Experimenting with genres. That’s Willow Smith’s schtick.
If you don’t know Willow from her 2014 release, “Whip My Hair,” perhaps you know her as the daughter of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Or maybe you know her simply from listening to her five albums and numerous singles.
Either way, this 23-year-old woman is talented, and she’s not afraid to break boundaries; she’s constantly mixing genres and experimenting with various sounds. This is something she’s doing in her vulnerable new single, “Alone,” which also is the title of her forthcoming album.
This breathy, off-beat track features a cascading, jazzy sound filled with synth, quintuplet beats and guitar. It’s haunting, ethereal and very personal. It’s both a call to be seen for who she truly is and an expression of Willow’s thoughts as she learns to sit in solitude and process the memories that come in the quiet.
Willow seems to have come to the end of herself in some ways, and in the best way. She says that she’s “so tired of being a liar, it’s true.” She seems to be at a place where she’s ready to face the truth and admit her shortcomings (“I know I’m no good at this”).
There’s also a very poignant moment here where Willow seems to be searching for something, be it truth or God, that’s outside of herself and her own ability (“When you talk, is it not medicine for us all?/Show me something I cannot define”).
You can hear Willow’s desperation and loneliness in this track.
Mostly, you can hear her hopelessness (“Do you see me?/…Do you see me wanderin’/Alone?”) as she wonders about the point of life (“…Please do/What you must cause it’s no use/All of it falls away/In time”).
The music video features Willow in joggers and a tank top that reveals a bit of cleavage.
This is a short track, running just a little over two minutes. And somehow in that short time, Willow manages to communicate her deep desire to be understood, to heal, to reach for truth and to wrestle with her own thoughts and past hurts (“I’d sure like to think that but nothing is intact/To speak to the wounds that I gavе and I have”).
Sonically and lyrically, this song is both uplifting and slightly depressing. It shows a deep wrestling with oneself. And I believe that’s reflected in the black-and-white music video, which features Willow, sitting alone, as the camera pans close to, and away from, her face and body.
While I was watching the music video, I just wanted to hug her. Maybe it’s the mom instinct in me. To comfort someone who seems like they’re in distress.
Thankfully, according to her interview with Rolling Stone, Willow is in a much better place now than she was in the past as she’s learning to work through her traumas. She shares,
“For Coping Mechanism I was almost never sober in the studio. And for this new album, I was sober for every single recording session. … I feel like my mind state was extremely different.”
She continues, “When we’re alone, when there’s nobody there to distract us from our own thoughts, we try to run away from it. … But I feel like it’s a really interesting practice to understand and to really see what changes when you don’t try to push it away.”
This is insightful in a lot of ways. I believe it’s important to learn to sit alone with your thoughts and really process them. And although this song doesn’t “land” on a worldview or any definitive answers, it’s doing the hard work of asking questions. Just be aware as parents that those questions and ponderings occasionally sway toward a depressive state.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
