A Long Walk

An analysis of Jill Scott's game

The parks in Philadelphia were established over two hundred years ago.  They included land from private donors, and places established by the City to celebrate the beauty of nature and preserve public health. Today, those same parks host children’s soccer and t-ball games, adult softball and kickball leagues and many family reunions and birthday parties. This is the same park system that boasts waterfalls, hiking trails, and outdoor concert venues with a view of the city skyline so clear and beautiful you would think you had left the city all together. But looking back down at the streets below the skyline, signs of life are always present. Whether it’s the late night workers making their way home, or the early risers loading their boats into the Schuylkill River, someone is always moving towards something. 

It is also completely fathomable that then in the late nineties and early aughts, people would have been out in the parks to do something as simple as taking a walk. If you ever ride the train through Philly, and back out into the suburbs after rush hour, you can see the lights coming on in the parks as the sun sets. Once spring hits, people are outside, living, laughing, loving and hoping. The view from the train presents an evolution of neighborhoods and if you’re heading to the northwest suburbs, it takes you part way through what’s left of Jill’s North Philly streets, and out into suburban neighborhoods that look like quaint towns full of provincial people.

The people part is important because then and now, the people of Philadelphia are working class people. They’re hard working people that expect that you too, will work hard, no matter how much money or status you have. Just ask any professional athlete that dares to give less than their all on game day, they can’t go out in public without hearing about it. At the same time, the city of Philadelphia is known as the city of Brotherly love and sisterly affection, and a quick observation of people within the park system easily affirms that this is still very much the case. 

However, the great red herring of this song, is the notion that it’s truly about strolling hand in hand around parks. If you stay on the surface, and let the words float over you without much thought, then yes, you would say, she’s talking about strolling hand in hand with her love, she’s talking about going on dates and being in love and it’s all very nice and cute. But friends, Jill is a poet and she gave us layers on top of layers in her lyrics. 

She is simultaneously kicking some of the finest game to a fella who has just arrived, and reminding us that love is beyond the tangible, it is of the Divine.

 “Lord, have mercy on me, I was blind now I can see, what a king’s supposed to be, baby I feel free come on and go with me.” 

Mercy is not just compassion or forgiveness, it comes from the Latin word misericordia, which is in part, made up of the word “cor” or heart. To ask for mercy is in fact to ask for an open heart, and so that simple expression may be a prayer to be opened to love. Still not convinced? I was blind but now I see, is a great double entendre. 

In the Bible, the book of John has the story of the blind man. He was an outcast in society, that went to Jesus asking for mercy and to be cured of his sins. And once cured, the people of his town asked if he was still a sinner, and what he told them was “I was blind, but now I see.”  This is the same sentiment echoed in the first verse of the hymn Amazing Grace.

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

Through song, through sweet melody, she is inviting a dialogue and exchange to open our minds and hearts. When she says maybe we can talk about Surah 31:18, she is referring to the Koran verse which reads “And do not turn your nose up to people, nor walk pridefully upon the earth.” And in the next refrain, Revelations 3:17 refers to the Bible verse that says “You say ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” 

The conversation that she invites is one of radical honesty. It requires self-examination, a focus on how we interact with the world around us, and our obsession with material things. It is the kind of conversation that requires intimacy because you must lay bare the ugly parts of yourself and open your heart. It is the type of conversation that has to come from a place of love and possibility, rather than fear. When she says what a king’s supposed to be, she isn’t talking about material goods, or physical wealth, she is talking about wealth of character. 

The journey that Jill is inviting isn’t a short jaunt, the journey of going through life together. To share  situations, temptation, education, relaxation, is to share a life together. To be able to find the space to just be silent underscores that there has to be a level of comfort and trust borne out of love and openness that allows silence to fall without conflict. 

Consider that Jill Scott was born into and lived much of her early life in humble circumstances. To grow up poor, in a working class neighborhood where her family was sometimes dependent upon the kindness of neighbors to eat, is humbling. It’s not the humility of having to accept handouts; it is the humility of being in an environment where people cared enough to make sure that others did not starve under their watch. It marked, however subtly, community as a place of love in action. 

This is the same kind of love and care that she offers in Long Walk. It takes humility to share the best and worst of yourself with another in a manner that is intentional. It requires the nakedness of emotional transparency. Talking, participating in honest dialogue, and listening is also an act of openness because it presents the opportunity to expose our faults and blindness, and therefore can set us free. 

When John was instructed to write to the early church community in Revelations, it was because they were wishy-washy. Uncertain if they would commit to this new religion without social standing or riches, people blew hot and cold. For many, openly joining could mean the loss of status and persecution, and yet something about the spiritual aspect was appealing. That conflict between keeping status, material wealth, and seeking spiritual fulfillment is not new or unique to those John wrote to in the Bible. Even now people still face the same conflicts in and outside of organized religion. 

People gravitate towards songs because of how the music makes them feel. In a world where people are increasingly isolated, individualized, and downright lonely, many lack the community, companionship, and means to develop companionship needed to meaningfully engage. The idea of finding a park to go to after dark, to sit and share thoughts, is infeasible in many urban communities. Crime, gentrification, poor air quality, lack of social connection, and limited third spaces are part of the litany of reasons the concept Jill sung about seems unattainable. But in order to have it, we first have to admit that we want it. Song creates a safe space that lets us give voice to our heart’s desire by joining into words we do not own. Think about it, most people don’t learn the lyrics of the words first (if at all), instead it’s the melody that speaks to them, offering a gateway to the rest. 

But wait, if people don’t listen to the lyrics, why bother? Notice that stylistically, Jill approaches the song like a rapper: cadence, swagger, cleverness and repetition are all there. She takes the tools of poetry and fuses the influence of hip-hop into the melody in a way that makes you listen to and feel the words. This is part-and-parcel of what made neo-soul so different, the blend of so many influences and components of writing and song in a way that felt natural. 

By doing this well, Jill opens up not just the listener’s ear but their mind and heart. Someone probably looked up Revelations 3:17 at some point, or another, just to see what the heck she was talking about, and thereby opened their mind to something new. She is communicating ideas simply that are quite complex. 

“You ain’t no saint, we all are sinners, but you put your good foot down to make your soul a winner.”  

The smooth delivery is honest, and offers something people yearn for the most: grace. Remember that the blind man who approached Jesus was a sinner. Yet his hope, faith, and humility to ask for help and to stand in who he was, is what not only opened his eyes, but brought him back into his community. 

Taking this message outside of institutional religion, there is still a path where love is offering us something more. It is the place and space with the capacity to provide community, but it requires our efforts. We have to love enough to give and receive, to move forward in times of trouble and to be humble enough to ask for help. An open heart is needed to get there and it is an imperfect process that continues as part of our lived experience for as long as we choose it. It is a journey. 

If we view love as a journey, then there has to also be space to rest, to refresh, and see all of the new and different things that can help us to continue to open our hearts, and find grace and courage in struggle. Art has played this role in society because there is an opportunity to intervene into this world in an indirect way. You watch movies, listen to songs, see paintings, but some element of it is passive unless you are creating. That passive element is what allows for reflection, contemplation, silence. 

Silence does not create a void in counterpoint to art, but instead offers the chance for us to hold space in our hearts for the good things we experience. Silence also hollows out feckless distractions, especially when paired with stillness. Think about our current world, where there is always a screen, a connection point, and some cacophony. So to offer not just art but silence is also a gift because it is offering a space for grace and love without fillers. 

In a world where we are like the rivers, constantly moving this may help us to go in a better direction.

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Note: This excerpt was originally conceived as a sample chapter for a book on Who is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Volume 1.