Jennings began singing at a young age in a Toledo church choir. He later joined a group called The Dotsons with two of his cousins and his older brother, Jay. The group separated in the early 1990s, and Jennings rediscovered music and started a music program at an Ohio prison where he was serving a ten-year sentence on an arson-related charge. He has cited Erykah Badu's 1997 album Baduizm as one of the reasons for his rediscovery. Jennings was released from prison in December 2002 and started to pursue a solo career in music. In January 2003, he performed in Harlem at the Showtime at The Apollo. The same year, he also independently released his first EP, What Is Love. To further pursue his career, Jennings moved to New York City where he performed at rapper Nelly's concert at Radio City Music Hall, at an NAACP convention where he performed an original song called "Thank God for the NAACP", and at the Cafeteria in Chelsea, Manhattan during the blackout on August 14. He signed with Columbia Records and released his debut album Lyfe 268-192 (268-192 was his inmate number) in August 2004. His first single was Stick Up Kid, which didn't see much sucess until after the album was released. The album featured his hit single "Must Be Nice". Jennings' second album The Phoenix was released in August 2006. The first single, "S.E.X.", feautures Jennings' protégé, singer LaLa Brown.
ABC
Lyfe Jennings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
B, came my one and only
C, she is all alone
D, pressing, feeling lonely
E, ventually she opened up
F, effortlessly falling in love
G, just must've been proud
That H, love like this is still around
Now you know your ABCs
This is how love's supposed to be
It's how I feel when you're close to me
For your loving is everything
Now you know your ABCs
But thank you for taking a chance on me
Now that you've learned your ABCs
Next time won't you sing with me?
I loved you from the start
You were J walking through my heart
Okay, it's confusing for sure
I would elaborate some more
But it's impossible to put in words
Incredible till the point it hurts
Oh, how you changed my life
P. S. wondering will you be my wife?
Now you know your ABCs
This is how love's supposed to be
It's how I feel when you're close to me
For your loving is everything
Now you know your ABCs
But thank you for taking a chance on me
Now that you've learned your ABCs
Next time won't you sing with me?
Q-pid must've shot me
'Cause our love finally got me
Especially when you're near me
T, teaching me to see more clearly
U are the only one for me
From Venus and Mars and this galaxy
W so I can have two
Excceptional, Y you got me so crazy
Now you know your ABCs
This is how love's supposed to be
It's how I feel when you're close to me
For your loving is everything
Now you know your ABCs
But thank you for taking a chance on me
Now that you've learned your ABCs
Next time won't you sing with me?
The song "ABC's" by Lyfe Jennings feat. Phoenix Elijah Jennings is about a man expressing his love for a woman using the alphabet as a metaphor. The song begins with the letter A, which stands for a girl the man used to know. B stands for the woman who has become his one and only, while C represents her feeling of loneliness. D denotes her despair, and E shows how she eventually opened up to him. F indicates how she effortlessly fell in love with him, and G is his realization that he must have been proud to have a love like this still around.
The chorus talks about how the love between the couple represents the proper way of love, as A, B, and C represent how love is supposed to be. However, the song is not only about the journey of love but also about the growth of the man as he from J walking through his heart to meeting the woman he loves. The song implies that the love between the couple has taught him about life and cleared his vision.
Line by Line Meaning
A, girl I used to know
Referring to a past love interest who holds a special place in the singer's heart
B, came my one and only
Expressing that the girl in question is the only one for him
C, she is all alone
Describing the girl's current state as being lonely
D, pressing, feeling lonely
Further emphasizing the girl's loneliness and the weight of it
E, ventually she opened up
Detailing the girl's willingness to become vulnerable and open up to the singer
F, effortlessly falling in love
Describing the natural way in which the two fell for each other
G, just must've been proud
Suggesting that fate played a role in bringing them together and whoever is responsible must have been proud of themselves
That H, love like this is still around
The singer is grateful that love like theirs still exists despite how hard it can be to find
Now you know your ABCs
The chorus, a reference to the basics of love and how it should be
This is how love's supposed to be
Reiterating the idea of how love is supposed to feel
It's how I feel when you're close to me
Expressing the happiness and completeness the singer feels when with the girl
For your loving is everything
The girl's love is what the singer needs most
But thank you for taking a chance on me
Grateful to the girl for giving him a chance and falling in love with him
Next time won't you sing with me?
Requesting for the girl to join in on singing the song with him the next time around
I loved you from the start
The singer has always loved her from the beginning
You were J walking through my heart
A play on words, describing the girl as walking through his heart
Okay, it's confusing for sure
Admitting that their love can be complicated at times
I would elaborate some more
The singer would love to explain their love further but it's difficult to put into words
But it's impossible to put in words
Reiterating how hard it is to explain their love
Incredible till the point it hurts
Their love is so strong that it can be overwhelming and painful
Oh, how you changed my life
Expressing how much the girl has positively impacted his life
P. S. wondering will you be my wife?
The singer is considering taking their relationship to the next level and proposing to her
Q-pid must've shot me
A play on words, implying that Cupid has shot him with an arrow of love
'Cause our love finally got me
Their love has fully taken over the singer's heart
Especially when you're near me
The girl's presence makes the singer's love even stronger
T, teaching me to see more clearly
The girl is teaching the singer to see love in a clearer and better way
U are the only one for me
The girl is the only one for him, no one else compares
From Venus and Mars and this galaxy
A metaphor for how far and wide he's looked, and the girl is the only one for him
W so I can have two
A play on words, possibly implying that he wants more than one kind of love
Excceptional, Y you got me so crazy
The girl is exceptional and has made the singer crazy in love with her
Lyrics © CHESTER JENNINGS DBA LYFE IN MUSIC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BRANDON ALEXANDER HODGE, CHESTER JERMAIN JENNINGS, ELIJAH JENNINGS, PHOENIX JENNINGS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind