to leave the relationship and the giant man says he'll let go only if the singer asks him to. Thus, the singer is faced with a choice- stay in the toxic relationship or leave and walk away. The little black sandals that the singer is wearing represent their strength and determination to leave the giant man and the toxic relationship behind.
In the chorus, the singer repeats that the little black sandals are walking them away, heading the right way, and have saved their life today. This emphasizes the importance of leaving a toxic relationship and the positive impact it can have on one's life. However, in the bridge, the singer is honest about being tempted to go back to the giant man and the line "He was the line between pleasure and pain" represents the gray area that often exists in a toxic relationship.
Overall, Little Black Sandals is a powerful song about breaking free from a toxic relationship and the importance of making a choice to leave for the sake of one's well-being.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm being dragged down, down by the hand
I am being pulled downwards by a giant man's hand
The hand of a golden giant man
The hand belongs to a giant man made of gold
He's crushing my knuckles
The giant man is squeezing my fingers very tightly
Splitting my skin, he says he'll let go
His grip is so tight that it's causing my skin to break; He threatens to let go only if I ask him to
If only I'd ask it of him
He will only stop if I tell him to
Girl, it's your call
It is my decision to make
You wanna fly
Do you want to take risks and go for what you desire?
You wanna fall
Or are you willing to stay put and possibly fall, or fail?
So I shout
I yell out
I wanna get away from you
I want to escape from the giant man's grasp
As fast as I can
As quickly as possible
I tell my feet to move it
I urge myself to move my feet and begin walking
I hope they have a plan
I am unsure of the direction I should take, and I hope that my feet guide me correctly
These little black sandals
My small footwear
Are walking me away
Are leading me away from the dangerous situation
Are heading the right way
Are taking me towards safety
Saved my life today
Helped me escape the danger and stay alive
Sometimes I'm tempted
Occasionally I am enticed to return to the dangerous situation
Sometimes I am
There are instances when I feel this way
I would be lying if I said I didn't miss that giant man
I cannot deny that I miss the danger and excitement that the giant man brought me
He was the line between pleasure and pain
The giant man represented the boundary separating pleasure and pain
But me and the feet have some years to reclaim
I still have many years to make up for the time I lost with the giant man
Contributed by Alexander W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@beelzebuth2479
I'm being dragged down, down by the hand
The hand of a golden giant man
He's crushing my knuckles
Splitting my skin, he says he'll let go
If only I'd ask it of him
He says
Girl, it's your call
You wanna fly
You wanna fall
So I shout
I wanna get away from you
As fast as I can
I tell my feet to move it
I hope they have a plan
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Are heading the right way
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Saved my life today
So now I'm free
Free
From the big bad giant
Who was stalking me
Thank you feet, for guiding me
I'm glad somehow I got brains down there, at least
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Are heading the right way
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Saved my life today
Sometimes I'm tempted
Sometimes I am
I would be lying if I said I didn't miss that giant man
He was the line between pleasure and pain
But me and the feet have some years to reclaim
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Are heading the right way
These little black sandals
Are walking me away
These little black sandals
Saved my life today
@lebonhommede5h467
🇸🇳🇸🇳🇸🇳🇸🇳🇸🇳🇸🇳🇸🇳🇸🇳🇸🇳🇸🇳🇸🇳
MERCII FRÈRE POUR TOUS CES SENSATIONS QUE TES SONS NOUS PROCURE
TOUT LE SÉNÉGAL EST DERRIÈRE TOI 💚💛❤
@mariequantin4976
La plus belle de mes découvertes à terres du son cette année! ce groupe mérite d'être connu à 100%
Tout est génial, pensé et musicalement nickel! j'adoooooore 😻😻
@latesmyplace
Yo this is amazing! So glad I found this and a new talented artist to listen to! 💕
@sjo3486
thank you for this album Fadda Freddy LOVE
@jomjoma8196
Masterpiece👍😌✨
@madamnetworkit
🖤💜🖤
@lesjumeauxdedieubayeniassp846
Extraordinaire fadda
@maverite5183
loveeeeee
@FB7TheGoat
Le début est trop cool 🤩🤩🤩
@cedricadougba324
GOD bless you