Drake – Take Care

Take Care, Track 5 :

Take Care feat. Rihanna

“I know you’ve been hurt by someone else
I can tell by the way you carry yourself
But if you let me here’s what I’ll do
I’ll take care of you

I, I’ve loved and lost the same as you
So you see I know just what you’ve been through
But if you’ll let me here’s what I’ll do
Oh, I just got to take care of you

You won’t ever have to worry
You won’t ever have to cry
I’ll be there beside you
To dry your weeping eyes

So darling tell me that you’ll be true
For there is no doubt in my mind I know what I want to do
Understand, sure as one and one is two
Oh, you know I’ll take care of you
I’ll take care of you.”

Those are the lyrics to ‘I’ll Take Care of You‘, I’ve been listening to the

Etta James version while I write this (though Take Care samples Jamie XX’s remix of Gil Scott-Heron’s version). I wanted to include them here because so much of what makes this song good is contained within those lyrics. You reach a certain point in life, and any new relationship you enter into will come with the baggage of the past. Your past experiences change you, and the way you view the next person you meet. And just like you, no one new will be untouched or unscathed or without loss and heartbreak. That’s why I think Drake’s best lyric in this is, ‘Dealing with a heart that I didn’t break.’ Ideally we would all enter new relationships whole and healed and completely together, but that’s hardly ever the case, and when you start sharing your life with someone else, you share the good with the bad, and it sometimes means mending things – trust, insecurities, etc. – that you didn’t have any part of damaging. #LifeOhLife But I like that this song is about acknowledging that you’ve both been through shit, and because of that, you’ll know how to love the next person right. ‘I’ve loved and I’ve lost…(the same as you)’. Though, Drake is coming at it more from the angle of letting his love interest know that he’s not judging her for all the ‘fun’ a.k.a sexxxxing she’s been doing. He’s like, ‘Don’t worry babe, it’s alllll g, I’ve slept around heaps too, lulz.’

“I’ve asked about you and they told me things, but my mind didn’t change and I still feel the same, what’s a life with no fun? Please, don’t be so ashamed, I’ve had mine, you’ve had yours, we both know.. we know.” Awww guummooon.

This is also one of those times when having some knowledge of the artists personal lives actually adds depth to the song. I felt really tacky writing that, but I do think knowing a little of Riri’s past heartbreak makes the lyrics she sings here feel more meaningful than if it was done by someone else.

And lastly, Drake is known to say things that appeal to the ladies, but this next line might be one of his first truly romantic lines, no? Doesn’t it read like something out of a movie? It’s quite lovely :

“When you’re ready, just say you’re ready, when all the baggage just ain’t as heavy, and the party’s over, just don’t forget me, we’ll change the pace, and we’ll just go slow.”