Top 100 Soul/R&B Songs

#16: Soul II Soul 'Back to Life'

ill Mami  |  08/08/2008 at 5:55 PM  |  Comments (8)

The most interesting thing to me about Soul II Soul's "Back To Life" is the fact that it is actually a sort of a sad love song. If the lyrics, sung so heartily and perfectly by Caron Wheeler, had been set to a track with a slower tempo, the song would have the same feel as say "Don't Make Me Over" by Dionne Warwick. Because in "Back To Life," Caron is singing about how she wishes she could just get one clue as to whether that special someone she is feeling is feeling her back. Such lyrics as "Let's end this foolish game/ Hear me out/ Don't let me waste away/ Make up your mind/ So I know where I stand" sound sort of sad and longing, no? Thank goodness Jazzy B had the foresight to know that often the best dance tracks have an element of melancholy to them (case in point: Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive"), and released this jam to an unsuspecting public in the Summer of 1989. This song still can get a party into an absolute frenzy by the time Caron has finished singing the bridge. And if the acapella is playing? Forget it. How fitting is it that this Top 100 entry has found its way to end a week and set off yet another summer weekend? It seems just as apropos as now as it was 19 years ago. 

Tags: caron wheeler, dionne warwick, gloria gaynor, jazzy b, soul II soul