Boyz II Men turned the deep-voiced monologue interlude into an art form. Here are their best ones.
Boyz II Men took the deep-voiced spoken R&B interlude and elevated it to an art form. It’s about time someone did a tribute to them.
I listened to, well, pretty much every Boyz II Men song to find the best spoken monologues performed by the bass-voiced Michael McCary — aka the Barry White of my generation — and have compiled them.
Here, in no particular order, are the 11 greatest deep-voiced spoken word moments in Boyz II Men songs.
1 | End of the Road (from the Boomerang soundtrack, 1992)
Girl you know we belong together.
I don’t have no time for you to be playing
With my heart like this.
You’ll be mine forever baby, you just see.
Then, later in the song…
Girl I’m here for you.
All those times of night when you just hurt me
And just ran out with that other fella,
Baby I knew about it, I just didn’t care.
You just don’t understand how much I love you, do you?
I’m here for you.
I’m not out to go out and cheat on you all night
Just like you did baby, but that’s all right.
Hey, I love you anyway,
And I’m still gonna be here for you ’till my dying day, baby.
Right now, I’m just in so much pain, baby,
‘Cause you just won’t come back to me.
Will you? Just come back to me.
The standard-bearer for Boyz II Men monologues and, quite frankly, all spoken-word interludes in songs to come. End of the Road broke Elvis’s record for most weeks as the number one song on the charts (it did 13 weeks, Hound Dog/Don’t Be Cruel did 11)… it won two Grammys… and, being the anchor of the soundtrack for the movie Boomerang, it led people to see that film which was, arguably, the point where Eddie Murphy’s career began its unparalleled tailspin.
It begins with a brief monologue that sets up the premise of the song. The second monologue, however, drives home the secret undercurrent: They’ve reached the end of the road because she was cheating on him, and even so, he still loves her and can’t let go.
It takes some real talent to deliver and sell that kind of emotion while you’re wearing the same argyle sweater and khaki shorts as three other dudes on a stage. This one gets a Homer Simpson-as-a-food critic rating of eight thumbs up.
2 | Uhh Ahh (from Cooleyhighharmony, 1991)
The music is low,
The lights are dim, there we lie.
Passion overflows,
With every look in your eyes.
Infatuation, lust,
And a lot of love.
Sweet caresses,
Yes, it’s too good to be true.
Enclench my back,
Ecstasy fills the air,
As you kiss on my neck,
And stroke the back of my hair.
To hold you tonight,
I feel this is, my dear,
To grasp, to hold,
To rock that place.
Uhh Ahh was the perfect sign that Boyz II Men could do no wrong — by no means a spectacular song, it still found a way to be a radio hit. In Mike’s monologue he does exactly what the deep-voiced R&B monologue was put on this Earth to do: Describe a passionate sexual encounter.
Bonus points to him for just going for it with the word “enclench” which, to the best of my knowledge, does not exist. Although it may have cirsumvented the dictionaries. I listened to it over and over and he’s not saying “unclench,” it’s definitely “enclench.”
3 | This Is My Heart (from Cooleyhighharmony, 1991)
My arms are open wide,
You can’t imagine how I feel inside.
Welcome this man, baby,
Because I’m giving my heart to you.
This is the third track from their first album… and almost feels like they were experimenting with the deep-voiced interlude. Like… they noticed that deep-voiced monologues were starting to pop up in a lot of the tracks, and they were afraid they were going to become known as the “deep voiced speaking part group.” So they pulled back here and only gave him four lines. Just dippin’ the toe in the water. Just seein’ if we like how it feels.
Clearly, it felt good. From that point on, they stopped gritting their teeth, opened their enclenched fists and let the monologues fly like crazy.
4 | On Bended Knee (from II, 1994)
Baby I’m sorry.
Please forgive me for all the wrong I’ve done.
Please come back home girl.
I know you put all your trust in me,
I’m sorry I let you down,
Please forgive me.
Another absolute classic. I think this one hit the deep-voiced monologue sweet spot — got all his major bullet points across, didn’t ramble, didn’t take too many long pauses, but wasn’t too brief or terse either.
Personal note: I once tried to apologize to a girlfriend by playing On Bended Knee over the phone. I thought it would be like the time on Martin when he convinced Gina to come back by barging into a crowded restaurant and singing I Will Always Love You to her. For me, the results were not so good.
5 | Dear God (from Evolution, 1997)
Dear God,
As a humble man, I come to you like a child.
Needing your knowledge, your love and your guidance, Lord.
Thank you for trusting me with my own life’s decisions, God.
But I’m just a man and I don’t deserve
This incredible life that you’ve given me, Jesus.
I love you Lord, I love you.
In one of the best episodes of South Park ever (previously discussed on my site here, Cartman decides to start a Christian rock band. When he tells his bandmates how he’s going to write Christian music, he says, “All we have to do is cross out words like ‘baby’ and ‘darling’ and replace them with ‘Jesus’.”
This monologue in Dear God is the only one in Boyz II Men history that’s not directed at a woman. This one’s directed at Jesus. Was it recycled from an old love song (directed at a woman who made him a better man) and just put through the Eric Cartman school of lyrical adaptation? Is that what went down behind closed doors?
Only baby Jesus knows the truth.
6 | Your Love (from Cooleyhighharmony, 1991)
I’m convinced,
I’ve got sense,
I’ll never look for anyone else,
It’s your love.
I did a list a while back of the 11 Most Hilariously Awful Rhymes in Music History. I feel like they tried to rhyme “convinced,” “sense” and “else” here. Which probably could’ve qualified for that list.
Also, this list was turning into such a ridiculously over-the-top “Sam celebrates Boyz II Men’s entire catalog even more than Bob Slydell celebrates Michael Bolton’s” that I had to say something negative. Otherwise I’D have to write a deep-voiced monologue about my love for Boyz II Men. And recruit a deep-voiced friend to record it; my voice is closer to Jimmy Stewart’s.
7 | To the Limit (from Evolution, 1997)
Baby,
The things I’d do for you.
Take you out for a night on the town,
And after I’d run you some bath water,
With some bubbles.
Do you like bubbles?
Yeah I’d dry you off,
And lotion your body down with some baby magic,
You’d like that wouldn’t you?
I’d wash your hair.
I’d do anything you want me to.
You know I don’t care.
Every black female I’ve ever been friends with would turn down this offer to have him wash her hair. He’s vastly underestimating the gorgeous complexity of black female hair. It makes The Matrix Reloaded seem easy to understand.
8 | You’re Not Alone (from Christmas Interpretations, 1993)
Girl, this Christmas you won’t be alone.
You don’t have to cry,
You don’t have to worry about a thing.
All the gifts that you wanted this year are yours.
You don’t have to worry about him no more,
‘Cause he’s gone.
Don’t live in the past, baby,
I’m your future.
All the feelings that I have
Are here for you.
Anything that I can do
To take away any problem
That you may have or have had,
I’m here.
Just say Michael,
And this Christmas is yours.
By 1993, Boyz II Men was so enamored of the spoken word monologue that they even found a way to jam it into a song on their *Christmas* album. I guess it fit better here than it would’ve on Silent Night.
“Girl. You know this night’s so silent, you can hear the snow falling down on the trees outside. But in here, mmm, so warm. So warm by the fire baby. We sit by the fire baby, drinking wine, smiling. I touch your hair. You touch mine. You laugh. Don’t be scared. I put my hands on your body and — oh, shit, Santa just came down the chimney. Fat cockblocking sumbitch!” Then right back to the harmonizing.
9 | 50 Candles (from II, 1994)
Come and get this,
Waited all my life for your touch and soft kiss.
And life will never be the same,
While ya moan and groan I hear your voice call my name.
Holding your body like a plastic molding,
Your soul I’ll be controlling,
As the candles burn, we toss and turn,
From night to day, all our pleasures we learn.
Come and play with me,
Tonight’s our night baby.
50 candles burn bright.
Come and roll with me,
Make love to me,
Hold on tight,
It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
If you ever hear anyone question Boyz II Men as the all-time masters of spoken-word seduction, just point them to this: In 50 Candles, Michael McCary rhymes “holding” with “plastic molding” — and somehow manages NOT to pull you right out of the moment. That takes performance skill and authentic charisma you’re just never going to find again.
10 | El Final Del Camino (from Cooleyhighharmony reissue, 1993)
Todo este tiempo sin ti
Todo este tiempo extrañandote.
Todo este tiempo imaginandote.
¿Con quién estás?
¿A quién quieres?
¿Con quién juegas?
Pero que importa
Sólo me importa
Que vuelvas a ser mía
Que sepas que yo no te engaño
Que sepas que te perdono
Que estoy perdido y sin rumbo
Que me duele estar solo
No puedo seguir solo
No puedo seguir
Solo, solo, solo
No puedo
The monologue from the Spanish version of End of the Road. The song starts with a bad sign: They cut out the brief opening monologue. By the end, you realize why.
When the Boyz wail away in Spanish, you kinda almost sorta believe they know what they singing. But, unfortunately, in Mike’s monologue — well, it sounds like he’s reading transliterated words directly off a piece of paper.
Out of curiosity, I reached out to Twitter last night to see if I could get someone to translate this to English — just to match it up against the English spoken word piece of End of the Road. Fortunately, my Twitter friend @galvanoplastica was up and able to translate it for me. Here is a comparison of the original End of the Road monologue, and the translation of the Spanish version of the monologue.
Original English
Girl I’m here for you.
All those times of night when you just hurt me
And just ran out with that other fella,
Baby I knew about it, I just didn’t care.
You just don’t understand how much I love you, do you?
I’m here for you.
I’m not out to go out and cheat on you all night
Just like you did baby, but that’s all right.
Hey, I love you anyway,
And I’m still gonna be here for you ’till my dying day, baby.
Right now, I’m just in so much pain, baby,
‘Cause you just won’t come back to me.
Will you? Just come back to me.
Translated Spanish
All this time without you.
All this time missing you.
All this time wondering about you,
Whom are you with? Whom do you love?
With whom do you play?
But what does it matter?
The only thing that matters is that you be mine again,
and know that I am not lying to you.
Know that I forgive you,
That I am lost and aimless,
And it hurts to be alone (alone).
I cannot go on alone (alone, alone, alone).
I cannot.
Verdict: The original version plays up the cheating more… the Spanish version comes off needier… and in both versions he kinda comes off like a coward. It’s an epic, legendary monologue — but still, a fairly cowardly sentiment.
11 | All Night Long (from Evolution, 1997)
Walk with me baby.
Ha, don’t you wanna do that?
Try to meet me halfway.
I love and need you.
Ha, are you listening?
Much as I hate to admit it, I prefer the spoken parts of Lionel Richie’s All Night Long. Boyz II Men don’t promise me a fiesta OR karamu. Just love.
Gross.