Tag: Break-up Songs

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 – #4: Marvin Gaye – When Did You Stop Loving Me…

marvingaye_image_1024w[1][Note: Originally posted on Feb 24, 2011. Updated with notes and new observations]

I first wrote about this song 8 years ago. I haven’t ported that post over to this platform yet, but to summarize:

  • Marvin Gaye had an affair with a 17-year old woman by name of Janis Hunter (his muse for the classic I Want You album).
  • Anna (his then wife) filed for divorce and Marvin was forced to pay a large sum of money.
  • Marvin was going through the nose candy like Tony Montana; as a result he can’t pay everything.
  • The lawyers negotiate an agreement that some of the payment would come from Marvin’s next album.

Continue reading “the “REAL” Best Break-Up Songs – #4: Marvin Gaye – When Did You Stop Loving Me…”

the “REAL” Best Break-Up Songs – #5: Isley Brothers – Let Me Down Easy

Harvest for The World[Note: Originally posted on Feb 11, 2011. Updated with notes and new observations]

In my old blog, I randomly posted “Here’s the best break-up song ever – Guy’s “Goodbye Love”.  My brother called b.s. immediately – and he was right. I love that song, but it’s not the best break-up song1. Heck, it’s not even in the top 5.

So that got me thinking – what are my favorite break-up songs? Break-up songs have made a resurgence as late – with Adele’s “Hello” smashing records left and right2.

So, here, in a very un-scientific method 3 are my top 5 break-ups songs. Number Five –  The Isley Brothers’ “Let Me Down Easy” (off 1976’s Harvest For The World). 

I love this song; it’s one of their most underrated tracks off of one of their most underrated albums. “Let Me Down Easy” first shows up in the intro track “Harvest For the World Prelude”, but doesn’t get its requisite shine until the second side (yes, I originally bought this LP on cassette, and always thinks of the songs from a Side A/Side B point of view). Chris Jasper crafts a great intro4 which seamlessly leads into Ron’s falsetto.

The Isley Brothers – Let Me Down Easy