Usher pulls a Marvin Gaye with ‘Papers’
October 5th, 2009 by Rodney Carmichael in Music news
HERE, YOU MONSTER!
It worked for Marvin Gaye — sorta.
After his marriage of 15 years to an older Anna Gordy ended in bitter divorce proceedings in 1977, Gaye dedicated to her the double-album with the double-edged title, Here, My Dear. In it, he took creative license to air the dirty laundry leftover from their failed marriage with such songs as “When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You,” “Anger,” and “You Can Leave, But It’s Going to Cost You.”
The punchline? According to the divorce decree, half the proceeds from sales of the album went toward alimony payment — hence the sardonic title.
So today, when a new song from Usher’s upcoming album, Monster, was released, titled “Papers,” the comparison was unavoidable. In the song, Usher sings:
“For you I gave my heart and turned my back against the world / plus you were my girl / I done damn near lost my mama / I done been through so much drama / I turned in to the man I never thought I’d be.
I’m ready to sign those papers…”
Yep, those papers. Apparently, Usher and his camp claim the song was recorded before he filed for divorce from his former (and also older) wife Tameka Foster this summer. But that’s beside the point. It’s obvious that the singer plans to regain his crown as the prince of R&B by giving inquiring minds what they want — plenty of personal drama.
In Gaye’s case, it failed to garner any commercial success at the time. Of course, that was decades ago, long before music fans became so enthralled in the daily lives of their idols. In hindsight, however, the heartbreaking Here, My Dear is now critically viewed as one of his best works, along with What’s Going On.
Usher set his own precedent of sorts with the 15-times platinum success of his fourth album Confessions. The album’s sales were fueled by rumors that the drama he sung about in the single “Confessions, Part II” (”Just when I thought I said all I could say / My chick on the side said she got one on the way”) was autobiographical. It only helped matters when his ex-girlfriend at the time, Chilli of TLC fame, said in interviews that their recent breakup had been caused by Usher’s cheating.
No side babies ever surfaced despite his “Confessions.” His marriage with Tameka produced two children, however. While their divorce has yet to be finalized in Fulton County Superior Court, it could be quite a coup if Tameka walked away with the kind of settlement Anna Berry did back in the day.
But who’d want to live with having an album dedicated to them bearing the title, Monster? It’s due in stores Dec. 8.
Listen to “Papers.”
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