“Autumn Leaves” is the 19th track from Chris Brown’s latest studio album “X”. The album landed at #2 on Billboard Hot 200 chart. The track was released on September 12, 2014 and was acclaimed as serene track. The featuring of Kendrick Lamar on “Autumn Leaves” just makes it ever more epic! Yesterday (22/01/2015) RCA Records and Chris Brown officially released the music video for “Autumn Leaves” and surprised with his act as a Samurai falling in love with a girl. Too bad though, we don’t get to see Kendrick Lamar in the music video.
Watch Music Video for “Autumn Leaves” by Chris Brown
The music video is actually quite nice, although I don’t really understand the need to portray a statue of The Buddha in the music video. Some may consider it offensive.
The “Autumn Leaves” music video shows Chris Brown dressed as a Samurai in Japan (I think) and falling in love with a monastery girl. There’s leaves falling everywhere. ‘Autumn leaves falling’ is symbolic for the end of the relationship.
Lyrics for “Autumn Leaves” by MetroLyrics
Buy “Autumn Leaves” Song by Chris Brown on iTunes / Amazon
Kendrick Lamar Features in “Autumn Leaves” Track
We have been talking a lot about Kendrick Lamar lately, specially because of the untitled track he released on The Colbert Report. The “Autumn Leaves” rap certainly lacks the depth the said untitled track boasted. But comments on the YouTube video, saying this lyric segment by Kendrick had no meaning, are quite false. From the very start of the rap, Kendrick goes on about a dying relationship equating it to an ‘iceberg’.
So the iceberg never broke
And I poked at it and I poked at it and I poked at it
And I poke and I poke and I poked at it
But it stayed stagnant then I poked at it some more, some more
And in my notepad, man I wrote and I wrote
If I don’t have it, if I don’t grab it
If it don’t chip then a toe tag is, one last
I’mma hope, I’mma hope so the iceberg don’t float
Let’s do some lyrics review on Kendrick’s first bit of rap from the song.
Kendrick could never change the girl/relationship, no matter how much he tried (“poked it”). The relationship “stayed stagnant” just like an iceberg. Artists know of one way to express their frustration–that is through their music, and hence is the reference to writing on his notepad. And if Kendrick cannot have her, don’t “grab” her, then it is similar to his death (“toe tag”- a tag with a reference code tied to a dead body in mortuaries). If you think the rap lacks meaning, the above is a good example for the graphic image he paints in our head. And in the last line he says, that he really wishes her girl doesn’t walk away! There’s more to the rap than this.
Anyway, “Autumn Leaves” is a nice track with some solemn beats and catchy tunes. We can really hook into Chris Brown’s as well as Kendrick’s vocals because of the very calm nature of the song.
Leave a comment on how this song and the music video appealed to you.