Sweet Thing

Album: Rufus featuring Chaka Khan (1975)
Charted: 5
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this song Chaka Khan is trying to convince a guy that she's right for him, but he's an elusive butterfly. Even if he leaves, she'll keep on loving him. After all, he's her everything.

    Chaka wrote the song with Tony Maiden, the guitarist in her band Rufus. She told LaShonda Barnett in I Got Thunder: Black Women Songwriters and Their Craft, "I told all of my boyfriends around that time that it was them that inspired the song. In fact, I think Tony was my real boyfriend at the time. That song was just spontaneous. Tony and I were just sitting around and it happened - really. We had that kind of chemistry, and it was that kind of situation. We wrote the song in five minutes. It's all really chemistry when it boils down to it. Rufus and I had an amazing chemistry. That's what was underneath it all. And the love we had for each other."
  • Mary J. Blige recorded "Sweet Thing" for her debut album What's the 411? in 1992. Released as her fourth single, it went to #28 in the US.

    At at least one concert, Chaka Khan introduced "Sweet Thing" by saying it was "the song Mary J. Blige f--ked up." As reported by Creative Loafing Atlanta, Khan said: "She was flat on it. She didn't seem like she was giving her best. I asked her about it, and she said, 'I recorded it at 8 in the morning.' And I said, 'Don't do anything at 8 in the morning. Don't do anything at 8 in the morning, unless you've been up all night.' I was giving her good sound advice from a place of love. And she took it in the right way. She wasn't hatin', and it was beautiful."

    The pair later performed the song together, duetting on the show Motown Live.
  • Chaka Khan formed Rufus in 1972. She quickly became their main attraction, and by their third album (released in 1974), they were billed as "Rufus featuring Chaka Khan." "Sweet Thing" was one of their biggest hits and their second #1 on the R&B chart, following "You Got The Love." Chaka Khan went solo in 1978 and had a big hit with her first single, "I'm Every Woman."

    She kept performing into the 2020s, usually including "Sweet Thing" in her setlists.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Colin Hay

Colin HaySongwriter Interviews

Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music Scene

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music SceneSong Writing

With $50 and a glue stick, Bruce Pavitt created Sub Pop, a fanzine-turned-label that gave the world Nirvana and grunge. He explains how motivated individuals can shift culture.

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"They're Playing My Song

As a songwriter and producer, Narada had hits with Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Starship. But what song does he feel had the greatest impact on his career?

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many Songs

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many SongsSong Writing

For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.

P.F. Sloan

P.F. SloanSongwriter Interviews

P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired MenSong Writing

Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.