Provider by N*E*R*D is a perfect candidate for the Some Songs Make Great Short Stories series over at The Vinyl Villain.
N*E*R*D is a 'backronym' for No-One Ever Really Dies and is a trio comprising US production legends The Neptunes aka Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, with Sheldon Haley aka Shay Haley aka Shade.
Provider appeared on N*E*R*D's debut album In Search Of... which was initially released in August 2001. The first version of the album was limited to Europe only and had more electronic leanings, not a million miles away from The Neptunes' sound. A conscious decision to differentiate N*E*R*D from The Neptunes saw the album pulled, re-recorded and re-released worldwide in March 2002 with an amended track listing and a more prominent hip-hop/rock hybrid sound.
Provider was the third and final single from the album in March 2003, coupled with a Freeform Five remix of previous single Lapdance. The single entered - and peaked - in the UK at #20, spending a total of 4 weeks in the chart.
The UK version was fronted a remix of Provider by Zero 7 aka Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker, whose own debut Simple Things was the chillout album du jour in 2001. The radio edit is superb but for the definitive take of this song, head to the full length version, seven minutes forty seconds of downtempo bliss, acoustic guitar, added strings and Pharrell's vocals in perfect harmony. It's widely available on YouTube but someone had the idea of cutting a video using slips from US TV series The Wire, which premiered a few months after the 'rock version' of In Search Of... in 2002.
The official video for Provider contains a striking story of a young couple, mirroring the lyrical narrative, interspersed with scenes of Pharrell and Chad with friends on their BMX bikes (Tony Hawks also makes a cameo).
In a sad example of life imitating art, the lead actor is Brad Renfro, who first came to notice as an 11-year old in the 1994 film adaptation of John Grisham's novel The Client, directed by Joel Schumacher and co-starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones.
At the age of 15, Renfro and his older cousin were arrested for drug possession, the former entering a plea bargain and agreeing to random drug tests, going forward. By the time of shooting the Provider video, Renfro had been in a cycle of arrest, rehabilitation and relapse into substance misuse, probation violations and further criminal charges.
Brad Renfro was found dead in his apartment in January 2008. The death was ruled accidental and attributed to acute heroin/morphine intoxication. He was only 25.
Woke up I had the same clothes on I had on last nightDamnI must have passed outAnd cash is just like the clothes I worn yesterdayWe are brokeDamnI gotta get my ass outI went to see what my friend was talking aboutDrugsHe told me cocaine would get you cloutMy momma said he's trouble and schools my routeBut I went to high school and got kicked outSo I'm driving this truck down the 95I pray to God I make it home aliveI don't get pulled over by the manI just want to make it home to hold your hand
Goodbye beloved oneDo you know what I amIf you don't see my face no moreI'm a provider girl, gotta face the streets tonight
Goodbye beloved oneDo you know what I amYou don't see my face no moreI'm a rider, girl gotta face the streets tonightYou say you don't want me to go but I have toPlease don't weepI love you
I refuse to be a bumEspecially coming where I'm fromI'm a provider girlAnd I love youSo it's just like I said beforeHeading down 95Dodging Johnny lawI don't need a ticket though I never got oneIf he pulls me overHe can feel my shotgunI think about life pull down my hatIt's just like this road I don't know where I'm atI don't want to be another cocaine storyWill I find my sanityWhere I find my gloryCome on
Goodbye beloved oneDo you know what I amIf you don't see my face no moreI'm a provider girl, gotta face the streets tonight
Goodbye beloved oneDo you know what I amYou don't see my face no moreI'm a rider, girl gotta face the streets tonight
You say you don't want me to go but I have toPlease don't weepI love you
Someday, Someday, this will be overWe'll raise a familyI'll get a job and I'll be a voterAnd if I dieIt will change youChange youI watch over a familyBut only as an angel
So don't tell me you don't know what you seeWhen you're looking at a motherfucker just like meI'm a provider girlI said don't tell me you don't know what you seeWhen you're looking at a motherfucker just like meI'm a rider girl
Goodbye beloved oneDo you know what I amIf you don't see my face no moreI'm a provider girl, gotta face the streets tonight
Goodbye beloved oneDo you know what I amYou don't see my face no moreI'm a rider, girl gotta face the streets tonightYou say you don't want me to go but I have toPlease don't weepI love you
I love you girlI'm doing this for usI don't know any betterWhat am I supposed to doNothing I love you
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