The band claims to be from the village of Noid, England, near Bath. However, no such town exists in England. "Noid" has been suspected of being a pun on the "No ID, No Sale" campaign in pubs in the UK.
Forming in the fertile swamps of England’s West Country in the mid-naughties, around the axis of Dan Taylor (guitarist and songwriter) and Kelvin Swaby (vocalist and songwriter,) the Heavy immediately astounded. Jaw dropping, freshly minted riffs, swinging hip-hop drums, funk-ridden bass and Swaby’s startling, Mayfield-esque vocals meant early singles ‘That Kind of Man’ and ‘Colleen’ blew minds and won hearts. The debut album they were taken from – ‘Great Vengeance and Furious Fire’ – became an instant connoisseurs’ classic.
It was their sophomore album, though, that saw them blasting into homes across the globe. ‘The House that Dirt Built’. It also yielded the mighty ‘How You Like Me Now?’ The single was licensed for a major commercial in the 3rd Quarter of the Superbowl (the biggest ad slot in the world) and quite simply went stratospheric.
“It became such a big tune, that people asked, ‘How are you going to top that?’.” Swaby says.
The answer was 2012’s ‘The Glorious Dead,’ the band’s third album. Even deeper, a touch darker, and with shades of Southern Gothic infesting the swampy rock n’ soul of previous records, the album was another giant step forward, Frankensteining swampy voodoo and b-movie zombies with garage rock and Gospel-soaked soul.
Lead single ‘What Makes a Good Man?’ showed that The Heavy were able to write brilliant singles time after time, with synchs snowing in once again, and American radio coming on board. The band toured the world exhaustively, wowing audiences with their transcendental live performances.
“It was over the top, in a good way,” adds Heavy frontman Kelvin Swaby. “We went pretty cinematic, setting out to score a film that hasn’t been written.”
“It’s good to have a bit of light and shade,” Taylor adds.
Since then, The Heavy has gone on to achieve storming success in Japan, playing Fuji Rock, chalking up a #1 alternative album on iTunes Japan, scoring a major Pepsi synch and playing Japan’s biggest breakfast TV show, ‘Sukkiri.’
Their music was used in the stunning Guiness Sapeurs ad, they played Glastonbury, sold out Shepherd’s Bush Empire and re-recorded How You Like Me Now? with none other than 50 Cent, to launch ESPN’s coverage of the NFL Draft Week.
To top it all, How You Like Me Now? reached Gold status in the United States – a stunning achievement for an English, independent artist. How to top all that, you might ask? Well, there’s a new album on the way, and The Heavy just happen to have a habit of exceeding themselves…
You Don't Know
The Heavy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So everybody sit back, relax and have a champagne sip
We gonna teach these people out there who are
Against saying what we want to say the right way
Ya know what I'm saying, so what we're gonna do
Is kick back, swing a little funky beat by my man
DJ Pete Rock, producer extraordinaire, yo Pete Rock
Make it clear
I can flex, bend, lend a pen to a friend
Keep a party pimping from now to then
I don't have to swear, curse or juggle
Lyrics in the verse to make a party bubble
So mister Censorship, tell me, what's your problem
There's girlies on the corner, and phifey can't solve 'em
How did she say it, I'm curious G
DOes she say honey love me, or baby baby, funny
Anyway, we say what we wanna say
Play how we wanna play, feels good that way
So G Rap, huh, it's time to kick a verse
Do your man a favor and don't curse
You're telling me don't curse on a verse, they did it worse
First I put a curse on every verse
I kind of got outrageous
Check it, even made a record on how I'm doing on the be-I-T-see-he's
Drop some verses for the bust
Every word that you heard is cause I didn't give a f-, aw shucks
Hey yo, I almost forgot
The curse is a plot but it's getting kinda hot
So I'ma let profanity retire, hey
But if worse comes to worse, I'll cut you out like Richard Pryor
So Grand Puba, kick a verse
But do your man a favor and don't curse
Don't curse bust it
I won't curse, I'll take a famous curse word and just say cuff
Kcuf flipped around the other way means ha
Boy when I do, I see, I can't get stuck
Jump on the mic then I earn a quick buck
Buck meaning loot, then I grab some boots
And set wit my troops
For those who can't follow and got stuck
Kcuf flipped the other way means ahem, hem hem
It's just a curse, I freaked a nurse in a hearse
But I made sure I had my hat first
CL Smooth, it's time to kick a verse
God cypher the rhyme, you can't curse
Go ahead ask me, when I kick a curse in a verse, I say nope
Grab you by your hand, wash you're mouth out wit soap
Thinking to be the last one wit the bad lingo
Scooping on the skins in the church from your bingo
Sounds of the Mecca, dark fresh from the tailor
Because they made a movie when he cuss like a sailor
Better yet, dialect dirty like a subway
Freaking for your loot, here to make it go the other way
In a vocabulary scrimmage
But cursing in my village ain't good for my image
So Big Daddy, you know it's time to kick a verse
But do your man a favor, don't curse
Uh, the smooth rap inventor that enter
Parental discretion's not advised so there's no need to censor
Kiss on, peep it, but you want to beep it, what
I feel like slapping a sticker on ya (chill chill, see) but
Too magical rhymes are too tragical
For any source to stop Kane from getting capital
If I thought sticking me was dissing me
Man, don't you know that this would be worse than Stephen King's Misery
So clean all profanity, stealing all the man to be
Rocking any microphone you're handing me
So Heavy D, I'm about to disperse
So kick another verse and don't forget not to curse
God Bless but I can't mess around wit the curses
So I'm a kick verses or a verse
Soul brother number one here to kick facts
Smoke the microphone and produce crazy tracks
Your my bad bro, let's start the flow
I'm a kick rhymes till it's time for me to go
I can't curse cause Heavy D said so
Now I'm a get back to the subject
Get wreck, if you think I'm bluffing, just check
Wit the crew, Pete Rock and CL Smooth very down to earth
And we didn't have to curse
Yea, yea the Abstract poet Q-tip of a Tribe Called Quest
Here to wreck, ya' know what I'm sayin'
Got my man Pete Rock and my man Heavy D in the house
And we're definitely chilling on the lifted tip
So bust the spit out, aha
Flim flam flim, lick my big black stuff
Plus I kick a curse to be rough enough
You can put the sticker where the sun don't shine
So back off and let me get mine
Visions in my head when it's dealing wit hits
If I had 4 girls then I lick 8 its
Wait, don't wanna hear no drama
Cause the bum diddly Heav is a fav of my mama's
So I blew out get mad lifted
Don't have to say up the show that I'm gifted
God bless me 'cause I reach my 21st
Heavy D, don't drop a curse
Peace, peace, peace to the preacher
I'm talking about a verse without a curse that's how I reach ya
I can rock a party without a swear or a harsh verb
Backwards, no curse words, Heavy D prefers
So swing, swing to the Soul bequiem rhythm
Before I say goodbye, let me tell ya how I hit 'em
CL, Pete Rock, G Rap, Maxwell
Big Daddy, Q-Tip and ah me as well
Time to say peace, thank Pete for the beats
This funky beat was made for the street
Notice how clean that we kept every verse
But if worst came to worst (We all say a curse)
The lyrics to The Heavy's song "You Don't Know" expresses the frustration and disappointment that the singer feels towards their lover who constantly mistreats them. Despite being cheated on and treated poorly, the singer confesses their love for the person, revealing a sense of powerlessness over their feelings. The repetitiveness of the lyrics, including "I don't know why I love you, but I love you" emphasizes the confusion of the singer's emotions towards their lover.
The lyrics also acknowledge the pain of being in love, comparing it to being thrown down on the ground and crying on the cold earth. The singer admits that love has brought them an unexpected level of hurt, something they never knew could happen before falling in love with the person. The repetitiveness of the lyrics in the last part of the song emphasizes the singer’s desperation and desire for their lover to stop hurting them, but to no avail.
Overall, the lyrics to "You Don't Know" accurately portray the struggles of a tumultuous and dysfunctional relationship where love and pain are constantly intertwined.
Line by Line Meaning
Eh hey (Yeah yeah)
Opening line - repeated twice.
I don't know why I love you
The singer is confused about why they love the person they're singing about.
But I love ya'.
Despite their confusion, the singer still loves the person they're singing to.
Always treat me like a fool
The person the singer is singing about mistreats them and makes them feel foolish.
Kick me when I'm down that's your rule
The person the singer is singing about takes advantage of them when they are already feeling low.
Oh you never never stop your
The subject of the song is unfaithful and continues to cheat.
Cheatin' ways with that other girl
The person the singer is singing about is cheating on them with another girl.
You laugh in my face
The person the singer is singing about is disrespectful and laughs at them when they're hurt or upset.
Now how long must I be disgraced?
The singer wonders how long they will continue to be humiliated by this person.
Cause I love ya'
Despite everything, the singer still loves the person they're singing about.
I don't know why I love you
Reiteration of the confusion the singer feels about why they love this person.
You throw my heart down in the dirt
The subject of the song hurts the singer, as if throwing their heart on the ground and leaving it there.
You made me cry on this cold black earth, Baby,
The subject hurt the singer so deeply that they're brought to tears and feel as though they're in a dark place.
I never knew how much love could hurt
The singer is experiencing love in a painful way they never knew was possible.
Until I loved you.
The singer attributes the pain they feel to loving the person they're singing about.
Can't stop
The singer can't stop feeling the way they do, despite the pain.
I can't stop crying can't you see
The singer is visibly upset and can't seem to stop crying.
Here I'm pleadin' on my knees
The singer is begging for help or mercy, on their knees as a symbol of submission.
Wont you help me, help me baby please
The singer is pleading for help from the person they're singing about.
Oh oh I can't take it no more baby make me wanna' scream
The singer is at their wits' end and feels like they are about to explode in frustration.
Baby baby please stop,
The singer is asking the person they're singing about to stop doing whatever it is that's hurting them.
Can't you see I'm on my knees?
The singer is emphasizing their position, on their knees and begging for help or mercy.
Why won't you just help me please?
The singer is making a final plea for help from the person they're singing about.
baby just believe
The singer is asking the person they're singing about to trust them and believe in their love.
baby just stop
The singer is asking the person they're singing to to stop doing whatever it is that's causing them pain.
(These days why ya' breaking?)
Refrain that repeats throughout the song.
(These days why ya' breaking my heart?)
Refrain that repeats throughout the song.
(Why ya' gonna' break my heart?)
Refrain that repeats throughout the song.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Teddy Riley, Dwight Myers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind