Put Your Hands Together for Sally

I go through these music phases from time to time and right now I'm in a Sade phase. I realized this weekend that I don't have Sade's debut album Diamond Life in my CD collection. I used to have the album back in the day, but I never upgraded to CD for that one. My mistake! Thankfully, I was able to get a copy from one of the local libraries. I'd been listening to Sade songs via You Tube and came across a song from Diamond Life called "Sally" that I'd totally forgotten about. That led me to revisit the New York Magazine article where a writer listed Sade's songs in order of greatness and, lo and behold, poor "Sally" is listed at the bottom along with "Cherry Pie" and "Maureen." Say what now?? The writer clearly has an issue with the songs on Diamond Life that weren't big hits like "Hang On to Your Love." (I've complained about this list before but I felt the need to complain about it again because it annoys me.) I understand musical taste is subjective, but to rank great Sade songs like "Sally" and "Cherry Pie" at the bottom of the barrel while putting overplayed songs like "The Sweetest Taboo" and "Paradise" in the top ten just shows that the writer doesn't truly get Sade. The writer isn't a true fan but merely a poseur. (Sorry, but it had to be said.)

But back to "Sally." Yes, it's a little preachy, but it's also largely great. The chorus alone (complete with the accompanying saxophone part) is amazing. Sade doesn't have to tell me to put my hands together for Sally. I'm already doing it!