Babyface

Released: July 23, 1989

Songwriter: Pebbles LA Reid Babyface

Producer: LA Reid Babyface

Feels good
Everybody

Tender lover
Tender love

[Verse 1:]
Eleanor Rigby spends half her life
All alone
No fault of her own

Made a decision
Love has no place in her home
Love
It has a right to go

[Hook #1:]
Love has no limit
If you believe in love
It'll open up so

Don't even give in
'Cause if it starts to give
Just hold on

We didn't didn't make it
But love'll get you by
If you only try
Just don't give up on love
'Cause it didn't work out this time

[Chorus:]
Tender lover
Girl, I'm so sorry
Well
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to break your heart

Tender love
So broken hearted
Well
I never meant to break your
Break your little tender heart

[Verse 2:]
Don't ever give up in spite of our love
Love is much too precious
It's greater than both of us

There's more than enough
Keep looking for love
Just be a believer
It'll give you what you want

[Hook #2:]
Sky is the limit
If you believe in love
It'll open up so

Don't ever give in
'Cause if it starts to give
Just hold on

We didn't
Didn't make it
But love'll get you by
If you only try
Just don't give up on love
'Cause it didn't work out this time

[Repeat Chorus:]

My tender lover

[Repeat x2:]
Tender lover
Tender love

[Repeat Hook #1:]

[Repeat Chorus:]

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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Tender Lover

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Tender Lover (1989)

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