•
Rating:
Chaka Khan: an alluring, magnetic gaze. A contagious smile that conveys energy and a lust for life. A monumental stage presence. A superb, powerful, expressive voice, with a range of five octaves. Some say: the heir of Aretha Franklin. A life marked by excesses, drug and alcohol abuse, but also by civil commitment: from her youthful involvement with the Black Panthers, to adopting an African name, to more recently establishing a foundation in her name to help mothers in need and autistic children.
"What Cha' Gonna Do For Me", from 1981, is an intriguing mix of soul, R&B, funk, and disco music, produced by Arif Mardin, arranged and played by the best session musicians of those years. The arrangements hark back to the luxurious soul-funk of the late '70s, with an abundance of rhythm guitars, choruses, and sonic walls raised by the horn section (Michael and Randy Brecker, no less), uptempo beats in the hands of drummer Steve Ferrone, while on bass we find the talented Anthony Jackson. Notable guests like Hiram Bullock, and in the reinterpretation of the jazz classic "A Night In Tunisia" there's Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock, who delivers a fine synth solo. It's impossible to stay still in front of tracks like "I Know You, I Live You", "Fate", "Heed The Warning", which after just a few bars will seem as if you've known them forever.
No abysmal dives into the depths of the human soul, certainly not; but there are assured forty minutes of genuine fun, wholesome epidermal enjoyment, with Ms. Yvette Marie Stevens' voice frequently and willingly testing the tweeters of your speakers (the implacable rhythm section will take care of the woofers...), reaching truly incredible heights.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 What Cha' Gonna Do for Me (03:54)
All night and day
Just chippin' away
It's all in a day's work
Tryin' hard to defend
The time that I spend alone
The TIME that you lose
Exploiting the blues
Won't get the job done
As hard as it bites
I'm keepin' my sights on you
CHORUS:
What cha' gonna do for me
What cha' gonna do for me
What cha' gonna do for me
When the chips are down
In the cool of the night
When nothing seems right
The feeling can take you
Strange as it seems
You make your own dreams come true
If you try to conceal
The way that you feel
You're asking for trouble
Just as sure as I cry
I'm keeping my eye on you
CHORUS (2x)
You don't have to tell me
I'm to blame for this
'Cause what you hold against me
Is what I miss
03 I Know You, I Live You (04:29)
It's not difficult
For me to say I love you
It wouldn't be difficult
If you would say the same
And believe me when I tell you
That I know you very well
I know you like I know my name
I think that I have met you
Somewhere in my dreams
I may never have met you at all
And I know you must be thinking,
"What a silly girl"
I know your every thought and scheme
I wake up to the feeling each morning
I go to bed to it at night
I know you, I live you
CHORUS:
Like I feel a sun in the morning
Like I see the moon at night
I know you as if I've known you all my life
I know you, I live you
One day you'll realize
That we're not strangers
If you open up your eyes
You'll know me too
And see that we were
Meant to be together, my dear
And all the rest is up to you
BRIDGE
Like I feel a sun in the morning
Like I see the moon at night
I know you as if I've known you all my life
I know you, I know you
Like I feel a sun in the morning
Like I see the moon at night
I think I know you more than you know yourself
I know you, I live you
Know you, live you
Know you, live you
Know you
And without me you'd stumble
And without you I'd fall
Without each other we would not be at all
10 Fate (03:14)
When you walked into my lonely life tonight
I saw my destiny, I saw eternity tonight
And the moment I held you I knew it
What we do is decided before we do it
CHORUS:
Fate, this could only be
Fate, I never thought I'd believe in
Fate, now I understand
It's part of the plan
I was meant to be your woman
Time stood still, and we lost on words to say
And though the people stared, they seemed a million miles away
Oh we knew it was love we were feeling
We were destined to give it a whole new meaning
CHORUS
In my heart I feel I've loved you all my life
I was in the dark, but now I think I've seen the light
I rang like a bell with your laughter
Something tells me I'll love you forever and ever
BREAKDOWN:
Fate (this could only be)
It was fate (this could only be)
It's part of the plan
I was meant to be your woman
(It's part of the plan)
I'll love you forever and ever
Loading comments slowly
