"Say Say Say" is a pop song that was written and performed
by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. The track was produced
by George Martin for McCartney's fifth solo album,
Pipes of Peace(1983). The song was recorded during
production of McCartney's 1982
Tug of Waralbum, about a year before the release of "The
Girl Is Mine"—the pair's first duet from Jackson's
record-breaking album,
Thriller(1982). After its release in October 1983, "Say
Say Say" became Jackson's seventh top-ten hit inside a year. It
was a number one hit in the United States, Norway, and Sweden,
reached number two in the United Kingdom, and peaked within the
top ten in Australia, Austria, New Zealand, the Netherlands and
Switzerland.
Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of
America, the song was promoted with a music video directed by
Bob Giraldi. The video, filmed in Santa Ynez Valley,
California, featured cameo appearances by Linda McCartney and
La Toya Jackson. The short film centers around two con artists
called "Mac and Jack" (played by McCartney and Jackson), and is
credited for the introduction of dialogue and storyline to
music videos. The video was considered by the National
Coalition on Television Violence to be too violent for
broadcast in the US.
McCartney had already collaborated with Jackson on "The Girl
Is Mine", from the latter's
Thriller, and in return Jackson agreed to work on "Say
Say Say" for McCartney's
Pipes of Peace. McCartney biographer Ray Coleman
asserted that the majority of the song's lyrics were written by
Jackson, and given to McCartney the next day. "Say Say Say" was
recorded at Abbey Road Studios between May and September 1981.
At the time, McCartney was recording
Tug of War, the former Beatle's first solo album after
the disbandment of his group Wings. Jackson stayed at the home
of McCartney and his wife Linda during the recording sessions,
and became friends with both. While at the dining table one
evening, Paul McCartney brought out a booklet that displayed
all of the songs to which he owned the publishing rights. "This
is the way to make big money", the musician informed Jackson.
"Every time someone records one of these songs, I get paid.
Every time someone plays these songs on the radio, or in live
performances, I get paid." McCartney's words influenced
Jackson's later purchase of the Northern Songs music catalogue
in 1985.
McCartney played several instruments on "Say Say Say",
including percussion, synthesiser, guitar and bass guitar. The
harmonica was played by Chris Smith, and the rhythm guitar was
played by David Williams. The song was engineered by Geoff
Emerick. The production of "Say Say Say" was completed in
February 1983, after it had been refined and overdubbed at
Cherokee Studios in California. George Martin, who had worked
with The Beatles, produced the song. He said of his experience
with Jackson, "He actually does radiate an aura when he comes
into the studio, there's no question about it. He's not a
musician in the sense that Paul is ... but he does know what he
wants in music and he has very firm ideas." Jackson also spoke
of the experience in his autobiography,
Moonwalk. The younger singer revealed that the
collaboration boosted his confidence, as Quincy Jones—producer
of
Thriller—was not present to correct his mistakes.
Jackson added that he and McCartney worked as equals, stating,
"Paul never had to carry me in that studio."
"Say Say Say" is cited as a pop song on the sheet music
published on Musicnotes.com by Alfred Music Publishing. The
song was performed in common time, with a dance beat of
116 beats per minute. It was composed in a B
♭
minor key, and sung in a vocal range from F4 to B♭5. The
lyrics to "Say Say Say" reflect an attempt to "win back" a girl's
affection;
Deseret Newsconsidered the song to be a "pleading kind
of love song".
Following the release of
Thrillerand most of its singles, "Say Say Say" was
released on 3 October 1983 by Parlophone Records in the UK and
Columbia Records in the US. It remained atop s Hot 100 for six
weeks and became Jackson's seventh top ten hit of 1983,
breaking a record that until then was held jointly by The
Beatles and Elvis Presley. Also in the US, "Say Say Say"
reached number two on the R&B chart and number three on the
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. Although the song had
peaked at number ten in the UK, it began to fall steadily;
McCartney subsequently held an early weekday live television
interview, where he discussed the song's music video. This,
along with screenings of the video on
Top of the Pops(which normally played only singles that
were rising in the charts),
The Tubeand Noel Edmonds'
The Late, Late Breakfast Show, helped propel the song to
number two on the UK Singles Chart. "Say Say Say" reached
number one in Norway and Sweden, and the single also reached
the top ten in Austria, Australia, New Zealand, the
Netherlands, and Switzerland. With wholesale shipments of at
least one million units, the single was later certified
platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"Say Say Say" received mixed reviews from music critics. The
lyrics were named the worst of 1983 by
The Buffalo News's Anthony Violanti, while the
Lexington Herald-Leaderstated in a review of
Pipes of Peacethat, aside from "Say Say Say" and "The
Man", "McCartney waste[d] the rest of the album on bathos and
whimsy".
Los Angeles Times'Paul Grein also reviewed the McCartney
album and opined that the singer had redeemed himself with the
success of the "spunky" song "but plunged back into wimpdom
with 'No More Lonely Nights'". Journalist Whitney Pastorek
compared the song to McCartney's 1982 duet with Stevie Wonder,
"Ebony and Ivory". She asserted that "Say Say Say" was a better
song, and had a better "though slightly more nonsensical" music
video, adding that the song had no "heavy-handed social
content". Penn State's
The Daily Collegiandescribed the track as a good song,
despite its ad nauseam broadcasts.
Deseret Newsstated that the "pleading love song" had a
"masterful, catchy hook". In a
Rolling Stonereview, the track was described as an
"amiable though vapid dance groove". The reviewer, Parke
Puterbaugh, added that it was an "instantly hit-bound
froth-funk that tends, after all, toward banality". Music
critic Nelson George stated that "Say Say Say" would not have
"deserved the airplay it received without Michael Jackson".
Salon.com later described the song as a "sappy duet". The
online magazine concluded that McCartney had become a "wimpy
old fart".
Billboardranked the song third in its list of top tracks
for 1984. In a 2007 article, a writer the magazine
Vibelisted "Say Say Say" as the 22nd greatest duet of
all time. The writer commented that the song was "a true
falsetto fantasy" and that it was "still thrilling to hear the
sweet-voiced duo trade harmonies on the chorus". In 2006, Dutch
musicians Hi Tack sampled "Say Say Say" on their debut single,
"Say Say Say (Waiting 4 U)". The song featured Jackson's vocals
from the original recording.
The music video (or "short film") for "Say Say Say" was
directed by Bob Giraldi, who had previously directed Michael
Jackson's "Beat It". The McCartney-Jackson collaboration
featured cameo appearances by the former's wife Linda, and the
latter's older sister La Toya. To accommodate Jackson's busy
schedule the video was filmed at Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez
Valley, California. McCartney flew in specially for filming.
The video cost $500,000 to produce.
In the short film, the duo play "Mac and Jack", a pair of
conmen who sell a "miracle potion". The salesman (McCartney)
offers Jackson the potion, and claims that it is "guaranteed to
give you the strength of a raging bull". Jackson drinks the
potion and challenges a large man to arm wrestle. Unbeknownst
to a watching crowd, the man—along with Linda—is also in on the
scam. After Jackson wins the rigged contest, the crowd of
people surge forward and buy the potion. Mac and Jack then
donate all of the money earned from the scam to an orphanage.
Later, while in a hotel, Jackson enters the bathroom as
McCartney shaves. The latter playfully dabs shaving foam on
Jackson's cheek, despite the fact that the younger man does not
need a shave. After this scene, McCartney and Jackson star as
vaudeville performers who sing and dance at a bar. On stage,
the duo appear in clown makeup at one point and quickly go
through a number of costume changes. Jackson's love interest,
with whom he flirts, was played by his sister La Toya. The
video ends with Paul, Linda and Michael as drive they off into
the sunset. La Toya, who was handed a bunch of flowers by
McCartney, is left at the roadside.
Director Giraldi said of Jackson and McCartney, "Michael
didn't outdance Paul, and Paul didn't outsing Michael". He
added that production of the video was hard work because "the
egos could fill a room". The video introduced both dialogue and
storyline, an element extended upon in
Michael Jackson's Thriller. After its release, the US
National Coalition of Television Violence classified the music
video as too violent to be aired. They also classified
Thrillerand more than half of the 200 videos surveyed
from MTV as being overly violent. The coalition included
physical and verbal suggestions of violence, as well as acts of
abuse, in their observings of around 900 music videos. In a
list compiled by
Billboardat the end of 1984, the music video was named
the fourth best of the year, and the rest of the top four were
also short films by Jackson.
The Manchester Evening Newslater described the "Say Say
Say" video as an "anarchic caper" that "plays out like an Emir
Kusturica feature". PopMatters stated that the music videos of
"Say Say Say" and "Goodnight Tonight" turned "a pair of
otherwise forgettable songs into something worth watching".
Steven Greenlee of
The Boston Globereflected that the video was both
"horrifying and compelling", and stated the ridiculousness of a
potion which could aid Jackson in beating somebody at arm
wrestling. He added, "It's even harder to believe that the two
of them didn't get the pulp beaten out of them in that bar for
dressing like a pair of Chess King employees". The "Say Say
Say" video was later included on the DVD
The McCartney Years.
Two authors later reviewed the short film and documented two
central themes. The first is a "Child/Man" theme; the role of
both a boy and an adult, which writer James M. Curtis states
Jackson plays throughout the music video for "Say Say Say".
Curtis writes that the bathroom scene involving the shaving
foam is reminiscent of boys copying their fathers. He adds that
the scene marks "the distinction between Michael's roles as a
Child and as a Man". The writer also highlights the part where
the singer supposedly becomes strengthened with a miracle
potion, a further play on the "Child/Man" theme. Furthermore,
Curtis observes that Paul and Linda McCartney seem to act as if
they are Jackson's parents in the short film. The author also
notes that in a scene where Jackson is handed a bouquet of
flowers from a girl, it is a reversal of one from
City Lights, a 1931 film starring Charlie Chaplin, whom
the singer greatly adored.
The second of the two main themes in the music video is of
African American history and culture, as some of the vaudeville
scenes in the short film acknowledge minstrel shows and
blackface. Author W. T. Lhamon writes that the video is set in
the Californian Depression, and that McCartney and Jackson
"convey a compactly corrupt history of blackface" as they con
their way to riches with the Mack and Jack show. Lhamon was
critical of the pair and of the video because he felt that the
African American theme had not been made explicitly known. The
author expressed his view that aspects of the short film were
historically out-of-synch with interracial relations. He
stated, "Nearly everything in the video is backward. Mack's
white hand continually helping black Jack on board, for
instance, reverses the general process I have shown of blacks
providing whites with their sustaining gestures." Lhamon added,
"In a just world, Jackson should be pulling McCartney onto the
wagon, not the other way around."