Top 100 Soul/R&B Songs
#9: Meshell Ndegeocello 'Outside Your Door'
"Outside Your Door" by Meshell Ndegeocello has had a long and storied history. While we were all grooving and loving and wishing for a rainy night to play this with our lovers, it is alleged that Brian McKnight lifted the tune without permission for his hit "Anytime." Ouch. We won't dwell on that here. What we can dwell on is how deftly Meshell was able to capture an all-consuming, yet creepy crush on someone for whom the love is unrequited. While the debut album that this song is from, Plantation Lullabies, remains an underground classic, "Outside Your Door" seemed to come from nowhere regarding its popularity on the Quiet Storm circuit. Its beautiful, haunting, yearning melody is lovely in its simplicity, and her tale of waiting for a would-be lover's return home resonates on so many levels. Especially for those of us who thought we would die if our sentiments of love were not returned with all the reciprocity we felt we deserved. It somewhat borders on being a bit Sade-esque in its indelible sadness. Yet, we still honor this song here because it continues to bring us back to the place when we first heard it over and over again.Meshell Ndegeocello: "Outside Your Door"
Live performance of this song after the bounce.
Tags: audio, brian mcknight, meshell ndegeocello, sade
Comments
Wow! I never seen Erykah Badu without her wig or head wrap:)
stoneyisland | August 22, 2008 1:05 AM | PermalinkMan, I love Brian McKnight's music and Meshell's soul piercing flow. . .*sigh* Say it ain't so, B.
Fave | August 20, 2008 11:36 PM | PermalinkShe's brilliant all the time. Just love her.
sdg1844 | August 20, 2008 9:01 PM | PermalinkWow... Mcknight is my second fav singer after Stevland and I know the chords are similar to Christopher Cross's song , "Sailing"...Were they both stold from.. but the similarity to Anytime is to shocking..
Yep he ripped old girl off
Mutada al sader the king | August 20, 2008 5:23 PM | PermalinkMeshell what can I say about her that;s not been said before. She's a musical genius and yes quite slept on. I remember seeing her online doing an interview. She was saying how disenchanted she was with the music industry.
She's the female version of Prince :-)
Gee | August 20, 2008 2:32 PM | PermalinkPeople need to stop sleeping on Meshell. She is the truth.
Amn.eris | August 20, 2008 1:54 PM | Permalinkomg... 'outside your door' is just... perfect. i can't put it any better than that. i remember seeing her on arsenio hall, performing this song... and she slowed it down just a hair and i swear... my hair stood up... and i'm bald. classic.
marques | August 20, 2008 1:41 PM | PermalinkYyyyyyyyyyezzir! This was a sleeper off Plantation Lullabyes. Had this one on my "hope tape". ;-)
Kristasphere | August 20, 2008 12:15 PM | PermalinkLooking at the comments I don't know why I thought I would be the only one with this on my list. Apparently by it's placement pretty much all of us had this one. LOVE. THIS. SONG. How could anyone not let her in after hearing this?
I'm just mad the one and only time I've seen her it turned into a debaucle which she had to write a whole blog post about. Lawdhamercy.
Vivrant Thang | August 20, 2008 11:30 AM | PermalinkMe'shell is the absolute truth. I've seen her three times in concert and she's been nothing less than excellent each time. I actually discovered her through Black Beat magazine back in the day. I guess they were good for something...LOL!!!
Mike | August 20, 2008 10:57 AM | PermalinkWow! I hadn't heard that in a minute. Me'Shell is definitely underrated as so many good artists are.......
DLS77 | August 20, 2008 10:31 AM | PermalinkFANTASTIC choice!
Its great that you havn't gone with the obvious choices (I can't think of another blog that would even think to include Meshell in their top 10 - not through lack of talent but either lack of awareness or 'playing safe').
I admit i'm a relative newcomer to Meshell's music (only really listening to it for past 12 months or so), but even now her debut and earlier albums sound like something fresh and new.
INCREDIBLE ARTIST, INCREDIBLE SONG
Soul UK | August 20, 2008 4:53 AM | PermalinkProps for including this joint. Meshell doesn't get enough play in the blogosphere.
Coltrane Jenkins | August 20, 2008 12:17 AM | PermalinkYes! This is my one of my favorite songs by Meshell. It's a damn shame Brian McKnight pretty much lifted this song as his own for "I Miss You".
Nikki | August 19, 2008 11:15 PM | PermalinkYes, I love Me'Shell and love you guys for recognizing her talent. This song is great. Personally, no other song does it for me the way "Mary Magdalene" does.
tanya | August 19, 2008 9:42 PM | Permalinkso i just found out about your blog after voting in the black weblog awards but i really enjoy this top 100 countdown. Keep it up!
arieswym | August 19, 2008 9:09 PM | Permalinky'all makin' bold moves with the countdown, i love that.
dar | August 19, 2008 8:58 PM | PermalinkYEEEESSS! DOpe track. This and "soul searchin" from the higher learning sdtk are 2 of my favorite meshell joints
kev | August 19, 2008 8:56 PM | PermalinkLove. her.
Saw her perform at Joe's Pub when I lived in NYC (sigh), and she was fantastic.
WriteBlack | August 19, 2008 8:51 PM | PermalinkExactly the reason why I enjoy this countdown.
j | August 19, 2008 8:39 PM | Permalink