An Analysis of Michael Franti & Spearhead "Say Hey (I Love You)

Say Hey (I Love You)

 Introduction: 

"Say Hey (I Love you) is an up beat, pop and good vibe song. Micheal Franti & Spearhead included Jamaican soul singer Cherine Anderson in their single. The song released in 2009 in their album "All Rebel Rockers". When the song released it quickly became top 20 in Billboard hot 100, which made it Franti's first Hot 100 song! The song is catchy and a feel good song. The song is talking about life's journey, and no matter where you go, or what you do, the one thing we know for sure is we will always love the people that are closest to us. 

I grew up listening to this song on repeat. It was one of the songs I knew I could listen to at any moment and be happy again. When I was maybe 10 I went to live with my grandparents and this song was repeatedly on repeat reminding myself that it is going to be okay and I'll be back with my parents soon. 

Lyrics and Background: 

When writing the song Franti admits to writing the song in Woody Harrelson's bathroom. In the shower, Franti started to write lyrics to the song on the fogged up glass of the shower door. He quickly to a picture and when Woody called he says that he thinks they just found their next hit. Franti says that this song was a reminder to him about needing a fun project and how this song reminds him to continue to make make music for the fun of it. Later they sat down and started to write the song in 2008 and it was released in 2009. It is really interesting because the music video was filmed in Rio de Janeiro. Apparently they had to get permission to film from a local drug lord and was provided two guards while filming. And then the dancers that were in the video are locals that were there and were just dancing with him in the streets. 

The verses have a good rhythm that is very smooth and it ends up flowing well with the chorus. The verse is giving more context of why he loves someone and why he wouldn't want to loose them. At the end of the chorus Franti sings "I love you, I love you, I love you." And then that leads into the different versus of why he loves and about how life is a journey, and not matter where you go you'll never forget your loved ones. 

Timbre: 

In "Say Hey (I Love You)" the timbre is very distinct. The singers voices over the song are very clear and carry out the positivity and upbeat of the song. In the beginning of the song it starts with Cherine's voice and it is a little bit more light and has a higher pitch, which starts the song off with an upbeat setting. Then it continues on to Franti singing in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. His voice still has the upbeat feeling but it is more deep and breathy. He maintains that tone of voice throughout the song, always keeping it upbeat and a feel good song. The vocal coloring remains bright from both singers throughout the song. At the end of the video you can hear all of the locals repeatedly saying "I love you, I love you, I love you". The ending tied together the whole video because of the songs meaning, a song about life's journey. 

Rhythm: 

When I first heard this song what really spoke to me was the rhythm of it. The beginning of the song starts with a slight shake of a maraca it sounds like and then it goes into an upbeat playing of the drums. The beat of the drums make you want to bounce your foot to it and sing along. The beat continues on throughout the song and changes with the different verses and choruses. Clapping is also added into the song in the beginning. At some points of the song it comes to a pause, I think when there is a bridge. Later when Franti and Cherine are singing together you can start to here a keyboard in there as well with little notes here and there. But all throughout the song the maraca and the drums are there keeping that upbeat feeling that hooks you into the song in the beginning. Then at the end of the video the rhythm changes to drums that were being play in Rio de Janeiro by the locals and everyone singing together. 

Conclusion: 

In conclusion "Say Hey (I Love You)" was a song that would never had been created if Franti hadn't started writing lyrics in the bathroom glass. The song captures that happiness, unity, adventure and love that we need in are life. The song helped bring a sense of joy in the world when it came out, bringing people together. Just like Franti hoped. Because of this song it helped Franti also realize that it is important to do things because you love it, this song made him realize how much he loved music again. 

Sources: 

"Micheal Franti - Say Hey" Youtube uploaded by ANTI-RECORDS, 15 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeuqQ1aipTY

"Say Hey (I Love You) by Micheal Franti & Spearhead" Song Facts uploaded by Song Facts 

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/michael-franti-spearhead/say-hey-i-love-you

"Say Hey (I Love You)" Wikipedia uploaded by Wikipedia, April 3 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say_Hey_(I_Love_You)