Released: June 17, 1997

Songwriter: Brion James James Gass Ivan Matias Dawn Robinson Maxine Jones Cindy Herron Terry Ellis (En Vogue)

Producer: Andrea Martin Ivan Matias

[Verse 1: Terry Ellis]
She ran away from home at seventeen
Didn't know what it cost to choose her dream
And mama's at home broken hearted
He robbed a bank, stole a car and fled the scene
Didn't stop to think about family
The ones all alone broken hearted

[Pre-Chorus: Dawn Robinson]
Ooh, can't figure it out
What the world is coming to
Can't figure it out
What in the world are we gonna do?
If you wanna be free
Love has gotta come from you and me
It's the only thing we got
Let's come together heart to heart

[Chorus: En Vogue (Terry)]
Open your mind, can't you see (Open your heart, yeah)
The world's in need, hear the plea
Show love to your fellow man (Show love)
It's part of the master's plan
It's about love

[Verse 2: Cindy Herron]
She's very young and cries from daddy's touch
Disillusioned by life, she sings too much
And she lives her days broken hearted, mhm
He was a soldier at war for me and you
Now he waits in line beggin' for food
A soldier who stands broken hearted, oh oh oh

[Pre-Chorus: Dawn Robinson]
Ooh, can't figure it out
What the world is coming to
Can't figure it out
What in the world are we gonna do?
If you wanna be free
Love has gotta come from you and me
It's the only thing we got
Let's come together heart to heart

[Chorus: En Vogue (Terry)]
Open your mind, can't you see (Open you heart)
The world's in need, hear the plea (Someone's in need)
Show love to your fellow man (Show love)
It's part of the master's plan
It's about love

[Bridge: Maxine Jones]
Please, somebody tell me, what's happening to humanity?
Tell me what will be our destiny
(When) When right is so wrong
And hate is so strong
We cannot heal the world without love

[Chorus: En Vogue (Terry)]
Open your mind can't you see (Open your mind)
The world's in need, hear the plea (Hear the plea)
Show love to your fellow man (Show love)
It's part of the master's plan (It's part of)
It's about love
Open your mind can't you see (It's about love, all about love)
The world's in need, hear the plea (Someone's in need)
Show love to your fellow man (Show love)
It's part of the master's plan
It's about love
Open your mind, can't you see (It's about love)
The world's in need, hear the plea (Can't you hear me callin')
Show love to your fellow man (Show them love)
It's part of the master's plan
It's about love
Open your mind, can't you see (Love, all about love)
The world's in need, hear the plea (Oh, it's about love)
Show love to your fellow man (Love, love)
It's part of the masters plan
It's about love (It's all about love)
Open your mind, can't you see
The world's in need, hear the plea
Show love to your fellow man
It's part of the master's plan
It's about love

En Vogue

Cindy Herron, Terry Ellis, Maxine Jones, and Dawn Robinson are the original members of the R&B girl group En Vogue. The group was put together by producers Thomas McElroy and Denzil Foster after a talent search in Oakland, California in 1989. Their debut album Born to Sing was released in 1990 and featured the #1 R&B hits “You Don’t Have To Worry,” “Lies,” and their platinum debut single “Hold On,” which also peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and won a Billboard and Soul Train Music Award. Their 1992 follow-up album Funky Divas hit #1 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200 on its way to triple platinum status. The lead single, “My Lovin' (You’re Never Gonna Get It),” helped propel that success as it hit #1 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also featured the #1 R&B hit cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Giving Him Something He Can Feel” as well as the Top 10 pop single “Free Your Mind.”

In 1993, they released the EP Runaway Love and made appearances on the TV shows In Living Color, Roc and A Different World. In 1994, they collaborated with Salt-N-Pepa on their Top 3 platinum single “Whatta Man” and in 1996 they contributed to the Set It Off soundtrack with their hit single “Don’t Let Go (Love)” which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the R&B Singles chart.

While working on their third album, Dawn Robinson decided to leave the group due to issues with management. The group decided to go on as a trio and released their third platinum album EV3 in 1997 featuring the Top 10 R&B/Top 20 pop hit “Whatever,” which was produced and co-written by Babyface. They went on to release three more albums—Masterpiece Theatre in 2000, The Gift of Christmas in 2002, and Soul Flower in 2004. During that time, Maxine Jones left the group in 2001 and was replaced by Amanda Cole, and Cole was later replaced in 2003 by Rhona Bennett. While the original four members have reunited for performances throughout the years, the current lineup consists of Herron, Ellis, and Bennett, and they released the single “Déjà Vu” in 2016 and released their album Electric Café in 2018.