Cruisin

by D Angelo

Baby let's cruise away from here
Don't be confused baby, the way is clear
And if you want it you got it forever
Oh, this is not a one night stand baby
Let the music take your mind
And just release and you will find, baby
We're going to fly away
Glad you're going my way
I love it when we're cruisin' together
Music was made for love
Cruisin' is made for love
I love it when we're cruisin' together
Baby, tonight belongs to us
Everything's right, do what you must, baby
And inch by inch we get closer and closer
Every little part of each other ooh, baby, baby
Let the music take your mind
Just release and you will find, baby
We're going to fly away
Glad you're going my way
I love it when we're cruisin' together
Music was made for love
Cruisin' is made for love
I love you when we're cruisin' together
We're going to fly away
Glad you're going my way
I love it when we're cruisin' together
Music was made for love
Cruisin' is made for love
I love you when we're cruisin' together
Cruise with me baby, baby
Oh baby
Oh baby let's cruise, let's flow
Let's glide, let's open up and go inside
And if you want it you got it forever
I can just stay there inside you and love you, baby
Let the music take your mind
And just release and you will find
We're going to fly away
Glad you're going my way
I love it when we're cruisin' together
Music was made for love
Cruisin' is made for love
I love you when we're cruisin' together
We're going to fly away
Glad you're going my way
I love it when we're cruisin' together
Music was made for love
Cruisin' is made for love
I love you when we're cruisin' together
We're going to fly away
Glad you're going my way
I love it when we're cruisin' together
Music was made for love
Cruisin' is made for love
I love you when we're cruisin' together
We're going to fly away
Glad you're going my way
I love it when we're cruisin' together
Music was made for love
Cruisin' is made for love
I love you when we're cruisin' together

Interpretations

MyBesh.com Curated

User Interpretation
# D'Angelo's "Cruisin'": A Neo-Soul Testament to Transcendent Intimacy

D'Angelo's rendition of "Cruisin'" transforms Smokey Robinson's 1979 classic into something altogether more visceral and spiritually charged. At its core, this is an invitation—not merely to physical intimacy, but to a kind of meditative union where two people dissolve into music, motion, and each other. The artist communicates a philosophy of love as journey rather than destination, where the act of being together becomes its own reward. This isn't about conquest or fleeting passion; D'Angelo positions himself as a guide into sustained, mindful connection, promising permanence in an era increasingly defined by disposability. The song becomes a manifesto for slowing down, for surrendering to sensation, and for treating romantic connection as something sacred rather than transactional.

The emotional landscape here is dominated by serenity and sensuality so intertwined they become indistinguishable. D'Angelo's vocal performance—breathy, unhurried, almost meditative—creates an atmosphere of complete presence and security. There's an underlying current of joy, but it's not effervescent or manic; it's the deep contentment of two souls perfectly aligned. The reassurance threaded throughout speaks to vulnerability, acknowledging that true intimacy requires trust and the willingness to abandon pretense. When he insists the way is clear and confusion unnecessary, he's addressing not just his lover but the listener's own anxieties about authentic connection, offering his voice as an anchor in uncertain emotional waters.

The song's literary architecture relies heavily on motion metaphors—cruising, flying, flowing, gliding—that elevate the experience from earthbound physicality to something transcendent. The extended metaphor of cruising brilliantly collapses multiple meanings: the leisurely drive, the unhurried exploration of bodies, the spiritual journey toward union. D'Angelo employs repetition as both hypnotic device and philosophical statement; the choruses don't merely repeat, they accumulate meaning, becoming mantra-like affirmations of love's purpose. The phrase "inch by inch" carries deliberate eroticism while also suggesting patience and the sacred slowness of truly knowing another person. There's religious undertones too—the surrender, the release, the promise of forever—positioning romantic love as a pathway to divine experience.

This connects to the universal human hunger for presence in an increasingly distracted world. D'Angelo captures something essential about the healing power of undivided attention, of being fully seen and choosing to fully see another. The song speaks to our collective exhaustion with surface-level interactions and our deep need for experiences that slow time rather than accelerate it. On a social level, it also represents a reclamation of Black masculine tenderness, offering an alternative to aggressive or domineering expressions of desire. In D'Angelo's hands, vulnerability becomes strength, and the ability to surrender becomes the ultimate masculine power—a radical proposition in cultures that often equate manhood with control.

"Cruisin'" resonates because it offers what philosopher Alain de Botton might call "emotional education"—it models a way of being with another person that many listeners crave but struggle to articulate or achieve. D'Angelo's production choices—the languorous tempo, the warm vintage instrumentation, his layered vocals creating a choir of desire—construct an entire world listeners want to inhabit. In three-minute pop songs and swipe-right culture, this nearly seven-minute meditation becomes countercultural, even subversive. It resonates because it reminds us that the best human experiences can't be rushed, that profound connection requires both partners traveling the same direction, and that sometimes the most revolutionary act is simply being present with another soul, letting the music—and love—take your mind.
Posted on Oct 23, 2025 by Athena