Released: 2024
Right cut to the chase, “Take A Bite” by beabadoobee is all about grappling with unfulfilled desires and indulgence. The song delves into the world of emotional turmoil and a young woman’s conflicted feelings towards her own imagination and reality. So if you’re feeling a tad bit confused by the lyrics, don’t sweat it – we’re going deep!
The singer opens with “Sure, it’s easy to talk / But I take it and I eat it with a cherry on top”. See, she’s got this tendency to overthink, to consume her own words and feelings, often sweetened, or made less harsh, by her optimistic outlook (the cherry). She talks about indulging in fabricated imaginations – it’s like she’s living inside her head, in an imagined reality that’s more desirable than the real world.
She sings next, “Moments that cease to exist / Only wanna fix it with a kiss on the lips”. She’s got these idealistic expectations, right? But she realizes they’re fleeting and not actual reality. Her impulsive response is to just seal it with a kiss, an attempt to keep the illusion alive. But then, she expresses her inclination to “Take a bite”. This is her stepping into uncertainty, making a bold move, even if it means the potential loss of her idealized dreamworld.
Throughout the song, there’s this recurring phrase “I wanted to see the world in color” which symbolizes she wants to experience the vibrancy of reality, not just her dreamworld. In the line “Through the night, I think I might / Wanna do it all over again”, she’s torn between her reality and her fantasies, unsure about letting go, even as she feels suffocated.
Lastly, she acknowledges her own failure to move on with “Moving backwards / Stuck in reverse”. It’s a beautifully raw expression of her struggle – she is caught in a cycle and she knows it. But you know what, despite everything, she maintains a sense of resilience. She’s willing to “do it all over again” – she’s learning, through her own experiences and emotions, how to balance between the world of imagination and reality. She’s taking a bite out of life, one step at a time.
