The Light (Common song)

"The Light"
Single by Common
from the album Like Water for Chocolate
Released	July 18, 2000
Genre	Hip hop
Length	4:21
Label	MCA
Songwriter(s)	Lonnie Lynn James Yancey Bobby Caldwell Ramel Werner Norman Harris Bruce Malament
Producer(s)	Jay Dee
Common singles chronology
"Full Moon" (2000) "The Light" (2000) "Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I. (The Sound of Illadelph)" (2001)
Music video
"The Light" on YouTube
Audio sample
"The Light" file help

"The Light" is the second single from Common's 2000 album Like Water for Chocolate. It was produced by Jay Dee and features keyboards performed by James Poyser. It samples "Open Your Eyes" as performed by Bobby Caldwell and the drums from "You're Gettin' a Little Too Smart" by the Detroit Emeralds. Framed as a love letter, it is a confession of Common's love for a woman – specifically, his girlfriend at the time, Erykah Badu (in 2012, Common acknowledged in a video for RapGenius that the song was about her^[1]).

"The Light" is Common's first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 44.

In 2024, Common explained to Drink Champs that his "Digga-da, digga-da, digga-da, digga-digga-da-da" ad lib was a placeholder. He wasn't able to find anything else to fill it and left it in.^[2]