“By Your Side” by Rod Wave
“By Your Side” is one of the more upbeat Rod Wave singles we have come across, as it doesn’t harp on the vocalist being depressed, plagued by the past or anything like that. Rather it is largely centered on his come-up, with the lyrics reading sorta like a rags-to-riches’ memoir.
But the lyrical implication isn’t that Rod made it big through the music industry, as he has actually done. Rather it is implied that he’s akin to a drug dealer, i.e. “street running” throughout the entire week.
Indeed Wave’s “daddy was a gangster”, and the vocalist “fell in love with guns” at the time he became a teenager, so it’s like hustling is in his blood. And we are presuming this is the kind of lifestyle he lived pre-musical fame, either that or he’s still out in the ‘hood, doing his thing to this very day.
But that said, we know that hip-hop is a genre that idealizes rappers being true-to-life, yet at the same time they occasionally embellish things a bit. Or another way of interpreting that ‘hood aspect of the song is as Rod representing in the studio as he did in the street, so to speak.
Song’s Title (“By Your Side”)
And as for the title, it is actually sampled from another track, as noted in the bottom of this post. So it may not have any particular context per se, rather being an element that the composers added because it sounds cool.
But both the verse and chorus commence by sorta alluding to the notion of Rod being on the move, presumably touring or what have you. So the title, as utilized, can also be interpreted like even though he may not be physically present, Wave’s music still puts him ‘by the side’ of the listener, i.e. the fans that feel him.
Some Interesting Facts
Sony Music Entertainment, in conjunction with Alamo Records, released this track on 15 November 2021. It is the first single that Rod has dropped since his Billboard 200 chart topper SoulFly (2021).
Rod Wave, an American musician from St. Petersburg, Florida, wrote this song with the two artists that produced it, Harto Beats and TnTXD. And in putting the track together, they sampled a 2006 tune by Plain White T’s entitled “Hey There Delilah“.
