What I'm Jamming to Today: Erykah Badu's "Window Seat"
Executive Summary
In every aspect of the word, Erykah Badu is a genius. There are so many layers of understanding in her music that it really takes years to analyze all of it. As much as possible, I try to play music on my saxophone that makes me a better human being: music is a lot cheaper than therapy. Great musicians, like Erykah Badu, tell stories with their music that leave you a better person than you were before you listened to their songs.
Keywords: Erykah Badu, musical genius, saxophone, music therapy, storytelling, personal growth, lyrical depth, emotional healing, music appreciation, soul music
A Biography of Erykah Badu
Erykah Badu was born Erica Abi Wright in Dallas, Texas, and from the very beginning, she was destined to elevate the perspective of modern music. She began to shine soon after her 1997 debut album Baduizm,and her style ignited a powerful Neo-Soul movement. Her sound is a colorful marriage of jazz, R&B, and hip-hop, offering the kind of rhythmic complexity and phrasing that I really appreciate as a saxophonist. Over the decades, she has remained a fiercely independent spirit, using her platform to tell stories that are as healing as they are groovy. She is a mother, a creator, and a visionary who reminds us that true art is timeless.
The Backstory Behind the Making and Release of "Window Seat"
For me, "Window Seat" is much more than just a song: like the 1980s Quiet Storm, it represents a mood. An even better word for it is a "spirit". The song has a spirit that flows well with my life experiences.
When it dropped in 2010 on New Amerykah Part Two, I was immediately drawn to the production values embedded in the song by Badu and James Poyser. It has this organic spiritual chemistry that feels so genuinely human, and Erykah is one of the few modern mainstream musical artists that I can actually listen to.
The backstory of the music video is a fascinating one. Inspired by Matt and Kim's video for "Lessons Learned," Erykah took to the streets of Dallas and specifically the historic Dealey Plaza to film the entire video in one continuous and guerrilla-style shot. As she walked she slowly stripped away her clothes until she was completely nude. She eventually fell to the ground as a shot rang out, a victim of groupthink inspired character assassination.
Like the old school artists of 1900 to 1990, Badu has no simple formula for hit songs. She just honestly encapsulates her life experiences in her music: both the good ones and the painful ones. In my opinion, modern artists are told to hide their pain because pain doesn't sell. The truth is quite the opposite: much of modern music isn't very good because it pretends that things that really do exist don't exist, and audiences aren't listening because they know that many of the "modern" songs are telling and selling a lie.
How I Practice Window Seat
When I practice, I don't focus my attention on the sounds that I'm playing: I focus on the shapes that my hands make as I play things that sound good. Those shapes tend to stay roughly the same as I practice the song in different keys.
Today, I played Window Seat in the original key, and I'll stay on the same key for a very long time to fully internalize it. When the spirit tells me that it's time to move to another key, I'll move.
What's the whole point of playing along with the song (in my opinion)? There's something about the song's spirit that I like, and I want to absorb it and filter it through my own experiences so that I can see what comes out on the other side.
Thank you for reading this experience!