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WAITING FOR YOU TO DECIDE

from CHICAGO 16 
Written by David Foster, David Paich & Steve Lukather

The now classic Chicago 16 was released in June 1982. Produced by David Foster, Chicago 16  brought the band back to the top of the charts. The main ingredient for this comeback story was the worldwide hit “Hard To Say I’m Sorry,” co-written by Peter Cetera and Foster and already reviewed on the website.

Other important reasons that factored into Chicago’s resurgence were the group’s superior musicianship, Foster’s spectacular work behind the glass and Cetera’s crystal-clear voice at the pinnacle of his career. Another thing that can’t be overlooked was the unprecedented vocal interplay between Cetera’s tenor and Bill Champlin’s soulful and gritty baritone. Champlin was the new name in the band, but already had a long and illustrious career in the music business. Cetera’s and Champlin’s vocal blend truly took Chicago’s harmonies to a new level on the album, but were especially impressive on a couple of songs. The first was another past Song of the Week; the funky and soulful “Bad Advice” while the other was the pick for this week, “Waiting For You To Decide.”

This pop/rock mid-tempo was co-written by Foster with two of his pals and legendary Toto members, David Paich and Steve Lukather. On “Waiting For You To Decide,” Cetera and Champlin traded lines with immense class while they were backed by the trademark Chicago Horns. The Chicago Horns were quite up-front compared to other songs on this record, thus giving “Waiting For You To Decide” a flavor of those classic Chicago albums of the seventies as well as echoes of Toto’s refined rock. Foster and Paich added some colorful keyboards and synths to the recipe while Lukather took care of the top-notch guitar riffs.

“Waiting For You To Decide” was a great example of the catchiness of the Fosterized version of the Chicago supergroup. No wonder Chicago 16 went on to sell millions around the world and paved the way for the even bigger success of Chicago 17.


Listen


  • Lead & Backing Vocals: Peter Cetera & Bill Champlin
  • Keyboards: David Foster
  • Synthesizer: David Paich
  • Synthesizer Programming: Steve Porcaro
  • Drums: Danny Seraphine
  • Bass: Peter Cetera
  • Guitar: Steve Lukather & Chris Pinnick
  • Saxophone: Walter Parazaider
  • Trumpet: Lee Loughnane
  • Trombone: James Pankow
  •  
  • Rhythm Arrangements by David Foster, Peter Cetera & Danny Seraphine
  • Horns Arranged by James Pankow & David Foster
  • Background Vocal Arrangements by Peter Cetera & Bill Champlin
  • Produced & Arranged by David Foster

Lyrics

Used to think that you’d do anything for me.
I thought your heart was pounding at my door.
Now it seems that things aren’t right.
You’ve been crying every night.
You’re rainy season just ain’t slowing down.
I still love you even though there’s things you can’t explain.
I don’t want to know if you’ve been lying all along.
You’ve been running away. now you’ve run out of places to hide.
I can no longer stand here waiting for you to decide
If there’s a heart still left inside.
There’s someone watching tonight.
You’ve been trying for some time to get away from me.
It’s just the same old game you’ve tried before.
We’ve talked it out a thousand time. it’s still the same old useless lines.
You’ve made your point now why can’t i make mine?
I still love you even though there’s things you can’t explain.
I don’t want to know if you’ve been lying all this time.
You’ve been running away. now you’ve run out of places to hide.
I can no longer stand here waiting for you to decide
If there’s a heart still left inside.
You can’t get away. there’s someone watching tonight.