Photo Credit: Cal Quinn
“Bad Bad News” is from Leon Bridges upcoming sophomore album Good Thing, which is scheduled to be released on May 4, 2018. Bridges 2015 debut album Coming Home had a Sam Cooke inspired old school soul sound. “Bad Bad News” still has a retro feel, but it’s funky and jazzy vibe does represent a musical departure.
The lyrics are an empowering anthem for marginalized people who were told that they “were born to lose” and that its possible to transcend your circumstances and make “a good good thing out of bad bad news”. The song holds out hope that it is possible to break the shackles of systemic oppression and racism.
The Natalie Rae directed music video is also thought-provoking. Model Paloma Elsesser stars as a woman who is a victim of a cat call. She decides to chase down the cat caller. While in pursuit, she not only starts dancing, but she also starts to grapple with all sorts of emotions. She eventually tracks him down, corners him and then rubs her head against his chest. Based on comments that I have read about the video this has left some viewers and music journalists confused and because there doesn’t seem to be any official statement about the video I don’t want to read too much about the intent. But the rubbing of the head against the chest didn’t come across as a sexual grinding, instead I took the head as being a metaphorical representation of a women’s intellect. It was a powerful statement against sexual objectification. Also the male cat caller seems visibly uncomfortable and didn’t know how to handle the confrontation. The woman protagonist decided to not be the victim and reassert her power. In a sense she “made a good good thing out of bad bad news”. Both the song and the video contains poignant messages of empowerment.