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Say Say Say

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This article is about the song. For the manhwa by Hwang Mi-ri, see Say Say Say (Manhwa).
"Say Say Say"
Song
B-side"Ode to a Koala Bear"

"Say Say Say" is a song by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. The track was written by the duo and produced by George Martin for McCartney's fifth solo album, Pipes of Peace (1983). The song was the pair's second duet after "The Girl Is Mine" from Jackson's Thriller (1982). It had been recorded a year before "The Girl Is Mine", at the same time as McCartney's 1982 Tug of War album. Upon its release in October 1983, "Say Say Say" became Jackson's seventh top ten hit in a year. It was a number one hit in the United States and reached number two in the United Kingdom. Also number one in Norway and Sweden, the single peaked within the top ten in Australia, Austria, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, the song was promoted with a music video directed by Bob Giraldi. The video, filmed in Santa Ynez Valley, California, featured cameo appearances by Linda McCartney and La Toya Jackson. The short film centers around two con artists, "Mac and Jack", and is credited for the introduction of dialogue and storyline to music videos. After its debut, the video was considered too violent for broadcast by the National Coalition on Television Violence.

Background, production and music

Prior to the release of "Say Say Say", McCartney had collaborated with Jackson on "The Girl Is Mine" for the latter's Thriller album. In return, Jackson agreed to work with him on "Say Say Say" for McCartney's Pipes of Peace.[1] Journalist Geoffrey Giuliano writes that McCartney stated that the song was written by he and Jackson on the top floor of the musicians' London office. The older singer said, "I just grabbed a guitar and 'Say Say Say' came out of it. [Michael] helped with a lot of the words on that actually."[2] McCartney biographer Ray Coleman asserts that the majority of the song's lyrics were written by Jackson, who returned his work to McCartney the next day.[3]

"Say Say Say" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios between May and September 1981. At this time, Tug of War, McCartney's first solo album after the disbandment of his group Wings, was also being recorded by the former Beatle.[4][5] Jackson stayed at the home of McCartney and his wife Linda during the recording sessions, and became friends with both.[6] While at the dining table one evening, Paul McCartney brought out a booklet that displayed all of the songs to which he owned the publishing rights. "This is the way to make big money", the musician informed Jackson. "Every time someone records one of these songs, I get paid. Every time someone plays these songs on the radio, or in live performances, I get paid." McCartney's words later influenced Jackson's purchase of the Northern Songs music catalogue in 1985.[6]

"Say Say Say"
"Say Say Say" is a pop song recorded by singer-songwriters Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, and it is played in a B♭ minor key.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The recording of "Say Say Say" was completed in February 1983, after it had been refined and overdubbed at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California. George Martin, who had worked with The Beatles, produced the song. He said of his experience with Jackson, "He actually does radiate an aura when he comes into the studio, there's no question about it. He's not a musician in the sense that Paul is [...] but he does know what he wants in music and he has very firm ideas."[3][4] McCartney later stated that he had a lot of fun working with Jackson, though added that the experience did not compare to collaborating with John Lennon.[2]

"Say Say Say" is cited as being a pop song. It is set in the time signature of common time with a dance beat tempo of 116 beats per minute.[7] The song is played in a B♭ minor key.[7] "Say Say Say" is sung in a vocal range from F4 to Bb5.[7] The lyrics to "Say Say Say" pertain to an attempt to win back a girl's affection, which has contributed to the track being viewed as a "pleading kind of love song" by the Deseret News.[8]

Release and reception

Following the release of Thriller and the singles that accompanied it, "Say Say Say" was released on October 3, 1983.[9][10][11] It remained atop Billboard's Hot 100 for six weeks and became Jackson's seventh top ten hit in a year, which broke a record that had previously been jointly held by The Beatles and Elvis Presley.[12][13][14] "Say Say Say" reached number two on the R&B chart and number three on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.[15] The song had initially peaked at number ten in the UK and was slowly dropping in the charts. An interview was subsequently held with McCartney, who discussed the song's music video. Screenings of the video on Top of the Pops (who only played singles that were rising in the charts and uniquely played this as it was falling), The Tube and Noel Edmonds' The Late, Late Breakfast Show helped propel the song back up to number two on the UK Singles Chart.[16] "Say Say Say" reached number one in Norway and Sweden, and the single was also within the top ten of Austria, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Switzerland.[16][17] The single was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of at least one million units.[18]

"Say Say Say" received mixed reviews from music critics. The song was named as having the worst lyrics of 1983 by Anthony Violanti of The Buffalo News.[19] The Lexington Herald-Leader stated in a review of Pipes of Peace that aside from "Say Say Say" and "The Man", "McCartney waste[d] the rest of the album on bathos and whimsy".[20] Los Angeles Times' Paul Grein also reviewed the McCartney album and wrote that the singer had redeemed himself with the success of the "spunky" song "but plunged back into wimpdom with 'No More Lonely Nights'".[21] Journalist Whitney Pastorek compared the song to McCartney's 1982 duet with Stevie Wonder, "Ebony and Ivory". She asserted that "Say Say Say" was a better song and had a better, "though slightly more nonsensical", music video. She added that the song had no "heavy-handed social content".[22] The Daily Collegian of Penn State described the track as a good song, despite the ad nauseam broadcasts of it.[23]

Key Moment: A true Falsetto fantasy, it's still thrilling to hear the sweet-voiced due trade harmonies on the chorus.

A writer for Vibe magazine, 2007[24]

The Deseret News stated that the "pleading love song" had a "masterful, catchy hook".[8] In a Rolling Stone review, the track was described as an "amiable though vapid dance groove". The reviewer, Parke Puterbaugh, added that it was a "instantly hit-bound froth-funk that tends, after all, toward banality".[25] Music critic Nelson George stated that "Say Say Say" would not have "deserved the airplay it received without Michael Jackson".[26] Salon.com later described the song as a "sappy duet". They concluded that McCartney had become a "wimpy old fart".[27] Billboard ranked the song as the third top song of the year in their list of top tracks for 1984.[28] The magazine Vibe listed "Say Say Say" as the 22nd greatest duet of all time in a 2007 article.[24] In 2006, Dutch musicians Hi Tack sampled "Say Say Say" on their debut single, "Say Say Say (Waiting 4 U)". The song featured Jackson's vocals from the original recording.[29]

Music video

The music video for "Say Say Say" was directed by Bob Giraldi, who had previously directed Michael Jackson's "Beat It". The McCartney-Jackson collaboration featured cameo appearances by the former's wife, Linda, and the latter's older sister, La Toya.[30][31] It was filmed in Santa Ynez Valley, California, where Paul McCartney had to fly out to Michael Jackson as the younger singer's schedule was busy.[32] The video cost the singers $500,000 to make.[16] In the short film, the duo play "Mac and Jack", a pair of conmen who sell a "miracle potion". The salesman (McCartney) offers Jackson the potion, and claims that it is "guaranteed to give you the strength of a raging bull". Jackson drinks the potion and challenges a large man, who along with Linda is also in on the scam, to arm wrestle. After Jackson wins the rigged contest, a crowds of people surge forward and buy the potion. Mac and Jack then donate all of the money earned from the scam to an orphanage.[32] Later, while in a hotel, Jackson enters the bathroom as McCartney shaves. The latter playfully dabs shaving foam on Jackson's cheek, despite the fact that the younger man does not need a shave. After this scene, McCartney and Jackson star as vaudeville performers who sing and dance at a bar.[33] On stage, the duo appear in clown makeup at one point and quickly go through a number of costume changes.[34] Jackson's love interest, with whom he flirts, was played by his sister La Toya.[35] The video ends with Paul, Linda and Michael as drive they off into the sunset. La Toya, who was handed a bunch of flowers by McCartney, is left at the roadside.[33]

Director Giraldi said of Jackson and McCartney, "Michael didn't outdance Paul, and Paul didn't outsing Michael", but added that production of the video was hard work because "the egos could fill a room".[36] The video introduced both dialogue and storyline, an element extended upon in Michael Jackson's Thriller.[37] Upon its debut, the National Coalition of Television Violence classified the music video as too violent to be aired. They also classified Thriller and more than half of the 200 videos surveyed from MTV as being overly violent.[38] In a list compiled by Billboard at the end of 1984, the music video was named the fourth best of the year, and the rest of the top four were also short films by Jackson.[39] The Manchester Evening News later described the "Say Say Say" video as an "anarchic caper" that "plays out like an Emir Kusturica feature".[40] PopMatters stated that the music videos of "Say Say Say" and "Goodnight Tonight" turned "a pair of otherwise forgettable songs into something worth watching".[41] Steven Greenlee of The Boston Globe reflected that the video was both "horrifying and compelling", and stated the ridiculousness of a potion which could aid Jackson in beating somebody at arm wrestling. He added, "It's even harder to believe that the two of them didn't get the pulp beaten out of them in that bar for dressing like a pair of Chess King employees".[42] The "Say Say Say" video was later included on the DVD The McCartney Years.[43]

Personnel

Charts

References

  1. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & William Ruhlmann. "Paul McCartney biography". MTV. Retrieved on March 3, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Giuliano, p. 265
  3. ^ a b Coleman, p. 129
  4. ^ a b Grant, p. 268
  5. ^ Andersen, p. 99
  6. ^ a b Taraborrelli, p. 333
  7. ^ a b c "Say Say Say - Paul McCartney Digital Sheet Music (Digital Download)". MusicNotes.com. Alfred Publishing Co. Inc. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
  8. ^ a b "McCartney, Jackson together again". Deseret News. (November 18, 1993). Retrieved March 7, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Grant, p. 68
  10. ^ Harry, p. 171
  11. ^ Hill, p. 381
  12. ^ Everett, p. 282
  13. ^ Campbell, p. 68
  14. ^ Lewis, p. 6
  15. ^ a b c d George, p. 39
  16. ^ a b c Barrow, p. 92
  17. ^ a b "Austrian Singles Chart Archives". austriancharts.at. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  18. ^ "RIAA database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 30, 2009. (To search the database for "Say Say Say", type "Paul McCartney" or "Michael Jackson" into the Artist field and "Say Say Say" into the Title field.)
  19. ^ Violanti, Anthony (August 18, 1996). "Schlock: An Unusually Confused and Nasal Dylan". The Buffalo News. Retrieved on March 19, 2009.
  20. ^ "Paul McCartney's New Album Is Just 'Embarrassing Fluff'". Lexington Herald-Leader. (January 15, 1983). Retrieved on March 19, 2009.
  21. ^ Grein, Paul (January 3, 1988). "Hits That Hurt In Some Cases, That Top 10 Smash Can Smash an Artist's Image". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on March 19, 2009.
  22. ^ Pastorek, Whitney (May 3, 2007). "This Week in '82". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 19, 2009.
  23. ^ Yeany, Ron (November 22, 1990). "McCartney and Simon". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved March 2, 2009.
  24. ^ a b Caramanica, Jon (February 2007). The 50 greatest duets of all time. Vibe. Retrieved February 11, 2010. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ Puterbaugh, Parke (January 19, 1984). "Pipes of Peace review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 7, 2009.
  26. ^ George, Nelson (December 22, 1984). Black '84. Retrieved February 11, 2010. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  27. ^ Garcia, Gilbert (Jan 27, 2003). "The ballad of Paul and Yoko". Salon.com. Retrieved March 7, 2009.
  28. ^ Campbell, p. 65
  29. ^ Upfront. Billboard. (January 7, 2006). Retrieved February 24, 2010. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ Grant, p. 270
  31. ^ "Linda McCartney Dies Of Cancer". MTV. (April 20, 1998). Retrieved March 8, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ a b Campbell, p. 69
  33. ^ a b Curtis, p. 323
  34. ^ Lhamon, p. 219
  35. ^ Morris, Davina (August 24, 2008). "Happy birthday MJ". The Voice. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  36. ^ Garcia, Guy (November 18, 1983). "People: Nov. 14, 1983". Time. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  37. ^ Sklar, Ron (November 23, 1990). "Thriller video". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  38. ^ Day, Patrick (February 12, 2008). "25 'Thriller' facts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  39. ^ Campbell, p. 105
  40. ^ Gilliver, Stephen (November 20, 2007). "DVD review: Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (Warner)". The Manchester Evening News. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  41. ^ Lawson, Terry (November 20, 2007). "Old rockers go on a DVD roll". PopMatters. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  42. ^ Greenlee, Steven. "Back when MTV had videos". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  43. ^ Paul McCartney The McCartney Years DVD
  44. ^ "Australian Chart Archive 1983". australian-charts.com. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
  45. ^ "Dutch Singles Chart Archives". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  46. ^ "New Zealand Singles Chart Archives". charts.org.nz. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  47. ^ "Norwegian Singles Chart Archives". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  48. ^ "Swedish Singles Chart Archives". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  49. ^ "Swiss Singles Chart Archives". hitparade.ch. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
Bibliography
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