Jill Scott- The Fact Is (I Need You)

The song “The Fact Is (I Need You)” by Jill Scott is definitely a song that demonstrates a grappling with gender roles. It is about a woman who is in love, but how seems to want to be independent. At first listen, it may seem like a simple love song, but upon further inspection, there is so much more to be discovered.
The song is a continuous battle between what she is capable of and why she feels like she needs her lover. The song seems to be a woman’s wish to be independent. She states several things she is able to do on her own, such as pumping her own gas, getting her own job, buying her groceries, and taking care of her physical appearance. She even goes as far as saying that she can raise her child by herself. Although she can do all these things, she still goes on to say, “I need you.” This is a mental grapple in which she is struggling to decide whether or not she wants to be alone.
The overall message of the song is not one of independence. The message I receive is one of strength. Most of the things she states she can do on her own are things that are generally deemed to be manly responsibilities or characteristics. For example, it is often seen as a man’s responsibility to help a woman pump gasoline into her car, or to be the financial provider for the family. Basically, she is saying that she has the ability to do whatever a man can do, which is a very empowering message. Although she can do everything on her own, she says that she needs her lover. This is not because she is not able to be on her own, but she needs him to love her.




Jill Scott- The Fact Is (I Need You)

I can pay my own light bill baby
pump my own gas in my own car
I can buy my own shoe collection
I've been blessed thus far
I can kill the spider above my bed
although it's hard because I'm scared
I can even stain and polyurethane
But some things just don't change
I need you
Sometimes so hard to say
I need you
Some thing remail
I can buy my own groceries baby
Get my hair thight my nails right
I can floss my own bling bling
Write the the words to the songs I sing
I can even raise the child we'll make
Make sure he's loved and knows what God gave us
I can teach him how to walk and stand
but I need you to help him be a man
We need you
Some things don't change
I could be congresswoman or a garbage woman
or police officer or a carpenter
I could be a doctor and a lawyer
and a mother and a "good gGod what chu
donet to me?" kind of lover I can be
I could be a computer analyst
The queen with the nappy hair raising her fist
or I could be much more and a myraid of this
Hot as the summer
Sweet as the first kiss
And even though Ic an do all these things
I need you
And even though I can do all these things
We need you
(and you need us too!)