Babyface

Released: October 7, 1986

Songwriter: Babyface Lynelle Edmonds Tony Coates

Producer: LA Reid Babyface

[Verse 1:]
We go through changes
Time after time
I guess that's just life

Feelings we can't express
We only hide
Deep down inside

[Hook:]
Who needs another sad affair
Girl
If we care
We'll end it right here

We could be lovers
If we'd only share
All that we feel
But we must be sincere

I know we've been
Been here so many times before
But don't you think
Think that our love's worth fighting for?

[Chorus:]
If we try
Just one time
Oh, baby
If we try
Then I'll know we'll get by

Our love is gentle
It's give and take
It's all about the vows we make

Whether we honor them with
Love and trust
It's all up to us

[Repeat Hook:]

[Repeat Chorus x2:]

Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds (born April 10, 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a Grammy Award-winning producer, singer, and songwriter responsible for a string of hits in the 1980s and 1990s. He has written and produced more than 20 number-one hits and won 11 Grammys—including three for Producer of the Year—for his work with Boyz II Men, Whitney Houston, Eric Clapton, Alicia Keys, and Toni Braxton, as well as his own work as an artist.

Babyface got his nickname from funk legend Bootsy Collins after joining his backing band in the 1970s. He joined the group Manchild in the late ‘70s—a group that also included his frequent collaborator Daryl Simmons—before moving out West and working with the group The Deele in the early 1980s, forming a bond with his bandmate and future production partner L.A. Reid. After producing the hit “Two Occasions” for The Deele, L.A. & Babyface broke off and became one of the biggest superproducer duos in R&B, rivaling the hits of fellow superproducer duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.

L.A. & ‘Face had their hands in a string of #1 R&B hits in the late '80s and early '90s from artists such as Pebbles (“Girlfriend”), Karyn White (“Superwoman”), The Whispers (“Rock Steady”), Johnny Gill (“My, My, My”) and many more. They were also instrumental in the success of post-New Edition era Bobby Brown as they produced his #1 hits “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Every Little Step,” “On Our Own,” and “Humpin' Around.” They made history with Boyz II Men in 1992 as they wrote and produced “End of the Road,” which spent a record-breaking 14 consecutive weeks atop the pop chart.

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