Ask Me How I Feel

Album: Foreign Affair (1989)
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Songfacts®:

  • In this song, Turner takes her man to task for his lack of compassion. He's blithe to her troubles even though she cares for him. To top it off, at the end of the song, we find out he's been cheating on her: "And now I find that you're untrue."

    This sounds a lot like Tina's relationship with her first husband, Ike Turner, who was not only unfaithful, but also abused her.
  • "Ask Me How I Feel" was written by Holly Knight and Albert Hammond, who teamed to write two other songs on the Foreign Affair album as well: "Be Tender with Me Baby" and "You Can't Stop Me Loving You." Both Hammond and Knight were artists as well; Hammond had a hit in 1971 with "It Never Rains In Southern California," Knight had a few minor hits in the '80s with her groups Spider and Device.

    Knight started writing songs aimed to Turner after Tina covered "Better Be Good To Me," which Knight wrote and originally recorded with her band Spider. Many of these songs reflect the struggles both Turner and Knight faced in abusive relationships. Speaking with Songfacts, Knight said: "If you look at the title 'Ask Me How I Feel,' I think she was denied that for so long, so it's obviously close to her heart."
  • This wasn't released as a single, but it was a key song in Turner's career. She often performed it in concert, and it's the song that opens her 2021 HBO documentary, Tina. It's also the title of a chapter in Turner's 2018 autobiography, My Love Story.

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