Month: February 2016

the “REAL” Best Break-Up Songs – #1: Angela Bofill – I Try

[Note: This was originally posted on March 9, 2011. I’ve updated the post with new context and footnotes.]Angela BofilAngela Bofill recorded a number of great songs, but none stand the test of time like “I Try”. Recorded in 1979, “I Try” is the gold standard for R&B break-up songs. It’s is her signature song, from her best album (Angel of the Night).

Angela sang all that bitter teenage angst like as if she had a copyright on it.

Angie’s got a lot of heartbreak in her songs. “Song For a Rainy Day”, “Let Me Be The One”, and “Accept Me” are all about rejection and lost love. But those songs, while beautiful in their own way, can’t hold a candle to “I Try”.  Recorded in 1979, “I Try” is the gold standard for R&B break-up songs. It’s is her signature song, from her best album (Angel of the Night). It’s her magnum opus. Continue reading “the “REAL” Best Break-Up Songs – #1: Angela Bofill – I Try”

the “REAL” Best Break-Up Songs – #2: Stevie Wonder – Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)

[Note: Originally posted on March 2, 2011. Updated with new context and footnotes.]

I love this song. I absolutely, positively, emphatically love this song. It’s easily one of my top 5 favorite songs EVER.

syreeta05[1]

“Superwoman…” is a song in two parts. The first part is about “Mary”, who wants to leave and become a movie star; the second part (“Where Where You When I Needed You”) has Stevie wondering why his lady hasn’t returned yet1.

The truth behind the lyrics are such: The song is about Stevie’s relationship with Syreeta Wright (to whom he was married to for 18 months in the early 70s). Stevie produced much of Syreeta’s music, but she wanted to go off and do her own thing and Stevie wasn’t so into that (supposedly he can be a control freak in the studio). You hear this in the lyrics – “Mary wants to be a superwoman and try to boss the bull around.” Mary is really Rita (Syreeta’s early recording name) and Stevie is “The Bull” (Stevie is a Taurus; he named is production company Black Bull)2.

Continue reading “the “REAL” Best Break-Up Songs – #2: Stevie Wonder – Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)”

the “REAL” Best Break-Up Songs – #3: Bobby Womack – If You Think You’re Lonely Now

bobby-womack-071[1][Note: Originally published on Feb 28, 2011. Updated with footnotes]

Coming in at number three on my list is Bobby Womack’s “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” (from 1981’s The Poet). Unlike the other songs on this list, this ballad has balls (for lack of a better word). Bobby’s tired of his trifling, no-good, gold-digging woman, and walks out. No sad goodbyes, no regrets1.

“I’ll be looooong gone (and you’ll never find another man to treat you right)!”

Bobby Womack – If You Think You’re Lonely Now