While the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody continues to divide audiences (I enjoyed it), I wanted to highlight the “Voice” for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday. During the film, there’s a scene where Bobby Brown is preparing to propose to Whitney, and a mellow R&B track plays in the background.
My musical knowledge couldn’t pinpoint the song, and there was no time to Shazam. Thus as soon as I got home, I skimmed through the soundtrack on Apple Music until I found the song. “Far Enough” is the song’s title and hails from Ms. Houston’s vault.
Houston reunited with her frequent collaborator Michael Masser for this track, set to a mellow, midtempo groove. From a vocal standpoint, the track sounds like it was recorded during the I’m Your Baby Tonight sessions. As super Nippy fans will attest, though, in her prime, the legendary Narada Michael Walden was the yin to her yang.
It only made sense that the film studio would reach out to Walden for his input. Walden’s approach to the song was to modernize it while keeping sight of who Whitney was vocally. A lush ballad, “Far Enough,” speaks of a relationship between two people questioning if they are willing to travel to make it work.
The chorus asks if they are “going far enough,” “going deep enough,” and “feeling enough for love.” The lyrics also suggest that the couple should be willing to push past the boundaries of their relationship and open up.
Whitney reveals her commitment to love in the pre-chorus, while in the verses, she expresses the two people’s inability, to be honest with one another. In the bridge and outro, she assures the other person that she will take them to a place they’ve never been before if they let her.
Hearing the song and where it appears in the movie, it seemed like Whitney was letting Bobby know she would leave him wanting more. Vibrantly, Nippy conveys the song’s overall message: true love requires open communication, commitment, and trust. As soon as two people reach that level, they can love each other deeply.
If “Far Enough” speaks of the quality of Whitney’s vault, I can’t wait to hear the rest.
Final Grade: A
“Far Enough” from the soundtrack I Wanna Dance with Somebody (The Movie: Whitney New, Classic and Reimagined) is available on all streaming platforms.
There are some albums you revisit because of nostalgia, and then there are albums you return to because they remind you just how high the standard used to be. Anita Baker’s Rapture falls into that second category. Released in 1986, the album did more than make Baker a star. It helped define what sophisticated, grown R&B could sound like without losing any soul, sensuality, or personality.
Gwen Stefani had already established herself as a significant force with No Doubt when she released her debut solo album, *Love. Angel. Music. Baby* in 2004. This week, while my iPod was on shuffle, one of my favorite songs from that project, “The Real Thing,” came on. Although the original version has an upbeat new-wave feel, the Slow Jam Mix takes it to another level and is the perfect choice for this week’s Slow Jam Saturday.
Unless you’re a music purist, mentioning Randy Jackson from the famous family is likely to elicit a joke. However, any serious Jackson fan knows that Randy had musical achievements long before the punchlines. Before he was old enough to buy a drink, he had already co-written “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)” and “Lovely One” with Michael Jackson.