“Little L” by Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai’s “Little L” is a song that is romantic in nature. And since Jay Kay is yet to enlighten us as to what the titular “L” actually stands for, the most logical conclusion, in context, would be that he’s saying “a little l(ove)”.
And going back to this song’s meaning, this is actually based on Jay’s past relationship with an entertainer named Denise van Outen. He described the lyrics as being centered more or less on a typical day between the two of them. And even though, in giving the backdrop to “Little L”, Kay tries to sugarcoat the matter and even goes as far as to designate Denise “a great girl”, the lyrics themselves paint a different picture.
In the lyrics, the addressee is basically portrayed as being a shrew. And on his part, the vocalist comes off being the party giving his all to this romance, only to be met with “screaming and hollering” and other disheartening and confusing acts on the part of the addressee.
Apparently, it would be such a sentiment upon which the phrase “you make me love you with a little L” is based. Kay is ready and willing to go all-out for this lady. However, it is the addressee rather who is discouraging him to the point where he instead relegates himself to only vesting “a little l(ove)” in this relationship.
In Conclusion
So going back to this piece being based on an actual celebrity romance, it reads like something which maybe the tabloid columns back around the time it was released had a field day with. But beyond that it speaks to a reality that many men feel they are faced with, i.e. being in love with a woman who’s so bi–hy that the relationship may prove more stressful than edifying.
Jamiroquai and “Little L”
Jamiroquai is a band from London that was really popular around the turn of the century. Despite the overwhelming majority of its members being White, this band specializes in funk and (acid-)jazz music. Both these genres are very common among African-American musicians. But in any event, as stated they proved very successful.
For instance, “Little L”, which is from Jamiroquai’s fifth studio album “A Funk Odyssey”, managed to chart in about 20 nations. And it performed exceptionally well in the group’s homeland, where it reached number five on the UK Singles Chart and number six on the UK Dance Chart. Furthermore, this track was a chart topper in Spain.
“Little L” was released by Columbia Records and Sony Soho Square (aka Sony S2 Records) on 13 August 2001.
Four members of Jamiroquai from that era are still involved in the act at the writing of this post. They are:
- vocalist Jay Kay
- percussionist Sola Akingbola
- guitarist Rob Harris
- drummer Derrick McKenzie
And back then, they were joined by bassist Nick Fyffe and keyboardist Toby Smith.
It’s Toby and Kay who wrote this song. And Kay also had a hand in producing it, in that regard working alongside non-band member Nick Pope.
