Throwback Thursday: Alicia Keys – “Unbreakable”
Song lyrics sometimes serve as a timestamp , with references to technology, institutions and even pop culture events that indicate what was happening in the world when the song was made. Some lyrics remain evergreen, but more often than not, time renders them obsolete.
In fact, some lyrics not only become obsolete but actually age poorly. No song exemplies this like “Unbreakable” by Alicia Keys.
Co-written by Alicia, Kanye West and Harold Lilly, and based on a sample of Eddie Kendricks’ “Intimate Friends,” the song was released as the first single from Alicia’s live album, Unplugged. It is about an enduring love story that is, in a word, unbreakable. To drive this point home, the singer shouts-out some of the most famous couples in the world, including Bill & Camille Cosby; Oprah Winfrey & Stedman Graham; Will & Jada Pinkett Smith; Russell & Kimora Lee Simmons; and Joe & Katherine Jackson. There was also an extremely dodgy reference to Ike & Tina Turner (who had been divorced for decades), but we’re gonna leave that where it’s at.
Out of all of the couples in together, only Oprah & Stedman are still together and have given us no reason to believe that they’re unhappy.
Joe & Katherine Jackson never got divorced even though she filed (and then rescinded) twice, so they were indeed unbreakable on paper, but they had been separated since ’82 at the very latest. Also, Joe was in a 25-year relationship with another woman that started in ’73 — he and said woman also have a child together. Joe’s escapades have been registered in the history books with an iconic scene in The Jacksons: An American Dream.
Camille Cosby goes up for her man every chance she gets, but no couple where the husband has been accused of rape by more than 60 women is a happy one.
Russell & Kimora are not only divorced but they fight on Instagram. And then there’s Will & Jada, whose marriage has been showing cracks for years and who we now know are actually separated (and have been for seven years).
In 2023, “Unbreakable” is basically a musical obituary to marriages that were supposed to be great, but if you can ignore the lyrics, it is a fine R&B production that is extremely easy to sing along to. Click play.
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