Otis Redding- “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”

I mentioned the Sound Opinions podcast a few days ago, and I’m so grateful to them for reminding me of this romantic Otis Redding smash, which doubles as one of the best title bait-and-switches ever. Anyone who looks at the title without hearing the song assumes that it’s a bitter screed of a love gone hurtful and tiresome. The postscript, however, is that Redding has “been loving you too long…to stop now.” If only he had parentheses like Oasis.

The song is about the moment in any adult relationship when both parties have to make a choice. Either cut your losses and acknowledge that things shouldn’t go further, or jump in. Redding’s speaker, under a delicate but confident bed of piano, bass, and guitar, tries to persuade his lover to join him in the deep end, and his voice reveals an astonishing range. At the beginning of the song, it’s a fragile whisper—almost as much to himself as to the woman—that has a tendency to trail off. But as the theme of the song grows more intense, so does his voice until it booms and pleads over warm strings. Like an opera singer, Otis Redding sang from his chest, and he isn’t capable of a false note in this song.

If you listen to this and then watch an episode of American Idol right after, it’ll be pretty depressing. As much as I don’t want to admit it, sometimes I believe we lost a step.