Songfacts®:

• "A Long Walk" is about a date Jill Scott went on with a man she could connect with mentally and emotionally. His name is Lyzel Williams, and he became her husband in 2001, the year after the song was released.
  
  Unfortunately, their story didn't have a happy ending: They divorced in 2007. Scott's second marriage - to a businessman named Mike Dobson - also ended in divorce. "I definitely made some bad decisions based on the fact that I liked someone," Scott told People in 2026. "But trust me, even in that, I don't regret it at all. It got me here in this place and time in my life."
• This was the first song Scott ever recorded. The first take of her vocals is the one they used.
• DJ Jazzy Jeff, known for his work with The Fresh Prince (Will Smith), created the backing track and took Scott into the studio to record the song. He burned some copies of it and gave the CDs to people he knew in the music business, helping her land a deal with Hidden Beach Records. Two of Jeff's associates - Andre Harris and Vidal Davis (Dre & Vidal) are also listed as producers, with Harris and Scott credited as writers.
• Director Jessy Terrero shot the music video in the North Philadelphia neighborhood where Jill Scott grew up. The clip starts out in black-and-white and adds pops of color as Scott strolls through the area with her date. The label hated Scott's hair, which was shaved in the back, so Terrero added some distractions in post-production, including a pigeon flying by Scott's head. DJ Jazzy Jeff also makes a cameo appearance.
• "A Long Walk" was the breakout hit from Scott's debut album, Who Is Jill Scott?, released in 2000 when she was 28. Expressive singers like Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill paved the way for Scott, and she set the table for Alicia Keys, who released her debut album, Songs In A Minor, the following year.
  
  Scott wasn't able to duplicate the success of Who Is Jill Scott? but she maintained a solid fanbase and ventured into acting with roles in movies like Why Did I Get Married?, Get On Up and Outlaw Johnny Black; and with TV series like Girlfriends and Black Lightning.
• Scott continued to perform this song long after divorcing the guy she wrote it about. She says it reminds her of Philadelphia, which is how she draws the positive vibes when she sings it.