Sunny Sunday’s Song Of The Day: Willow Smith’s, “Symptom Of Life”
When Willow Smith’s performance of “Symptom Of Life” on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert popped up on my Youtube feed earlier this year, all I could say was, wow!
I’ve never listened to her music before, and I am astounded at her talent. But she has also worked hard. At 24, she has focused on music since she was seven years old, successfully traversing through the pop, punk, and rock genres and currently landing in a mesh of pop and jazz — it seems, her true home. This song and all the songs from her album, “Empathogen,” from which it hails, are fresh, and some of the most interesting and unique music that’s been released in a while. My favorite song and album in 2024.
Listening to “Symptom Of Life” is a sonic feast, like a rich soup, a melange of delectable delights where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and best appreciated when tasted that way; I prefer to just listen to it without breaking it down. But here are a few things I appreciate about “Symptom of Life.”
Willow uses her voice like an instrument, in the same way that her band mates use their instruments, flitting about and dancing over the lyrics across range and intensity, each musician weaving in and out and around each other, freely yet tightly woven. Her live performance is exhilarating, and her musicians in this performance and on the album are simply stellar.
The song is highly textured, in its variations in melody, tempo, time signature, chords, and transitions. Even if you’re not a musician, the videos I’ve included below can give you a high level appreciation of the time signatures and chords that were used and how they make you feel. Music working its magic.
If you compare the NPR performance with the album version, they sound almost the same, with the exception of the high energy in Willow’s voice singing live. Meaning that the song travels well, maintaining the same sonic integrity across venues, which isn’t necessary, but contributes to an expected listening experience.
I’m always interested in an artist’s creative process. This song first began with drummer Asher Banks creating the 7/4 time signature beat, and upon hearing it, Brad Oberhofer came up with the distinctive and pleasingly dissident piano riff. Then Willow wrote the lyrics over it, which says a lot about her talent. It’s hard to write lyrics at all, let alone over musical complexity.
Speaking of the lyrics, I’d go so far as to say that these lyrics are as insightful in 2024 as many of Bob Dylan’s words were in the 1960s. Willow is wise beyond her years, perhaps a symptom of growing up in the family she has. Apparently, she has chosen to take the path of healing and transformation, and in this song, she succinctly captures the essence of her experience in astute observations and gained wisdom.
Here’s the NPR video, followed by the lyrics and videos made by David Bennett and Rick Beato.
Enjoy!
Pushing and peeling myself out of my disguise
Looking at you, now I am wondering who am I
If I could try to take you back, I couldn’t define
Feeling absence of time
Knowing all is decided
There’s nothing here left to find
The story’s all in my mind
Pushing and peeling the layers that cover my mind
Looking into the shadow, now I notice the light
Magic is real, when you see it inside, you decide
It’s like a snake shedding skin
Creating life to begin
And all you know has vanished again
Transcending virtue and sin
Feast my eyes on lower things
While beauty is a symptom of life
Gotta decide if I’m gonna see it, why?
Feast our eyes on lower things
When suffering is craving the light
Gotta decide how we’re gonna heal it, why?
Feast my eyes on lower things
While beauty is a symptom of life
Gotta decide if I’m gonna see it, why?
Feast our eyes on lower things
When suffering is craving the light
Gotta decide how we’re gonna heal it, why?
Yeah, gotta decide how we’re gonna feel it
I (desperately) am trying to find out
Gotta know that life is fragile
Gotta know, but gotta go
I stood in awe inside a temple
Of a God I didn’t know, wanna go
Find the one who understands
Why we wait for pain to change us
To let me know what life is fragile
It’s like a turtle in sand
Making way to the ocean
Almost meeting the end
Because the birds are in motion, oh
Feast my eyes on lower things
While beauty is a symptom of life
Gotta decide if I’m gonna see it, why?
Feast our eyes on lower things
When suffering is craving the light
Gotta decide how we’re gonna heal it, why?
Feast my eyes on lower things
While beauty is a symptom of life
Gotta decide if I’m gonna see it, why?
Feast our eyes on lower things
When suffering is craving the light
Gotta decide how we’re gonna heal it, why?
Yeah, gotta decide how we’re gonna feel it
I (desperately) am trying to find out
