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Say It Right

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"Say It Right"
Song
B-side"What I Wanted"

"Say It Right" is a Grammy-nominated single released by Canadian singer Nelly Furtado. It was written by Nelly Furtado, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley and Nate "Danja" Hills for Furtado's third album, Loose (2006). It was co-produced by Timbaland and Danja and released as the album's third single in North America and Australia (see 2006 in music). The song served as the album's fourth single in Europe and Asia, and it was released digitally in the United Kingdom in March 2007. It was the album's fifth single in Latin America.

Background, style and subject matter

File:Say It Right MusicSheet.jpg
Say It Right Music Sheet

The process of creating the song began in the recording studio one morning at around 4:00 a.m., when Timbaland recommended that Furtado go home because she was tired. Furtado, who had heard that the band U2 wrote many of their songs in the studio control room, said "Really? I'll show you", put on her hoodie and began to "jam".[2] Nate Hills and Timbaland soon joined her, writing and producing as they went, and according to Furtado, this process intensified as she sang. The team used four microphones in the live room and moved them around during recording, about which Furtado said, "...when you listen to it—there's a lot of dimension. It kind of sounds like [Timbaland is] in another country".[2] Afterwards, they picked the best vocals and "perfected" them, before inserting "reverbs and weird alien sounds" onto them. "[W]e experimented a lot with depth and different sounds", Furtado said of the making of the song. "[It] affected my vocals a whole lot."[2] "Say It Right" is performed with a moderate techno groove and is written in F minor. It is set in common time; in 4/4 count. The chord progression is Fm–E♭–D♭–B♭m. Furtado's vocal range spans from Ab3 to F5.[3] Furtado has cited the "spooky, keyboard-driven pop sound" of the band Eurythmics, particularly their 1983 song "Here Comes the Rain Again", as an influence on "Say It Right" and other tracks on Loose. "I'm not 100 percent sure what ["Here Comes the Rain Again" is] about, but it always takes me away to another place, and I love it", she said.[4] The verses are similar to the chorus Jennifer Paige's "Crush".

In fact the song deals with mystic or transcendental experiences as she explains in an interview in 2007. "It is a kind of a magical song. It has a mystery to it, that I have not quite figured out. It has a haunting twist to it." [5] In other interviews she said that she does not really know what "Say It Right" is about, "but it captures the feeling I had when I wrote it, and it taps into this other sphere."[4] In an interview for The Sunday Times, it was mentioned that it is about her breakup with DJ Jasper Gahunia, the father of her daughter.[6]

The song is featured on the U.S. compilation album Now 24 and the UK compilation album Now 66. Bloc Party covered the song on Jo Whiley's radio show on April 11, 2007.[7] The song was played during the Miss Universe 2007 Introductory Ceremony,[8] the 2006 American Music Awards,[9] and Concert for Diana.[10]

Dummies, Friscia & Lamboy, Menage Music and Peter Rauhofer produced dance remixes of "Say It Right". Juan Martinez of Universal Music Group, the A&R person who enlisted the producers of the remixes for each single from Loose, said that the "Say It Right" remixes had received "the strongest reaction".[11]

Critical reception

Billboard magazine called the song "a Pussycat Dolls-inspired contempo jam, high on hooks and of-the-moment production. Well done, if in the most generic sense."[12] About.com's Bill Lamb gave the song 4/5 stars, saying that with "Say It Right", "many pop music fans are likely to take a second look at purchasing [Loose]". He described the song as "the foundation of Loose" and "a welcomed presence in the pop top 40".[9] IGN Music calls the song "...one of the brightest moments on the album" and "another throwback to the '80s" which "...lets loose with the most hypnotic chorus".[13] All Music Guide's Stephen Thomas Erlewine considered the song "a dark meditative piece that would have fit on [Furtado's] previous records".[14]

The song received a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, losing to Amy Winehouse's "Rehab".[15]

Music video

File:SayItRight-Video.png
Nelly Furtado in the music video

The music video for "Say It Right" was directed by British duo Rankin & Chris and filmed in Los Angeles, California in late October 2006.[16] It was shot back-to-back with the video for "All Good Things (Come to an End)", the album's third single in Europe.[17] Furtado called the video her "first action thing" since the video for her 2000 single, "I'm like a Bird", and said that it featured her experiencing what she called "a total rock-star moment. It's so iconic."[17] The mini-feathered cocktail dress Furtado wears at the opening of the video was designed specifically for her by Australian designer Alex Perry, who said, "It's so cool because she's just undergone a bit of a revamp from what her previous image was; she's become a little more sexy and glamorous."[18]

The clip starts with a helicopter landing on a black helipad bearing Furtado's name on top of a building, and Furtado getting out. She is shown on the roof of the building throughout the video, with the Los Angeles skyline in the background. The video features mostly face shots of her and Timbaland intercut with shots of dancers. Furtado described the clip as "a throwback to the '80s ... the more surreal side" because the shots of her and Timbaland reminded her much of those of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart in videos for Eurythmics' singles, and "the strange relationship [they] had, where ... you get this intense vibe from it. And Tim and me, we're partners, we vibe on a serious creative level, so the video captures that energy."[17] The video ends with Furtado climbing back into the helicopter, which flies off.

The video debuted on MTV's Total Request Live in the U.S. on November 6 and on Canada's MuchMusic in the week ending November 16. It reached number nine on the Total Request Live top ten video countdown on November 8, its first day on the countdown;[19] it returned to the countdown on December 14 and peaked at number one twice.[20] The video reached number one on the MuchMusic series Countdown for the week ending February 16.[21] The "Say It Right" video was retired from TRL after spending forty days on the countdown.[22] At the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, Furtado was nominated in the category of Female Artist of the Year for "Say It Right" and "Maneater".[23] "Say It Right" was nominated for the MuchMoreMusic Award and in the Best International Video by a Canadian category at the 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards.[24] MTV International certified the "Say It Right" video platinum for more than 6,000 plays on the MTV network.[25][26]

On the video-sharing website YouTube, it is the 32nd most watched music videos of all time having over 25 million views and it was also Furtado's most watched video[27].

Chart performance

In the United States, the song was made available for airplay at mainstream contemporary hit radio stations on October 30 2006.[1] Geffen Records withdrew from radio the second single from Loose, "Maneater", before promoting "Say It Right".[12] The song debuted on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number twenty-two in the issue dated November 18.[28] It entered the Billboard Hot 100 in late-November at number ninety-three, and it reached number one in its fourteenth week, becoming Furtado's second number-one single after "Promiscuous" (2006).[29][30][31][32][33] The song stayed at number one for one week, in the top ten for fourteen weeks and on the Hot 100 for thirty weeks.[30] "Say It Right" contributed to sales of the album Loose, and was credited as being responsible for its return to the top ten on the U.S. Billboard 200.[34] According to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, "Say It Right" was the second most-played song on U.S. radio in 2007 with 364,000 plays through December 2,[35] and it was at number four on R&R magazine's 2007 year-end all-format top 100 songs list.[36] On the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart, it was ranked ninth.[37] The RIAA certified "Say It Right" platinum in December 2007.

"Say It Right" peaked at number one for ten weeks on the Canadian BDS Airplay Chart, which it entered in early December,[38] becoming Furtado's second Canadian number-one single.[39] According to BDS, it was the fourth most-played song of 2007 on Canadian radio, amassing around 36,900 detections.[40] The song charted on the BDS Airplay Chart for sixty-two weeks[38]. In April 2007, it became Furtado's second number-one single on the Canadian Dance Chart.[41] "Say It Right" peaked at number two for three consecutive weeks on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart,[30] giving Loose a "second wind" on the albums chart, according to the Herald Sun;[42] ARIA accredited it as a platinum single.[43]

In the United Kingdom, "Say It Right" was issued as a digital download without the accompaniment of a physical release. Music Week wrote that the concurrent download-only releases of "Say It Right" and Pink's "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)" "[suggest] a trend of singles far into an album campaign being released digital-only", noting that "Say It Right" was the fourth single from Loose and Pink's single was the fifth from its parent album.[44] According to Universal Music Group commercial director Brian Rose, "Say It Right" was not released as a physical single because it was the fourth single from Loose and there was not high demand from retailers for a physical release, but both parties were aiming for album sales.[44] The single reached number ten on the UK Singles Chart in March 2007,[45] and by doing so, it broke the record for the highest chart placing for a download-only single, after chart regulations were changed to allow songs not accompanied by a physical format to chart.[44] The popularity of "Say It Right" contributed to sales of Loose in the UK, according to Music Week, helping the album reach its highest chart position since its first week of release.[46] The song was the twenty-ninth best-selling single of 2007 in the UK.[47]

In France, the song debuted at number one,[30] and in Germany, it debuted at number two, where it stayed for nine non-consecutive weeks, behind DJ Ötzi and Nik P.'s Ein Stern (…der deinen Namen trägt) which topped the German chart for sevral months.[30] It became the fifth most successful song of 2007 in Germany.[48] In Russia, it peaked at number six on Russian Airplay Chart and have 394,714 total plays[49]. It was the most successful single of 2007 in the European Hit Radio.[50]

"Say It Right" is Nelly Furtado's most successful song in Australia,[51] Austria,[52], Romania[53], Russia[54], Switzerland[55] and Sweden[56]. It is Furtado's second most successful single in Norway, the Netherlands, France (after "All Good Things (Come to an End)").[57][58][59], New Zealand (after "Turn Off the Light")[60], and United States (after "Promiscuous") [61].

In Spain, the song reached number one in March 2008, staying there for two weeks. The song became Furtado's third number-one single there, after Te Busque and All Good Things (Come to an End)[62].

On Media Traffic's United World Chart, "Say It Right" debuted at number twenty-four in late December and reached number two.[30] It stayed on the chart for forty-three weeks, twenty-nine of which were in the top ten,[30] and was the second most successful single of 2007, behind Rihanna's "Umbrella".[63] According to Media Traffic statistics, "Say It Right" is the fourteenth most successful song on the United World Chart in the period 1999–2008.[64]

Credits

Formats and track listings

Charts

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