'Bad As The Rest' by Jessie Murph – Lyrics & Meaning

We're a little more than a week out from the release of Jessie Murph's blockbuster album, Sex Hysteria; and the cross-genre star seems just as excited about the impending collection as her fans. So much so that the 'Blue Strips' artist has dropped another of the album's offering. This time, with little warning.

'Bad As The Rest' arrived in the wee hours of Friday (July 11) morning, and in that time, the bewitching ballad has already wormed its way into our ears and our hearts just as the rest so faithfully have.

The song, about being cautious in love and guarded with one's affections, joins an array of vulnerable and exposing hits, like 'Gucci Mane', 'Touch Me Like a Gangster' and 'Heroin', and gives another glimpse inside the masterpiece that's still to come.

Sex Hysteria's previous releases have all be incredibly soulful, powered by Murph's husky croon and smoldering delivery. 'Bad As The Rest' is no different.

The song is awakened by prowling keys and a hushed beat, washing the tune in a smokey R&B-influenced sound. The composition builds onto those skulking notes, the slinking arrangement getting wrapped up in dreamy synths and pulsating 808s before erupting into a luxuriously soulful ballad come the chorus.

Enticing shadows shade much of the song as Murph belts of past transgressions and opens up about the need to keep others at arm's length.

"Fool me once, and it's 'So what?'
Fool me twice, I'm a dumb fuck
Three times, you like every damn boy I ever loved, oh, no
Hard feeling bring harder lesson
You're telling me that you're the exception
If you're good boy with bad intentions
Tell me now"

Throughout 'Bad As The Rest', Jessie Murph is forced to grapple with a touch of déjà vu. She's boldly entering into a new relationship, but she can't shake the feeling that she's been here before.

She's been hurt in the past and made to feel like a fool, having to learn a new lesson with each fresh heartbreak. While she seems hopeful about this new lover – he swears that he's different from those other men – she's still proceeding with caution, not wanting to get caught up like all the other times before.

She knows her boundaries and understands full-well how she operates in certain situations – in the song, she sings "'Cause it's kinda late / And I'm emotionally / Kinda twisted right around / And if I stay another minute, babe / I'll say a thing I never say / 'Cause something 'bout you breaks me down" – and so she remains on alert in order to keep herself from going under.

"I do not love you yet
But I'm 'bout as close as I can get
Keep one last percent
Close to my chest
Just in case you turn out bad as the rest"

She can't deny her feelings for this person are strong, but where she would normally dive head-first into that infatuation, she's trying to keep her cards close to her chest. It's all because she's anticipating the worst and won't be made to look the fool again.

However, she fears she might slip up, singing, "For you, I might do what dumb bitches do / Put on the dress / Say 'Fuck it,' instead / Follow my heart from my place to your bed / I'm as bad as the rest."

Murph is, after all, only human, and the faster she falls, the harder it is for her to keep those feeling at bay.

"So about you
In too deep, I'm so about you
Once I get that fix, that taste, boy, you know me, I gotta have him
And if I pull away
That just means I want you, baby
So don't let me down"

She's what the kids call "down bad" in this new romance, and bringing it back to the urgency and need portrayed in her previous single 'Heroin', she's jonesing for this person.

She knows she can only do so much, resist so many more times, before inevitably giving in to these feelings. Towards the end of the song, she ultimately pleads with him, begging to not be left heartbroken yet again.

"I do not love you yet
But I'm 'bout as close as I can get
Keep one last percent
Close to my chest
Just in case you turn out bad as the rest
I'm as bad as the rest"

Fool me once, and it's "So what?"
Fool me twice, I'm a dumb fuck
Three times, you like every damn boy I ever loved, oh, no
Hard feeling bring harder lesson
You're telling me that you're the exception
If you're good boy with bad intentions
Tell me now

'Cause it's kinda late
And I'm emotionally
Kinda twisted right around
And if I stay another minute, babe
I'll say a thing I never say
'Cause something 'bout you breaks me down

I do not love you yet
But I'm 'bout as close as I can get
Keep one last percent
Close to my chest
Just in case you turn out bad as the rest
I will not be no fool
But for you, I might do what dumb bitches do
Put on the dress
Say "Fuck it," instead
Follow my heart from my place to your bed
I'm as bad as the rest

So about you
In too deep, I'm so about you
Once I get that fix, that taste, boy, you know me, I gotta have him
And if I pull away
That just means I want you, baby
So don't let me down

I do not love you yet
But I'm 'bout as close as I can get
Keep one last percent
Close to my chest
Just in case you turn out bad as the rest
I will not be no fool
But for you, I might do what dumb bitches do
Put on the dress, say "Fuck it," instead
Follow my heart from my place to your bed
I'm as bad as the rest

Oh
I'm as bad as the rest
Oh-oh

I do not love you yet
But I'm 'bout as close as I can get
Keep one last percent
Close to my chest
Just in case you turn out bad as the rest
I'm as bad as the rest

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