What Did She Do To You?!

The 21st century has conditioned us listeners of pop music to think immediately of Taylor Swift as the conjurerer of upbeat, semi-facetious love-lost, ego-bruised, or self-advocacy songs.  Obviously, she’s neither the first, the last, nor the trendiest to do so, but she’s become the shorthand, the representative of this corner of music-making for both casual and steadfast fans of her work.

Let me introduce you to an r&b act of the 20th century that did all of that and more (but not to the same publicly acknowledged, marketed craze).  This group’s self-titled album was among the first CDs I ever owned.  After 7.

My childhood ears feasted upon the tunes of The Carpenters, The Eagles, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Sade, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Hollywood musicals, Cathy Dennis…all the top-40s.  When I heard After 7’s “Ready or Not” for the first time on the radio, I loved it.  “Can’t Stop,” “Heat of the Moment,” and “Nights Like This” commanded my full adoration as well.  I didn’t and still don’t pay as much active attention to lyrics as I do a song’s melody and instrumentation upon a first, second, or third listen, so much to my surprise, the first time I listened to “‘Til You Do Me Right” today (from their third album, which I’ve yet to experience), I honed in on the words.

So, I need to know.

What did she do?
What did she say?
What prized possession of yours did she temporarily misplace, then confiscate, and ultimately throw away?

What?!  I need to know.

~!~

By the way, After 7 released a new album last fall.  I’ve listened to these two songs on repeat.

Extra Mile:

Tomorrow Can Wait: