Sade — Soldier Of Love
Album: Soldier Of LoveAvg rating:
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Length: 5:50
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I've lost the use of my heart
But I'm still alive
Still looking for the life
And the endless pool on the other side
It's the wild, wild west
I'm doing my best
I'm at the borderline of my faith
I'm in the hinterland of my devotion
In the frontline of this battle of mine
But I'm still alive
I'm a soldier of love
Every day and night
I'm a soldier of love
All the days of my life
I've been torn up inside (oh!)
I've been left behind (oh!)
So I ride
I've the will to survive
In the wild, wild west,
Tryin' my hardest
Doin' my best
To stay alive
I am love's soldier!
I wait for the sound
(Oooh ohhh)
I know that love will come (that love will come)
Turn it all around
I'm a soldier of love
Every day and night
I'm a soldier of love
All the days of my life
I am lost
But I don't doubt (oh!)
So I ride
I've the will to survive
In the wild, wild west,
Tryin' my hardest
Doin' my best
To stay alive
I am love's soldier!
I wait for the sound
I know that love will come
I know that love will come
Turn it all around
I'm a soldier of love
I'm a soldier
Still wait for love to come
Turn it all around
Still wait for love to come
Turn it all around
Still wait for love to come
Turn it all around
Still wait for love to come
But I'm still alive
Still looking for the life
And the endless pool on the other side
It's the wild, wild west
I'm doing my best
I'm at the borderline of my faith
I'm in the hinterland of my devotion
In the frontline of this battle of mine
But I'm still alive
I'm a soldier of love
Every day and night
I'm a soldier of love
All the days of my life
I've been torn up inside (oh!)
I've been left behind (oh!)
So I ride
I've the will to survive
In the wild, wild west,
Tryin' my hardest
Doin' my best
To stay alive
I am love's soldier!
I wait for the sound
(Oooh ohhh)
I know that love will come (that love will come)
Turn it all around
I'm a soldier of love
Every day and night
I'm a soldier of love
All the days of my life
I am lost
But I don't doubt (oh!)
So I ride
I've the will to survive
In the wild, wild west,
Tryin' my hardest
Doin' my best
To stay alive
I am love's soldier!
I wait for the sound
I know that love will come
I know that love will come
Turn it all around
I'm a soldier of love
I'm a soldier
Still wait for love to come
Turn it all around
Still wait for love to come
Turn it all around
Still wait for love to come
Turn it all around
Still wait for love to come
Comments (67)add comment
It does get a bit boring by the end.
this is really cool!! glad to hear it on RP.
I remember hearing Sade for the first time when Your Love Is King was being played as a new release on Capital Radio in London circa 1984. She sounded like something from a different age then. Still does.
A decent Sade article reprinted from today's Chicago Tribune. I wish I could include the photo as well, but no such luck. Let me just say she still looks pretty good for somebody on the north side of 50.
>>>By Nelson George, Special to the Los Angeles Times
October 16, 2010
Reporting from New York - - Helen Folasade Adu, a.k.a. pop soul chanteuse Sade, had been a complete vegetarian for nine years when she spotted some lambs on her farm in England.
"I hate to say this," she intones in the warm, husky voice beloved by her fans for the last 25 years, "but when I saw these lambs gamboling through the field and I started to salivate and I thought I should get to the tandoori shop quick before I pull a leg off one of the lambs. It's weird. I just thought the natural thing to do right now was to eat meat. I went through the whole veggie period thinking that was a good thing, and maybe it was for that time."
This whimsical shift in the 51-year-old singer's eating habits provides some insight into the decision making behind one of the more enduring and idiosyncratic career paths in pop music. Since their debut album, "Diamond Life" in 1984, the band Sade, which also includes guitarist-saxophonist Stuart Matthewman, keyboardist Andrew Hale, and bassist Paul Denman, has sold over 50 millions albums worldwide, won three Grammys and had a No. 1 album this year with "Soldier of Love."
Yet after a steady stream of recordings in the '80s ("Diamond Life," "Promise," "Stronger Than Pride"), they have released only three albums in the last 18 years. The gap between "Lover's Rock" and "Soldier" was nine years.The band has retained its following, however, with particularly strong support from African-American listeners, for whom the half-Nigerian, half- English vocalist has remained both a sex symbol and an icon of elegance in a rather unrefined musical era. Dressed in black corduroy jeans and black silk blouse with her long black hair hanging loose around her shoulders, Sade more than lives up to her image during a conversation at a venerable New York hotel.
As her sudden renewed desire for meat suggests, this lady trusts, and is guided by, her impulses, and has a sense of life's priorities for which commerce is but one consideration. A prime example of her philosophy is the recently announced American tour, which begins in June and arrives at the Staples Center on Aug. 19, a good year and a half after the February release of "Soldier of Love."
When it is suggested that the more logical time to tour in support of that album would have been this summer when the album was still hot, she smiles and acknowledges "that would have been the more sensible thing to do promotion-wise. But I just wasn't ready to do that.... Sometimes I think you have to go with what you think is right as opposed to being a promotional tool for the album."
Part of the delay is practical. It will allow Sade's 13-year-old daughter Ila to travel with her mother and see her perform live in concert for the first time. But it also reflects the singer's own view of herself and how she works best creatively. "Whatever I'm doing, I'm in that moment and I'm doing it. The rest of the world's lost. If I'm cooking some food or making soup, I want it to be lovely. If not, what's the point of doing it?"
She speculates that gaps between records and tours have been one secret to the band's longevity. "Without them we probably would have been d-i-v-o-r-c-e-d a long time ago," she says, laughing. "Actually, the gaps make making a record such a special privilege."
The tour, which will kick off with a European leg in the spring, will be in large arenas, just as the band's 2001 tour was. Prior to that the band regularly played venues like the Greek Theatre, which seemed optimal settings for the sexy, minor-key intimacy of Sade's catalog.
"When you play arenas you can create whatever you want," she says of the decision. "At a theater the height of the stage and the limitations of the theater can make you feel more separate from the audience. I think we can create a feeling of being in a theater by the nature of the production and intimacy of the moment."
Back in '84 when Sade broke through with "Smooth Operator," color was a very contentious issue in pop music. It was the days of MTV when black artists' ability to penetrate the playlist was limited by both their R&B-based music and their dark skin; Sade's multi-culti looks and exotic heritage helped the band cross over in an era when many black artists could not.
Though there is a long tradition of mixed-race performers being identified as "black" in the United States, coming from England Sade was able to embrace both sides of her racial identity. In so doing she became a rare symbol of comfortable multi-culturalism on this side of the Atlantic.
"I noticed the reactions when I first came over here," she recalls of her early trips to America. "London was a really multi-racial city ... It's incredible how comfortable people are with race there. But I was surprised when I came to America the first time. It was very, very rare to see black and white couples holding hands."
As for her own role as a symbol of mixed-race normalcy, "I like to think that our popularity transcends that kind of caste system. But then when I was young and watched a game on the telly with my mom and brother, it didn't matter which country the person came from, if they were black we wanted them to win. The same if it was two boxers, the black one had to win. People do bask in their reflection."
When asked how she'd identify herself today, Sade ruminates. Finally she replies, "I'd probably say more black than white because I'm more like my dad or my granny and less like my mother, who's white. Maybe if I was more like my mother I'd feel differently ... I look a lot like my father and his mother. What's interesting is that I spent my life away from my dad. When I was 20 I went and stayed with him solidly for a month to six weeks. Just me and him, and it was very intense. What I discovered was myself even in his choices and taste and mannerisms. I realized I haven't just inherited him socially, but his physical attributes."
In an age of artists who blog and tweet opinions, heartaches and promotional messages on an hourly basis, Sade, predictably, demurs. She is not on Twitter or Facebook, though the band has an official Facebook page. She does, however, search the Web "looking for bricks and railing" for her farm.
One 21st century music business convention she does acknowledge enjoying is sampling. "When it comes to sample clearances, I'm probably the cheapest chick in the west," she says, quite amused by that idea. She has, however, turned down many prominent MCs, including Jay -Z, who have wanted to rhyme over her beats or do "collabos" with her singing a hook on a hip-hop track.
"I'm too scared," she says. "They'll find me out. It's like 'The Wizard of Oz.' They'll find out there's nothing there. As for collaborations, I'm collaborating with the band and do what we do. I see myself as a member of this band who does these songs that we write."
>>>By Nelson George, Special to the Los Angeles Times
October 16, 2010
Reporting from New York - - Helen Folasade Adu, a.k.a. pop soul chanteuse Sade, had been a complete vegetarian for nine years when she spotted some lambs on her farm in England.
"I hate to say this," she intones in the warm, husky voice beloved by her fans for the last 25 years, "but when I saw these lambs gamboling through the field and I started to salivate and I thought I should get to the tandoori shop quick before I pull a leg off one of the lambs. It's weird. I just thought the natural thing to do right now was to eat meat. I went through the whole veggie period thinking that was a good thing, and maybe it was for that time."
This whimsical shift in the 51-year-old singer's eating habits provides some insight into the decision making behind one of the more enduring and idiosyncratic career paths in pop music. Since their debut album, "Diamond Life" in 1984, the band Sade, which also includes guitarist-saxophonist Stuart Matthewman, keyboardist Andrew Hale, and bassist Paul Denman, has sold over 50 millions albums worldwide, won three Grammys and had a No. 1 album this year with "Soldier of Love."
Yet after a steady stream of recordings in the '80s ("Diamond Life," "Promise," "Stronger Than Pride"), they have released only three albums in the last 18 years. The gap between "Lover's Rock" and "Soldier" was nine years.The band has retained its following, however, with particularly strong support from African-American listeners, for whom the half-Nigerian, half- English vocalist has remained both a sex symbol and an icon of elegance in a rather unrefined musical era. Dressed in black corduroy jeans and black silk blouse with her long black hair hanging loose around her shoulders, Sade more than lives up to her image during a conversation at a venerable New York hotel.
As her sudden renewed desire for meat suggests, this lady trusts, and is guided by, her impulses, and has a sense of life's priorities for which commerce is but one consideration. A prime example of her philosophy is the recently announced American tour, which begins in June and arrives at the Staples Center on Aug. 19, a good year and a half after the February release of "Soldier of Love."
When it is suggested that the more logical time to tour in support of that album would have been this summer when the album was still hot, she smiles and acknowledges "that would have been the more sensible thing to do promotion-wise. But I just wasn't ready to do that.... Sometimes I think you have to go with what you think is right as opposed to being a promotional tool for the album."
Part of the delay is practical. It will allow Sade's 13-year-old daughter Ila to travel with her mother and see her perform live in concert for the first time. But it also reflects the singer's own view of herself and how she works best creatively. "Whatever I'm doing, I'm in that moment and I'm doing it. The rest of the world's lost. If I'm cooking some food or making soup, I want it to be lovely. If not, what's the point of doing it?"
She speculates that gaps between records and tours have been one secret to the band's longevity. "Without them we probably would have been d-i-v-o-r-c-e-d a long time ago," she says, laughing. "Actually, the gaps make making a record such a special privilege."
The tour, which will kick off with a European leg in the spring, will be in large arenas, just as the band's 2001 tour was. Prior to that the band regularly played venues like the Greek Theatre, which seemed optimal settings for the sexy, minor-key intimacy of Sade's catalog.
"When you play arenas you can create whatever you want," she says of the decision. "At a theater the height of the stage and the limitations of the theater can make you feel more separate from the audience. I think we can create a feeling of being in a theater by the nature of the production and intimacy of the moment."
Back in '84 when Sade broke through with "Smooth Operator," color was a very contentious issue in pop music. It was the days of MTV when black artists' ability to penetrate the playlist was limited by both their R&B-based music and their dark skin; Sade's multi-culti looks and exotic heritage helped the band cross over in an era when many black artists could not.
Though there is a long tradition of mixed-race performers being identified as "black" in the United States, coming from England Sade was able to embrace both sides of her racial identity. In so doing she became a rare symbol of comfortable multi-culturalism on this side of the Atlantic.
"I noticed the reactions when I first came over here," she recalls of her early trips to America. "London was a really multi-racial city ... It's incredible how comfortable people are with race there. But I was surprised when I came to America the first time. It was very, very rare to see black and white couples holding hands."
As for her own role as a symbol of mixed-race normalcy, "I like to think that our popularity transcends that kind of caste system. But then when I was young and watched a game on the telly with my mom and brother, it didn't matter which country the person came from, if they were black we wanted them to win. The same if it was two boxers, the black one had to win. People do bask in their reflection."
When asked how she'd identify herself today, Sade ruminates. Finally she replies, "I'd probably say more black than white because I'm more like my dad or my granny and less like my mother, who's white. Maybe if I was more like my mother I'd feel differently ... I look a lot like my father and his mother. What's interesting is that I spent my life away from my dad. When I was 20 I went and stayed with him solidly for a month to six weeks. Just me and him, and it was very intense. What I discovered was myself even in his choices and taste and mannerisms. I realized I haven't just inherited him socially, but his physical attributes."
In an age of artists who blog and tweet opinions, heartaches and promotional messages on an hourly basis, Sade, predictably, demurs. She is not on Twitter or Facebook, though the band has an official Facebook page. She does, however, search the Web "looking for bricks and railing" for her farm.
One 21st century music business convention she does acknowledge enjoying is sampling. "When it comes to sample clearances, I'm probably the cheapest chick in the west," she says, quite amused by that idea. She has, however, turned down many prominent MCs, including Jay -Z, who have wanted to rhyme over her beats or do "collabos" with her singing a hook on a hip-hop track.
"I'm too scared," she says. "They'll find me out. It's like 'The Wizard of Oz.' They'll find out there's nothing there. As for collaborations, I'm collaborating with the band and do what we do. I see myself as a member of this band who does these songs that we write."
LOVE Sade and how well both she and her music stand up to the passage of time! I think this song requires a few listens to really grow on you...give it time.
And btw, Sade requires NO autotune. Not sure what that commenter was hearing.
And btw, Sade requires NO autotune. Not sure what that commenter was hearing.
I think she's special in the way she conveys "feeling", but it's not happening for me here.
female Prince on sleeping pills, extremely boring
I like Sade, and this is quite a departure for her. Less subtle, more "rock-band" and message-oriented. I like it, though. It's very compelling. 
How Duran Duran of Sade (circa 1988's "Big Thing") Updated to include modern hip-hop production techniques it sounds kinda cool. . .
Seems to be the point. Soldier = Army = Cadence = Drum Corps.
RParadise wrote:
RParadise wrote:
Am I the only one who thinks the drums are too far forward in this mix?
gofishbish wrote:
Cover sucky too. All the best Sade imho is «Diamond Life» & «Promise»
sexy cover. sucky song.
Cover sucky too. All the best Sade imho is «Diamond Life» & «Promise»
Ozzy to Sade; definition of "eclectic"
It took awhile to get used to that urban music feel, but now I like it a bunch.
sexy cover. sucky song.
She always has a set of crack musicians, but her vocals are just so flat and delivered without any enthusiasm or emotion.
This sounds like a 5 year old playing with Garage Band. Friggin' painful and WAY too long...
topherg87 wrote:
Agreed! 7 > 8
Though, this cd is also in the car right now...so I've heard it several times now. This, like the entire album, took a little time to grow on me. But now, I'm really liking it. Groove on...
6 > 7
seems to get better each time i hear it
seems to get better each time i hear it
Agreed! 7 > 8
Though, this cd is also in the car right now...so I've heard it several times now. This, like the entire album, took a little time to grow on me. But now, I'm really liking it. Groove on...
love Sade, but this is theme music to CSI.
6 > 7
seems to get better each time i hear it
seems to get better each time i hear it
What a testament to Sade's artistry, that she can address something so deep with a song that, at first listen, seems so easy-listening. But let it seep into your bones and the panorama of pain being addressed comes creeping into the forefront. Amazing.
Am I the only one who thinks the drums are too far forward in this mix?
Rafter101 wrote:
I'm a fan too, but really like this 'edgier' number in contrast to her usual smoothville material. 7 from the Nottingham jury.
I love Sade, but am really, really hating this song.
I'm a fan too, but really like this 'edgier' number in contrast to her usual smoothville material. 7 from the Nottingham jury.
I love Sade, but am really, really hating this song.
bbryan wrote:
An army of producers creating a soldier of love? LOL
It's the sound of Sade and an army of producers...
An army of producers creating a soldier of love? LOL
yclept wrote:
...what?..
...no, that's her voice; she's amazing...
There's so much autotune used in this that I feel like I'm strapped into a shiatsu barcalounger. This is not a good feeling.
...what?..
...no, that's her voice; she's amazing...
Nice groove.
bbryan wrote:
She could've been so much more than this . . . IMO.
Poster on my 80s wall. Give her a few Amy Winehouse tunes and see what she can do with it.
It's the sound of Sade and an army of producers...
She could've been so much more than this . . . IMO.
Poster on my 80s wall. Give her a few Amy Winehouse tunes and see what she can do with it.
How is it that a musician can look and sound the same after 25+yrs??
LastChance wrote:
Yeah, like, this is not the Sade I remember from my teens. I'm like, what?
Huh? This is Sade?
Yeah, like, this is not the Sade I remember from my teens. I'm like, what?
128k AAC feed, sub is thumpin, surround system doin it's thing, turned up loud. Enjoying it for what it is. 
Not liking this one...too much like Top 40 R&B for my tastes.
There's so much autotune used in this that I feel like I'm strapped into a shiatsu barcalounger. This is not a good feeling.
It's almost as if the eighties never ended.
Shame - her last album (Lovers Rock) was much less cliched. On this one she's trying much too hard, IMHO.
Shame - her last album (Lovers Rock) was much less cliched. On this one she's trying much too hard, IMHO.
Kinda different for Sade, I think I need to hear this a few more times and see if I still like it. Love to hear some more of this album.
Huh? This is Sade?
It's the sound of Sade and an army of producers...
Thank You Bill!!!! Love SADE always have...always will......rockin' in my office at UT Austin
I'm not sure I understand the comments that this is too 80s. I have a pretty low tolerance for 80s-revival, and I like this a lot. 8
Jelani wrote:
I'd settle for creepy and ominous. This is pure chloroform.
I'd settle for creepy and ominous. This is pure chloroform.
Just have to mute this on the heels of Miles Davis. Too abrupt a comedown.
Here's were I get to say "this can't end soon enough!"
don't like the creepy goat baby noise.
Jelani wrote:
Cool image
Cool image
Saw her do this on tv last night. Quite dull.
gregler wrote:
I'm a huge fan of her old stuff, but I agree; this is a weak attempt in my opinion.
Somehow what was charming in the 80s, sounds a bit more tricky to pull off today.. I mean, Soldier of Love ?
I'm a huge fan of her old stuff, but I agree; this is a weak attempt in my opinion.
This isn't a great song — there are better from this new album.
But the guitar riffs and drumbeats are interesting. The song goes on a bit too long, but it's not bad overall.
But the guitar riffs and drumbeats are interesting. The song goes on a bit too long, but it's not bad overall.
Mo — no — ton — ous
middleagedhipster wrote:
Hey nice call,
this tune does have that vibe. Her voice still sounds silky smooth.
You sure this isn't Massive Attack ft. Sade?
Hey nice call,
this tune does have that vibe. Her voice still sounds silky smooth.PS: I'd like my soldier to meet hers. :-)
I like this. It's not so "smooth " as her previous work. I' m really surprized the the Massive Attack crowd haven't gathered 'round this.
Maybe because it's too close for comfort? Maybe because it's better?
I don't know. Someone enlighten me.
Maybe because it's too close for comfort? Maybe because it's better?
I don't know. Someone enlighten me.
I have such a crush on this song right now. Could fade, like other crushes, but not just yet...
Somehow what was charming in the 80s, sounds a bit more tricky to pull off today.. I mean, Soldier of Love ?
jimbaca wrote:
I've been corrected on that. Despite the pronunciation guide on her first album (Shar-day) the correct pronunciation is actually Sha-day.
It's been too long since we have heard from her. Love it! I am still puzzled about the correct pronunciation of Sade. Is it Sha-day or Shar-day?
I've been corrected on that. Despite the pronunciation guide on her first album (Shar-day) the correct pronunciation is actually Sha-day.
You sure this isn't Massive Attack ft. Sade?
It's been too long since we have heard from her. Love it! I am still puzzled about the correct pronunciation of Sade. Is it Sha-day or Shar-day?
Sade!!!!!! What happened? Her beautiful voice has now been trumped by a lame beebop beet box like most of the other crap on the teenie bop music scene. What a shame since her voice was so unusual and special.
This is a departure from the Sade we've come to know. All in all it's not that bad. Guess it has to grow on me a little more. Need to hear more from the rest of the CD.
Was never a big Sade fan. But I like this.
Hmmm. Pretty nice. The song, too.
Wonderfuul! A matured, sensitive Sade. Thanks for playing cuts from her new CD, BillG.
The whole release is excellent. If you are a Sade fan, you won't be disappointed. This tune is the heaviest, so it is a pretty mellow album, but sweet.
'This is Sade?!'
My remark after discovering who was doing this very cool sounding tune.
Very nice.
My remark after discovering who was doing this very cool sounding tune.
Very nice.
I like this!
glad she's back. would like to hear more of what she's got to say...
I'll go with 7. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Sade!
wow, that's pretty different from her "smooth operator" period.