“Little Things” by Jorja Smith
Being released on May 11th, “Little Things” marks Jorja Smith’s second single of 2023, following “Try Me”, which came out in April. The songstress wrote this song with Edith Nelson, Maverick Sabre, Barbara Boko, New Machine and P2J. The latter two, respectively being from the UK and Nigeria, also produced the track.
Lyrics of “Little Things”
Jorja has explained this narrative as being premised, setting wise, along the lines of her chillin’ in a club and enjoying a thorough inebriation, being boozed on “a little concoction” made of “rum, ting and magnum”.
That particular aspect of the premise, i.e. the vocalist being inebriated, isn’t directly mentioned in the lyrics. Rather what is most effectively relayed is Jorja being in the mood where she’s down to “spend the night” with this dude she crossed paths with before, developed a strong physical attraction to and happens to once again spot him on this particular night.
In other words, it isn’t as if said dude is trying to get Smith into bed. Instead, by the looks of things she is taking the initiative in terms of baggin’ him, which then, hypothetically, brings us to the title of the song.
That is to say that it then becomes the vocalist’s task to enlighten us listeners, as well as the addressee himself, as to why she’s so smitten by this guy. And on the surface, what it reads like is being put forth is that “the little things” about him is what has her hot.
“It’s the little things that gets me high
Won’t you come with me and spend the night
Just a little thing for you and I
And if it’s meant to be, then thats alright
It’s the little things that gets me high
Won’t you come with me and spend the night
Just a little thing for you and I
And if it’s meant to be then that’s alright”
As generally understood, the term “little things” utilized within such a context would mean that Jorja is attracted to the individualities surrounding the addressee’s style, or that she has fallen in love due to how he treats her.
That former notion especially is what the music video to this song, as directed by Bolade Banjo, sets out to buttress. But there are two issues with adopting that interpretation. First off, it’s obvious that the vocalist doesn’t even really know the addressee like that. Rather, this song represents her intention to strike initial – and let’s say definitive – contact.
Secondly, the way the term “little things” appears in the chorus is not directly or solely related to the addressee. The second time that term is used in the passage, when Jorja mentions “just a little thing for you and I”, what she would more logically be referring to is the two of them getting it on for the night rather, not his personality.
Earlier on, in the first line of the chorus when she states “it’s the little things that get me high”, she may arguably be referring to certain aspects of this guy’s style. Or, taking Smith’s aforenoted explanation into consideration, perhaps the ‘little things’ she’s referring to, which ‘gets her high’ and furthermore ‘keeps her going’, is something like a pill or drug.
All of that being noted, Jorja has also stated for the record “this song is pretty self-explanatory”. And with that in mind, we can conclude that the one idea which is clearly relayed though “Little Things” is the vocalist being willing to give in to her spontaneous sexual urges with this particular guy.
