Sade – Love is stronger than pride
#quotefromthe80s
I'm good at forgiving
But I can't hate you
Though I have tried
I still really, really love you
Love is stronger than pride
#Sade #LoveIsStrongerThanPride
In the early spring of 1988, a new single was released in many countries by a singer who had truly become a symbol of the 80s. Or maybe we should talk about an artist, because the term singer in this case can be reductive. Or maybe, since we’re talking about Sade, we could simply be talking about a Diva.
More than two and a half years had passed since her last album Promise and several things had changed. The jazz pop sounds of The Sweetest Taboo were giving way to highly refined melodies and intimate and sensual atmospheres. By this time, however, Sade’s career and image had never been in the shadows, as Sade had already become a style icon recognized around the world.
In this scenario Love is Stronger Than Pride was released, the single with the task of anticipating, as often happened, the release of the Anglo-Nigerian diva’s third album, which would be released in the summer with the similar title of Stronger Than Pride. This song, as we said, had crossed the line of intimacy and sensuality, and had done so with a sweet melody, almost hypnotic in its repetitive gait, and with simple words.
Words of love, but also of disappointment and profound reflection: the protagonist was disappointed and likely hurt by her probably unfaithful lover, but the feeling is so strong that it even overcomes pride, and this awareness adds a touch of melancholy to the sensuality of the song.
A sensuality that is also absolutely present in the video, which alternates scenes of Sade alone on a beach with a simple red dress, with scenes of memories with the man of feelings and with other people on that same beach. The video is certainly exotic, as is the song, which was partly recorded in the Bahamas Islands and I would say that this atmosphere has absolutely pervaded the sound and video.
The video was one of the first works of a great English director, Sophie Muller, who began her career directing the videos of the Eurythmics and Annie Lennox from the album Savage onwards, i.e. starting from Beethoven (I Love to Listen To), I Need a Man and You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart, so to speak. Sophie Muller was only 25 at the time, but she was starting a career that hasn’t ended yet, if it’s true that in recent years she’s been shooting videos for Selena Gomez and Bebe Rexha, generations away since the 80s!
Finally, the title of the song could hide a play on words. Before forming the group that supported her in the climb to success (a group called Sade, exactly like her, just to avoid confusion), Sade was the singer of a group called Pride (in any case formed largely by the same members). This is why some music critics in the 80s wanted to get a message of revenge from Sade (who in this case impersonated Love) against the old Pride lineup.
Love is Stronger Than Pride was not equally successful in all countries, and in some contries it did not even reach the top ten, but in hindsight it remains a beautiful and very special song. Many years later I can say that I have never heard anyone, and I mean nobody, who didn’t like Sade; nobody who didn’t find her songs beautiful and intriguing, nobody who didn’t find this great artist superlative and fascinating. Sade was a true diva of the 80s and the years to follow, with unrivaled class and elegance.
Sade didn’t compete with Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, whomever you want, she wasn’t better or worse. Sade was and still is simply Sade: a brand, a guarantee, a certainty. In short, a Diva.
Sade on Wikipedia
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