Lyrically Speaking: Erykah Badu – Tyrone

First Edition

I think every woman over the age of 25 remembers where they were the moment that they first heard this song. It was probably with a group of your closest girlfriends, in your house hugging a tub of Ben & Jerry’s bawling over his dumbass, kneeling down in a parking lot slicing tires, or face to face with the ‘ova bitch! Either way….everyone can relate to this song; Erykah Badu’s Tyrone.

I must admit that as an impressionable 17 year-old when it was first released, this song is the sole reason why I have never, and will never, be in  a cohabitation situation with my significant other before marriage. I mean, what if my man turns out to be Tyrone’s homeboy and his name is on the lease? Too much drama for a teen to comprehend, right? I mean, Erykah has this way of telling a story that makes you visualize the story, so I visualized every verse and made up in my mind, in advance, how the hell I would ever handle a situation should I ever have to.

SO, listening to the live version, she calmly asks the sisters if they are alright, followed by the brothers….without any warning of the first verse. The women IMMEDIATELY begin to cheer, but there was not a brotherly tone in the mix agreeing to shit. I think they took it personally. lol

First verse:

Alright

I’m gettin tired of your shit
You don’t never buy me nothin’
See every time you come around
You got to bring Jim, James, Paul and Tyrone

See why can’t we be by ourselves sometimes
See I’ve been having this on my mind for a long time
I just want it to be you and me like it used to be, baby
But you don’t know how to act, so matter fact

 

WOW! Bold, right off the front, “I’m getting tired of your shit”. Cant you just picture her sitting on the edge of her couch in the dark, Angela Basset after torching all his shit, Waiting to Exhale Style,and just blurting that out as soon as he walks into the front door? lol. How empowering! I mean, when I broke-up with my high school sweetheart 3 years later….that’s EXACTLY how it went down. He walked past me a few times and I just blurted it out. I wish I had used “I’m Getting tired of your shit” , it sounds more direct and poignant…lol.

And what was up with his friends’ names? Was he a rejected, ghetto disciple?  Missing member of the Black Beatles cover band? And here she was just wanting to spend time with her man, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it was all about his boys. I say, if you like your boys so much…have sex with them and leave me alone. lol.

Chorus

I think you better call Tyrone
(Call him)
And tell him come on, help you get your shit
(Come on, come on, come on)
You need to call Tyrone
(Call him)
And tell him I said come on

 

Now the chorus comes in right as she flicks on the corner light switch that casts a shadow on her profile. And in chimes her bitter ass friends that you didn’t even see sitting at the kitchen table to the left, high-fiving & playing Pinochle, “Call Him!” .  Just in case you didn’t hear what she meant she articulates the “T” perfectly clear on the end of shit. I think this is the most clarified execution of the English language in an urban song in the years prior to Cee-lo Green’s Fuck You. It is a mantra that is tugging at the strings of every man’s pride, and the back-up singers are like kryptonite. Almost like a fly that keeps buzzing in your ear, and you didn’t even request their input…but here they go, “Come on, Come on, Come on!” Almost like a ” Nigga, I wish you would” threat from the days of old when Big Mama heard you whisper under your breath.

 

Second Verse:

Now every time I ask you for a little cash
You say nawl but turn right around and ask me for some ass
Oh well hold up listen partna I ain’t no cheap thrill
‘Cuz Miss Badu’s always comin for real, you know the deal nigga

Every time we go somewhere
I gotta reach down in my purse
To pay your way and your homeboy’s way
And sometimes your cousin’s way

They don’t never have to pay
Don’t have no cars, hang around in bars
Try to hang around with stars
Like Badu I’m gonna tell you the truth
Show improve or get the boot

 

This verse was the one that made me NEVER ask any of my dudes for cash. I doubt I will ever ask my husband for money. I come with my own. I’ll never have to place my needs in a battle over a booty bargaining chip. Not gonna happen here! And even though the first and second stanza clashes with who really brings in the finances of the house, I WISH A NEGRO WOULD make me pay for his way and that of his boys. That would be the deal breaker right there. I’m not saying that I will never pay for my man…occasionally ( unless the circumstances are out of the ordinary) but I’ll never pay for his boys and my MAN wouldn’t let me. Just saying.  I will also turn my other cheek to the double negative in the  “I aint no”, “Dont have no cars”  & “They don’t never” lines. The  line, “”You dont never buy me nothing” was a triple negative and I am unable to comprehend that. This song is too amazing for me to attack her grammatical structure, too hard. But it will have to be a -6 points against R&B.

And after another round of the chorus, the crowd ( women only) are chanting the lyrics and loving every moment of it. And then she hits the end of the song with the BEST ending to a song that has yet to be outdone. As her friends get up from the table to block the dude from stepping further into the house, Erykah leans back calmly on the couch and clicks off the lamp and pimpously says

But you can’t use my phone

HOW PIMP IS THAT!!!!! A Pimp Named Slickback & Powder need to learn a thing or two from Pimp Bad-du….cause that was vicious! I give this a stamp of approval for having constant play in my MP3 & CD player!

Grammatical Error Count (Specifically Double Negatives)

R&B: -6     Rap:0

 

Sincerely,

~*My Mother’s Daughter*~

P90X Journey: Day 17

 

How do I tell you that I am in beautiful pain? Other than the way that I just did? lol. My upper body hurts so dang much from Monday’s battle with Chest & Back that it hurts to type this. I mean, how is it that my friggin armpits hurt? Seriously? People do this willingly?

I laid in bed this morning sleeping so soundly. I went to bed at 10pm and it felt amazing to get in 7 hours of sleep. My alarm clock went off at 5:40 and I kept hitting snooze until around 6:20am. I finally got up but then I walked into the living room and popped open my laptop and commenced to Facebooking and Tagging. 20 minutes later I decided that I should workout. lol. I laced up my shoes and I worked out to Hip-Hop Abs: Ab Sculpt: My inner thighs are burning, and my knees are starting to get mad at me.  I guess because even when I was active, floating patella aren’t the coolest thing in the world to have….but I’ve got them! But now that my muscles aer finding their proper place in life they are forcing my posture to pay attention. My knees, on the other hand are like blind and deaf ADD students being yelled at and pointed to. I really liked the hip flexor workout section because I think that it really made my hip problems wake up but in a proper way. I figure if I can strengthen my hip flexors and get some blood flowing in there then the pain may subside.

Well for lunch I am having some chicken with some sweet peas. I drank Tea once I got in the office;green tea with pomagrante…yummmmy. I also had a bowl of HBO w/ Almond Cereal this morning. Tonight I may eat chicken and sweet potatoes……wait.. I have the Russ Parr movie screening. I will have to workout when I get back in the house if I don’t get there early enough to workout before 6pm. We’ll see.

Workout

 Well… I got off work and I rushed home so that I could get dressed and head back out to the Lincoln Theater for the private screening of Russ Parr’s new movie, “35 & Ticking”. I sat down and ate a small portion of chicken breast and a whole plate of broccoli before I ran out of the house. I did this because Ben’s CHili Bowl is right next door and that was a set-up waiting to happen…lol. Once there in the theater I was down in the VIP section with 2 of my friends and just watching all of the stars swing through. The movie was hilarious! Afterwards there was an After party across the street. I took a pic with Clifton Powell and then I told my friend that I was read to head home because I needed to get my other workout in for the day. YES, you heard correctly. I turned down a social event to go home and workout.  Making sure that my fitness schedule didn’t get messed up was more important to me that hugging Nicole Ari Parker… who is gorgeous! Or kidnapping Darius McCrary in Ben’s Alley and having my way with him. Yes……P90X is crack and can rewire your brain. Sad, yet great….right?

Well, I got home and I worked it out until about Midnight and below are my results. I didn’t do Ab Ripper X because I got light-headed at the end of the Shoulders & Back exercise and had to sit down and eat a few baby carrots and drink water. So I just went straight to bed after that. I am learning to listen to the body. Here ya go!

The numbers in the brackets are the 2nd Round of reps.

• Shoulder Press: 15 each [13] left elbow hurts and shakes but worked through it and stretched it out
• In-out Bicep curls: 16 [16]
• Tricep Kickbacks: 20 [22]
• Swimmer’s Press: 16 [10] arched back…need to stand up straight.
• Supination Curl: 15 sets [18 sets]
• Chair Dips: 25 w/ a stop at 15 [30 w/a stop at 20]
• Upright row: 20 [22]
• Static Arm Curls: 12 [12]
• Twist Kickback: 11 [12]
• Seated Shoulder Fly: 16 [18 reps]
• Crouching Cohen Curls: 16 [16 w/ pain in coxis. Spine stretched/dropped OUCH]
• Lying Down Tricep extensions: 14 [14 OUCH!]

I’m still Bringing IT!!!! I hope that you are too. I have to make it to 30 days because I am turning 30 in December and I want to make a physical and public statement that I will NEVER be above 200 pounds every again!!!! Its time to reverse the curse. And I may not be under 200 by my birthday as I walk the beaches of Grand Cayman….but I know that I will still be on the right path.

My birthday cruise falls directly in the middle of my 90 Days…..and so does Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I will not let them sabotage me… I have several Tupperware dishes and that is how I will use them. I never know what to eat the days following those dinners anyway.. I’m a single woman so I don’t cook, I always go to someone else’s house for the holidays…lol. I am already mapping out my fitness routine while on the ship. I have to. And walking all day will help too. Fun times ahead people. I am taking it one day at a time. I may not be where I want to be but I am no longer where I use to be. When I purchased this program I weighed 232.5 and a few days later the program showed up and I began. Being 3 days away from completing my 3rd week of P90x I have been 227.5 for the past two days and have lost 2 inches in my waist. THIS is a sign of progress… THIS is me sticking to my word; fulfilling what I promised myself! And each day is hard. But Today is not just another day, it is proof that I have victory over Yesterday! Be blessed!

Sincerely,

~*My Mother’s Daughter*~