This is a rhythm and blues song with a jazzy flavor; a Billy Holiday-like delivery. The song contains a musical hook that changes throughout the song. The hook is the catchy part of a song. It is the repetitious part that is implanted in your mind after hearing a song just once, it’s the musical phrase that everyone remembers, it is the line you just can’t get out of your head. There are at least three hooks in the song. In “Bag Lady”, Erykah introduces the musical hook to the song in a very subtle, sublime but effective manner so as to reel in the listener very early. The song is patterned so that it allows the listener to get a quick

The leadoff single from the album, "Bag Lady," and her self-directed video clip have returned her to the No.1 position in sales and airplay in advance of the album release, serving notice that Erykah would not miss clearing the bar that she herself raised. Deeply spiritual and rhythmically banging, uplifting yet grounded, sensitive and sensual, it's one more example of the multi-faceted expression we value in her. To her fans, peers, and even to numerous of her own artistic idols, Badu is a new icon because her work has proven not merely entertaining, but empowering.

The first verse of the song says “Bag Lady, you gon hurt your back, dragin all them bags like that, I guess nobody told you how you must hold on to is you, is you.” This verse illustrates, as other verses throughout the song, that holding onto old feelings, thought patterns, pain, hurt, anger, and disappointment (all baggage) can traumatize a person every time they are triggered or recalled. The baggage can also manifest itself in our bodies and hinder our progress in every day life. These things run the gamut of causing chronic illnesses and diseases in our bodies, sometimes even becoming life threatening. Eventually, these heavy bags cause our bodies to deteriorate.

The tempo of the song is slow to mid tempo with an eerie, skipping beat. The instrumentation is simple yet complete. The overall story is told in the verses of the song. The story suggests that there is a better way. The different episodes of the story are told through verses with interesting resolve in the hook. The lyrics are very visual where the listener can see the picture that Erykah is trying to paint or feel the emotion she tries to convey. The visual imagery of the song addresses bags, not per say, but human

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