Love Saw It
by Karyn White (featuring Babyface)

Album: Karyn White (1988)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This romantic duet between Karyn White and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds casts the singers as love skeptics who fall for each other. Babyface wrote the tune with frequent songwriting/producing partners Antonio "L.A." Reid and Daryl Simmons. Although it was written as a duet, the team hadn't planned on pairing Babyface with White until the last minute. Simmons agreed it was the perfect choice. He told Songwriter Universe: "Karyn was great, because she was probably the first singer that could follow Kenny. She could phrase things the way that Kenny phrased it - she had the rhythm, and we were big on rhythm. We were big on making it feel good. We loved working with Karyn."
  • Babyface, who also played guitar and keyboards on the track, had no problem writing from a female perspective. He told Billboard: "In terms of writing from a woman's point of view, I think part of it comes from being heartbroken or just being totally in love. It has more to do with me growing up and being in love and getting my heart broken again and again that allows me to be able to write sentimentally at times. Some feelings stick with you always."
  • Although this didn't crack the Hot 100, this was White's third consecutive #1 hit on the R&B chart, following "The Way You Love Me" and "Superwoman."
  • "'Love Saw It' was my favorite song off of this album," White said in a 2012 SoulCulture interview. "I'm singing in this certain register and I should've been singing in this key all along. It was so cool singing in this lower tone and Face and I had such a great chemistry on the record. It was one of the last songs we finished for the album. We went in the studio and completed it so fast."

    White, however, initially had a different R&B singer in mind for her partner. "When he played me the idea for the duet, I really put my foot in my mouth by telling him O'Bryan should do the duet with me," she laughed. "Face said, 'No, I'm going to sing it with you.' I could've lost the song by saying that to him. He could've told me that he was going to save it for Whitney [Houston] or Anita [Baker] instead, but he didn't."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.