Say You, Say Me.....Say What???

Say You, Say Me by Lionel Ritchie

The mid 1980's belonged to Lionel Ritchie. #1 albums, #1 singles, many grammy awards. But what was going on with this song? Lionel was famous for incredible lyrics but it sounds like he phoned this one in. Lets examine the evidence.....

   [Chorus]

    Say you, say me
    Say it for always, that's the way it should be
    Say you, say me
    Say it together, naturally

 

(seems ok...little vague but not too odd)

    I had a dream,
    I had an awesome dream
    People in the park
    Playing games in the dark
    And what they played
    Was a masquerade
    And from behind the walls of doubt
    A voice was crying out

 

(ok...what the heck? He had an "awesome" dream? Me thinks someone found some old lyrics from a much earlier song writing session....in the trash)

[Chorus]

    As we go down
    Life's lonesome highway
    Seems the hardest thing to do
    Is to find a friend or two
    That helping hand
    Someone who understands
    That when you feel you lost your way
    You've got someone there to say,
    I'll show you

 

(now this seems more like the Lionel we know and love....a little sappy but closer to his usual quality)

[Chorus]

    So you think you know the answers, oh no
    Well the whole world's got you dancing
    That's right, I'm telling you
    It's time to start believing, oh yes
    Believing who you are, you are a shining star

 

(ok, ok, ok....stop the crazy train.....what the serious hell?? Its like he recorded this for an entirely different song and just slapped it in here to finish this mess off....this is not the makings of a hit song)

[Chorus]

    Say it together, naturally 

 

Ok, so we can see that there is a huge mess here....but this song went to #1 on the US charts and the R&B charts. It was the used in the film White Knights and it earned an Oscar for Best Original Song .....So apparently I have no idea what constitutes a "good song", or at least what makes a song not sound like a 4 minute mess.

Please enjoy