Say It to Me

Writers - Tennant/Lowe/Price
First released - 2016
Original album - Super
Producer - Stuart Price
Subsequent albums - Smash
Other releases - single (US Dance #4; didn't appear on the overall UK singles chart but hit #1 for UK physical sales)

A heartfelt plea for forthrightness disguised as a heavy-duty dance track. If "The Pop Kids" can be described (and I did) as "house lite," then "Say It to Me" ratchets up the house factor exponentially, raising it at least several degrees of power. This is hard house, baby, albeit with a decidedly techno edge.

The song's opening couplet sets the stage for our little domestic drama:

My predicament is simply this:
You're an enigma even when you kiss

Have you ever been in a relationship with someone who seems to assume that you should simply know—whether by telepathy, osmosis, or some other faculty that grants you access to their inner workings—what they’re thinking and feeling without them actually having to come right out and tell you? They believe (whether they come right and say it), “If you really loved me, then you’d know.” This song takes issue with precisely this kind of attitude. “What do you want from me?” Neil sings. “Just tell me now.” He has little if any trepidation about what he might hear. “Tell me what you want from me. I can give you all you need.” In other words, he’s not the least bit worried that he might not be able to meet his lover’s expectations, at least as long as he knows what those expectations are. His only fear is not knowing in the first place; hence the request expressed by the title itself.

Producer Stuart Price received a co-writing credit (his only on the album) because he had encouraged Neil and Chris to write additional words and music for it and because they felt he had worked unusually long and hard on getting it into good shape for release.

"Say It to Me" became the third single from Super, released as such on September 16, 2016.

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

Mixer: Stuart Price
- Album version (3:07)
- New Radio Edit (3:07)
  - Available only on a promo CD.
- New Radio Mix (3:11)
  - Available on the CD single and as a digital release.
    - Reportedly the three versions listed above are nearly identical, the only noticeable differences apparently being some slight variations in the balance and relative volume levels among the instrumental and vocal tracks (for one thing, the percussion sounds a little louder in the New Radio Mix). It also sounds as though a new synth line may have been added to the mix toward the end. (Or perhaps it was there all along, only it's boosted in the single to become much more pronounced.)
- Stuart Price Alternative Mix (3:34)
Mixer: Real Lies
- Real Lies Remix (5:00)
Mixer: Tom Demac
- Tom Demac Remix (7:23)
Mixer: Offer Nissim
- Offer Nissim Remix (5:00)

Official but unreleased

Mixer: Myke Rossi (for Citrusonic Promotion)
- Myke Rossi Remix (5:53)
- Myke Rossi Dub (5:53)
Mixer: Moodyboy (for Citrusonic Promotion)
- Moodyboy Remix (7:05)
Mixer: Cristian Poow (for Citrusonic Promotion)
- Cristian Poow Vocal Remix (6:16)
- Cristian Poow Dub Mix (6:15)
Mixer: Offer Nissim
- Offer Nissim Remix Without Drop (3:37)
Mixer: C-Rod (Chris Rodriguez)
- Electro Tech C-Rod Mix (6:19)
Mixer: John Keenan and Sweet Feet Music
- JCK & Sweet Feet Music Mix (6:14)

List cross-references

All text on this website aside from direct quotations (such as of lyrics and of other nonoriginal content) is copyright © 2001-2023 by Wayne Studer. All Rights Reserved. All lyrics and images are copyright © their respective dates by their respective owners. Brief quotations and small, low-resolution images are used for identification and critical commentary, thereby constituting Fair Use under U.S. copyright law. Billboard chart data are copyright © their respective dates by Nielsen Business Media, Inc.