"Lions, Tigers & Bears" is the fourth single released from American R&B–soul singer Jazmine Sullivan's debut album Fearless. The song impacted radio on November 11, 2008, and was officially released on December 16, 2008, as the third single. The track received a Grammy Nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and a nomination for Best R&B Song.
Background
"Lions, Tigers and Bears" is a waltz that uses a sample from Salaam Remi's "Shila's Playground". It was written by Sullivan and Remi. The song is a soulful melody, written in Dorian Mode, about love and heartbreak using instrumentation of a violin. The protagonist states that she's not scared of things most people fear, such as facing carnivorous animals, but she's scared to love because of potential heartbreak. Sullivan said that, "the lions, tigers and bears reference represents my career in the music business."[1]
Her latest, "Lions, Tigers & Bears," seemingly belies the "Fearless" album title, with Jazzy breaking down to a prospective paramour that kings of the jungle, Seigfried & Roy's crew AND Yogi are all cool with her, but this love thing? Yeah, scary as hell. What I love most about this track is the haunting melody, and of course, that voice. Lawd.[2]
Music video
A music video premiered on Sullivan's MySpace blog promoting Jazmine Sullivan's single on January 29, 2009. It shows her performing in the middle of a gray-colored town while surrounded by floating, transparent violins. The town eventually becomes more colorful as time progresses. First, a golden color is seen spreading on the street inspired by The Wizard of Oz (as is the title of the song),[3] meeting with blue color in intersection, where a couple is having a fight.[4] Later, orange is introduced as the main color of another couple's outfits as they argue in the balcony of an apartment, while a tiger arrives and runs through the streets. A third couple is introduced, bringing the color purple to the town.
During the bridge, Jazmine performs on top of a skyscraper, still surrounded by the violins. The violins are then attacked by the tiger, creating a heart-shaped area of purple mist around Jazmine. Once the bridge is completed, the video returns to Jazmine performing at the yellow brick road (which again, is inspired by The Wizard of Oz, like the title of the song[3]) and a brain appears and the girl in the blue and walks away from the guy she is seeing. A lion of courage appears on the back of the man's jacket in purple and he gets the "courage" to walk away. A heart appears on the girl in orange and she embraces her lover. This is in direct reference to The Wizard of Oz and the tinman, the lion and the scarecrow. The video ranked at No. 88 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown.
