SAN FRANSISCO, CA- Jessie Hyde is a San Fransisco based recording artist who used music to help her get through and over a series of monogamous, toxic relationships. Using the medium to find her voice and perspective, she wrote and recorded a collection of music that culminates in her debut EP, Unsupervised.
Unsupervised is a promising first effort. There are shades of Ani Difranco in the plainspoken lyrics and its eclectic delivery, particularly her song “Perpetuate”. But it was her song, “Petit Fille” (french for “little girl”) that caught my attention. Sung in her native tongue, “Petit Fille”, with its warbly synth and repeated drum loops, is quite hypnotic.
As someone who studied French throughout high school and college, some lyrics intrigued me and I asked for a translation so that I knew exactly what I was listening to:
“So from bad to worse you never grew up
Your shadow is still under my bed”
I was intrigued. This hypnotic number had some particularly dark overtones, so I asked Jessie to explain the song a bit and she mentioned:
“‘Petite Fille’ is a really deep and beautiful dialogue between me today and my younger self. The song holds a lot of tension… In it I ask my younger self for forgiveness, and I try to protect and comfort her through anguish. It speaks about fears that I face: fear that I’ve been going down an unhealthy path of distractions for years, and fear that if I stop distracting myself and look inwards, it’s going to be dark and painful. When I sing it I feel instantly connected to that feeling of being frozen, stuck, because all paths look difficult. Wanting to grow and improve, but being so scared that it’s going to lead me to wander “jusqu’en enfer / all the way to hell”.
“Petite Fille” is a bit of an outlier compared to the other tracks on the EP. Not only is it sung in a different language, but it definitely carries a bit more weight in its overall tone. But perhaps, it was meant to be that way. After all, this particular song wasn’t written like the other songs she’s written:
“The story of how this turned into a song is really out of the ordinary for me. I usually have a feeling and immediately write lyrics and melody to it and have a song within an hour. In the case of Petite Fille, I was in my bedroom looking through a notebook, and I landed on these two pages of notes that looked like a poem. I had completely forgotten I had written this to myself months prior. So I went to the keyboard, found two really simple chords, and the poem became the song.”
Jessie Hyde’s Unsupervied is scheduled to be released on June 2.
Follow Jessie Hyde on Facebook and Instagram.
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JESSIE HYDE – “Petite Fille” Full lyrics – ENGLISH TRANSLATION
“Little girl”
I’ve lost my body, but am I in my mind
It’s all full of beasts but it’s gorgeous outside
I wear my first name like an epithet
Don’t tell about it boy, I don’t want to be bothered
Little girl in her headband
Who dwells in my depths in her hiding place
I ask for your forgiveness, I’ve distracted you too much
With men, drugs and parties
And parties
And parties
And parties
So from bad to worse you never grew up
Your shadow is still under my bed
I was using you as a tapestry
A desperate soul hides a tragedy
I’m somewhat thinking about growing you up
Already half-dead, you should run and get out
I’m afraid for you that you’re gonna get destroyed
But if we stay like this, it’s goodbye to what’s to come
But I’m afraid you’ll wander
But I’m afraid you’ll wander
All the way to hell
But I’m afraid you’ll wander
But I’m afraid you’ll wander
All the way to hell
Why don’t I know why didn’t they tell me
That hell existed when I was a kid
I open my eyes a little, the colors come back
Always half-god, always half-dog
Always half-dog
(Oh oh oh oh oh oh)
But I’m afraid you’ll wander
(You’ll wander)
But I’m afraid you’ll wander all the way to hell
(Always half-dog)
But I’m afraid you’ll wander
All the way to hell
But I’m afraid you’ll wander
All the way to hell
All the way to hell
All the way to hell
All the way to hell
But I’m afraid you’ll wander
But I’m afraid you’ll wander
All the way to hell
But I’m afraid you’ll wander
All the way to hell
