Because I Love You (The Postman Song)

Album: Love And Emotion (1990)
Charted: 6 1
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Songfacts®:

  • "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)" was penned by Stevie B's friend, Warren Allen Brooks. In the song, Stevie gets a letter in the mail, and in response, writes a song to express his love to the sender.

    "People think this song about a man trying desperately to hold on to his girl, but it's not," Brooks told Songfacts. "It's a spiritual song. It's about me and God having a conversation, and God telling me that he got my letter and he'd be with me any time I needed him."
  • The song was a huge hit in America, #1 for four weeks throughout December of 1990. It was the first #1 hit for LMR, a small New York-based label. That four-week run tied it for longest of the year with "Vision Of Love" by Mariah Carey and "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor.
  • Florida native Stevie B (real name Steven Bernard Hill of Cuban descent) was a leading light on the Latin freestyle music scene. He enjoyed eight American Top 40 hits, but this was his sole chart entry in the UK. Unusually for a 1980s dance artist, Stevie wrote and produced most of his own music.
  • Freestyle music was a form of electronic music that utilized Latin rhythms and melodies. In the late '80s and early '90s Freestyle was the most popular musical genre for young English-speaking Latinos in Florida and New York. Other popular Freestyle artists included Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and Exposé. In the early '90s many of these artists, under pressure from their record labels, started recording adult-contemporary ballads to achieve greater commercial success, "Because I Love You" being a prime example.
  • This is a rare song with a subtitle that appears just once in the verse section of the lyrics. The opening line, "I got your letter from the postman just the other day" proved to be a powerful phrase. The song became better known as "The Postman Song" instead of the more common title "Because I Love You."
  • The song dates back to 1983, when Warren Allen Brooks came up with the first verse. In 1985, he and Stevie B formed a duo called Friday Friday that released a single, "Boy Toy." Brooks played what he had of "Because I Love You" to Stevie back then, but the song wasn't finished.

    A few years later, Stevie B made an impact on the freestyle scene with songs he wrote himself, including "Spring Love (Come Back to Me)" and "In My Eyes." He and Brooks reconnected in 1989, and when they started working together, the first song Stevie asked about was "Because I Love You." Brooks finished the song and Stevie recorded it, landing a surprise hit. Brooks also wrote Stevie B's hit "Love And Emotion."
  • Warren Allen Brooks played all the instruments on the track. The piano is a Korg M1 synthesizer, which doesn't sound very synthetic. "It doesn't sound electronic because that's the way I played it," Brooks told Songfacts. "That's me. I'm gifted."

Comments: 4

  • Angelahopemusic from Los AngelesI love this song! But one day I was with a friend at Los Angeles sushi restaurant Teru Sushi and was with Vanessa Williams' "The Right Stuff" producer Rex Salas. Stevie B walked over and introduced himself. Crazy!!
  • Shandroise De Laeken from Davao City, PhilippinesI love this song (as well as other ballads of his - Dream about you and Waiting for your love, which are very famous here in Philippines). I love the instrumental as it is sounds "haunting", and the lyrics makes me want a guy sing this to me though I've never broken a heart in my life so far (& will never do such an odious thing, haha!) This is one of the songs which will never be deleted in my phone's music player. (08-12-2015)
  • David from OrlandoAs much as I enjoy Stevie B's uptempo hits from back in the day (i.e. Spring Love, I Wanna Be The One, Dreaming of Love) this song gives the singer-songwriter an opportunity to showcase his soulful, sensitive side that was frequently absent throughout his career. Not only was Stevie B able to write or co-write much of his own material, he had his share of hits in a genre that produced many one-hit wonders. Contrary to the ballad note above, freestyle artists started having hit ballads in the late '80s rather than early '90s (i.e. Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with "All Cried Out"; Expose with "Seasons Change"). A key factor in my personal enjoyment of freestyle was having the deejays play the records at the roller skating rink (some still do during old school sessions). I would love it if more dance music these days could be understood from a lyrical standpoint and offer the best of both worlds - catchy and meaningful - as they did during eras such as freestyle. Ballads on the other hand are timeless and usually welcome, regardless of the artists' history.
  • Pennell from Kansas City, MoI'm shocked nobody has posted a thing on this wonderful, melancholy, driven to tears type of song...
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