Say My Name: Difference between revisions
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==About the song== |
==About the song== |
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"Say My Name" features Destiny's Child lead singer [[Beyoncé Knowles]]'s character calling her lover on the phone, and suspecting him of cheating. She asks him to "say her name". The young man hesitates, and the narrator believes it's because he doesn't want the girl he's cheating on her with to know who she is. Rodney Jerkins |
"Say My Name" features Destiny's Child lead singer [[Beyoncé Knowles]]'s character calling her lover on the phone, and suspecting him of cheating. She asks him to "say her name". The young man hesitates, and the narrator believes it's because he doesn't want the girl he's cheating on her with to know who she is. Rodney Jerkins supports the song's lyrics with a backing track that shifts back and forth in dynamics, steadily bringing different elements (syncopated, [[Timbaland]]-esque drum programming, synthesized strings, and [[1970s]]-style [[wah-wah]] [[guitar]] licks) in and out of the mix. To this day, LaTavia Roberson has backing track vocals during the leads, as an echo. It is also one of the first Destiny's Child recordings to feature all four members; Beyoncé on the melody with the others harmonizing on their respective notes. Many of the group's early recordings feature only Knowles or [[Kelly Rowland]] on lead vocals; from [[2001]] on, all members typically sung both leads and backgrounds on every song. |
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==Music Video== |
==Music Video== |
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Revision as of 00:07, 15 September 2006
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"Say My Name" is a number-one single by American R&B group Destiny's Child for the Columbia label, released in early 2000 (see 2000 in music). The single was the third of four singles from the group's 1999 album The Writing's on the Wall, and the most successful of the four.
"Say My Name" debuted at #83 on the Hot 100 on December 12, 1999 and reached its peak position thirteen weeks later, taking longer than any other Destiny's Child number one single to reach the summit. It went onto become the group's international breakthrough hit far exceeding the popularity of "No, No, No" which prior to this release was their only true international hit.
Produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and written by Jerkins, his brother Fred, LaShawn Daniels, and the members of Destiny's Child, "Say My Name" peaked at number-one on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks in the United States for three weeks in 2000, from March 11, 2000 to April 1. The song was also a number-one hit in Australia. In the United Kingdom it was at that point the group's biggest hit to date peaking at #3 and sold over 190,000 copies. "Say My Name" was the second Destiny's Child single to become a number-one hit in the United States, following the previous year's "Bills, Bills, Bills".
The song spent thirty two weeks on the Hot 100 and was one of the top ten best-selling CD-singles of the year in the US. It is actually the group's third biggest-selling single in their homeland after "No, No, No" and "Bills, Bills, Bills and was also their third gold RIAA certified single.
About the song
"Say My Name" features Destiny's Child lead singer Beyoncé Knowles's character calling her lover on the phone, and suspecting him of cheating. She asks him to "say her name". The young man hesitates, and the narrator believes it's because he doesn't want the girl he's cheating on her with to know who she is. Rodney Jerkins supports the song's lyrics with a backing track that shifts back and forth in dynamics, steadily bringing different elements (syncopated, Timbaland-esque drum programming, synthesized strings, and 1970s-style wah-wah guitar licks) in and out of the mix. To this day, LaTavia Roberson has backing track vocals during the leads, as an echo. It is also one of the first Destiny's Child recordings to feature all four members; Beyoncé on the melody with the others harmonizing on their respective notes. Many of the group's early recordings feature only Knowles or Kelly Rowland on lead vocals; from 2001 on, all members typically sung both leads and backgrounds on every song.
Music Video
When the "Say My Name" music video debuted on February 15, 2000, audiences were shocked to see the absence of Letoya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, who had been replaced by Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams. The video featured Franklin and Williams alongside Beyoncé Knowles and Kelly Rowland, and debuted on MTV and BET at the same time a press release announcing the lineup change was released.
The video featured the veteran and the rookie members along with two female dancers and one male dancer each in different colored rooms that were designed to look like living rooms in an apartment. Beyonce was featured in orange clothes to match her equally orange room. Kelly was in a blue room, newcomer Farrah was featured in a red room and Michelle was in a white room. The original video idea had more choreography in it but due to the abrupt group change the new girls were unable to dance in stiletto heels like their veteran counterparts. Instead the directors had the girls sit and stand in various postions around their rooms and pose with the beat of the song. After the first verse and the chorus the girls switched rooms but kept their respective color couches and clothes. Soon after the second verse during the "break down", Beyonce, Kelly, Michelle and Farrah all gathered in a garage-like room that was complete with cars and Destiny's Child in black leather pants and orange tops and all of the dancers, dressed in black, from the video. The dancers did a rotating dance which later became part of the live routine until their comeback in 2005. After this scene it was back to the colorful rooms in which the girls had now switched couches and continued the song until the end of the video where the final pose was back in the garage.
Lawsuit
Luckett and Roberson stated that didn't know they were out of the group until seeing the "Say My Name" video, and filed suit against Knowles, Rowland, and Destiny's Child manager Mathew Knowles for what they saw as a plot to ruin Luckett and Roberson's careers. By the end of the year, Luckett and Roberson decided to drop their former bandmates as co-defendants, but continued to pursue action against Mathew Knowles.
Remixes
Several remixes of "Say My Name" were issued alongside the original version. The two most notable alternate versions are a remix by Timbaland, which features different vocals and a guest appearance from Static of Playa; and the "Nitro Remix" (featuring Nitro and Chief, with production by Mista Maze), which uses the original vocals over a bass music-styled backing track.
There is also a cover version of "Say My Name" done by Australian indie rock band Sick Puppies. The song is featured in their independent 2002 EP Nothing Really Matters, played in a post grunge-nu metal style featuring turntable samples and heavy bass lines that have been compared to that of Flea. While the lyrics are essentially the same (except for a few personalised additions), the Puppies' melody was distorted to the minor version of the original. Towards the end of the song singer Shimon Moore repeatedly screams "Say My Name!" to have an electronic voice humorously reply "What? What name?" each time.
Awards
"Say My Name" won two Grammy Awards in 2001: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best R&B Song. The song's music video won the 2000 MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video. It also captured a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo ("Say My Name")along a BMI Pop award for most played song.
See also
References
- Mancini, Robert (March 24, 2000). "Destiny's Child Sued by Former Members". MTV.com.