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

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.

Ralph Casale  - Session Pro

Ralph Casale - Session ProSongwriter Interviews

A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."