Backburner Love - F*ck, this one got me.
I will acknowledge I am a little out of my depth here, but I had the chance to talk to her a while back on an episode of Well Muddafork. We had "behind the scenes" chat, and I remember her mentioning this track, Backburner Love. I won't divulge the details, I'll just say - so said, so sung.
Of the atrocities one can commit in love leading someone on is pretty high on the list of crimes against the heart. Admittedly men are the culprits in overwhelming majority of the time though women by no means have “clean hands” either. #MenAreTrash #WomenAreTrash #CancelEachOtherOut
You dangle the carrot and hope that the person stays around long enough for you to figure out where to put them, or perhaps never put them. If you’re reading this and you want to feel like an asshole, sit and think about whether you’ve ever done that to someone.
It is an unreasonable emotional demand and causes nothing but the demise of whatever relationship has been left simmering over a low flame on the backburner like a pot of watery grits. I’m not going to call names, but to any woman I may have done this to – I apologize from the bottom of what’s left of my heart, sincerely. To the women that have done this to me, we good – forgive and forget.
See what you did, Jayme? You got me thinking about shit that I don’t want to think about. That’s what happens when you hear something real that’s sung from experience, from the heart; produced with snares, high-hats and passion laced in the melody.
If you’ve ever met Jayme, the first thing you’ll notice is that…..she’s short in person. I don’t know, I thought she was taller. The second thing you’ll notice is that big things come in small packages and there is nothing at all small about her personality.
Her love of music is an order of magnitude greater than your average Bahamian artist. She’s defined herself as someone unafraid to take her life experiences and deliver them to our ears without losing the emotional connection to her story.
Backburner love is a story, and a hell of a relatable story. It’s an excursion through perilous romanticism and her refusal to accept anything less than what she knows she deserves.
Jayme floats us on a melodic river of Bahamian rhythm, layered with the energy of soca. It’s like she wants you to think about the shit you've done, but also you ga hold this whine in the corner while you do.
The sound is dynamic. It’s a song you can play when you’re feeling a little emo, but also a song that Ovadose would probably remind you that “that man ain’t yours” before turning down the volume and the crowd shouts the choral refrain “DON’T WANT NO BACKBURNER LOVE”.
The first thing we want to do when in love, or when we think someone loves us is unconditionally accept that what we are being shown is real no matter what the reality is. Love gives promises more power to harm, it opens you up fully and like an Arms Treaty, you’ll throw down all weapons and call off all guards. When things get rocky, Jah say keep holding on for love. We’ve all been there.
This song represents a woman’s realization of her value; and exhibits the duality of woman’s appreciation of self-worth – the price gone up because she ain’t taking shit from you anymore, and she remembered what her Daddy taught her “these fellas ain’t shit, so don’t let them treat you like shit”. When this happens, there isn’t much left to talk about – “there’s nothing else left to say, the damage of your mistakes, ya dun mash up da ting we made”.
If there isn’t one other brother out there reading this and not feeling triggered slightly, then I don’t know what to tell you – you some cold motherf*ckers hahaha.
It doesn’t even seem that Jayme was asking for much. It's an appeal to one of the core elements of love, reciprocity. No one wants to feel like anyone else’s second choice, or like there is anyone more important than them. You ain wan be the pot of grits, you want to be the mutton. “You were my priority, but I didn’t get the same response, I’m taking my energy and saying farewell, I’m moving on”.
The message is clear – no more time to be wasted, she’s tired of looking foolish. Suddenly, you’re sitting down missing the big granny panties, bonnet and big tee-shirt to bed combination.
“When they doubt we, know that we’ll still be who they want” hits you hard in the chest like the reverb throughout this island funkadellic track. That’s the confidence of a woman walking away from a place that she knows is indelibly inked with her greatness never to be replaced. She knows already you’ll try to come back. #Toxic
I could ramble on and on and get myself deeper into this emotional canyon of introspection that this beautiful track opens up before you. What Jayme does remarkably well is give us music that gets our hearts and waistlines on one rhythm. I don’t think I can even use the backburner on my stove anymore now.
Go and listen to Backburner Love by Jayme Chante, available on all platforms.
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