Tell Me You Love Me

Album: In Love & War (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the opening track from American R&B singer Amerie's fourth studio album, In Love & War.
  • Amerie explained in publicity materials that she mapped out the sound of In Love & War before she sat with any producers. She explained: "The process would usually be quite a few steps. Usually I'd get a raw instrumental, and from there I'd pick out parts and sounds, and then format them to create the arrangement of the song. Once I wrote and vocalised it, I'd talk to the producer again about adding additional instrumentation I felt was necessary, like strings, additional keys, building the bridge, just basically formatting the record."
  • One producer who instantly understood what Amerie needed was Teddy Riley, who produced this track. She said, "I didn't really have to say much to Teddy. I told him I wanted something signature 'me.' He knew exactly what to do. It was like magic. I wrote that record freestyling in the vocal booth after hearing it for the first time. Killer."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Billy Joe Shaver

Billy Joe ShaverSongwriter Interviews

The outlaw country icon talks about the spiritual element of his songwriting and his Bob Dylan mention.

Grateful Dead Characters

Grateful Dead CharactersMusic Quiz

Many unusual folks appear in Grateful Dead songs. Can you identify them?

Michael Sweet of Stryper

Michael Sweet of StryperSongwriter Interviews

Find out how God and glam metal go together from the Stryper frontman.

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.

Joe Jackson

Joe JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.