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Rick Suchow: Music

"let me be the one" handwritten lyrics for angela bofill...

(Rick Suchow)

Let_Me_Be_The_One__Angela_Bofill_.jpg

The genesis of this song is interesting. Keyboardist Alan Palanker laid down a complete instrumental track, chord changes but no melody, as he often did when we wrote together. From there Angela came up with the beautiful melody for the chorus, but no words. When it got to me, it needed words as well as a melody for the verses.

You can see my original handwritten lyric sheet if you click on the PDF file link at the bottom of this page. You'll notice my chorus had a few alternate possibilities for the line "You're everything I want" ("You're all that I could want", or "The only thing I want"). The sideways writing is the second verse, which I probably came up with before I wrote the first verse. You'll notice a word or two that I considered as alternates for the verse as well.lmbtocrop.jpg

I recorded the demo at home on my 4-track recorder, and Camille sang the vocals. We sent it back to Angela and she loved it! She recorded it and also used it as the title of her sixth album. The song was released as a single, and both the single and album landed on Billboard's R&B charts. "Let Me Be The One" was subsequently released on several greatest hits and compilation albums that Angela put out over the coming years, as well as a live version on her Live From Manila album.

Check it out:

Let Me Be the One handwritten lyrics