From SOMETIMES LATE AT NIGHT
Written by Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach & Bruce Roberts
Take a Burt Bacharach timeless melody and put it in David Foster’s capable hands and what you get is a work of art like “Stronger Than Before”. It is a ballad that Foster arranged and where he also played keyboards, lending a good hand like he often did for Bacharach and Bayer Sager in the eighties. Sure Carole Bayer Sager isn’t a singer but she tries her best and the overall result is very pleasant. She is a great lyricist who has won Oscars and Grammys over the years, and has been at the top of the charts with songs like “On My Own”, “That’s What Friends Are For” and many others. In the eighties she married Bacharach and they became a great songwriting item too; she has also collaborated with Foster since the seventies and their most successful result is “The Prayer” written for Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. “Stronger Than Before”, covered also by Chaka Khan and The Pointer Sisters, was a top 30 hit and it was included in her 1981 record “Sometimes Late At Night”, an album that is filled with good music, sweet melodies like “Just Friends” with Michael Jackson sharing the vocals and “Wild Again” with Richard Page (Mr. Mister) showcasing his amazing vocal talent. It was Sager’s third solo work and, without any doubt, her best one, especially for the fact that all but two songs are co-written with Bacharach, one of pop music’s true geniuses. Nowadays Carole Bayer Sager is still writing successful songs and she’s also one of the founders of Tonos together with Babyface and her old friend David Foster.
Listen
[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/archives/clips/stronger_than_before.mp3|titles=STRONGER THAN BEFORE|artists=Carole Bayer Sager]
Lead Vocals: Carole Bayer Sager
Drums: Jeff Porcaro
Bass: Lee Sklar
Guitar: Lee Ritenour & Jay Graydon
Fender Rhodes & Synthesizer: David Foster
Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
Backing Vocals: Vennette Gloud, Richard Page, Steve George & Bruce Roberts
Arranged by David Foster
Produced by Burt Bacharach & Brooks Arthur
Lyrics
If you don’t believe what I say
You won’t believe I’m not that way
And I never meant to turn the hurt around
I would be a fool to lose the love I’d found
And if you take me back, I’ll let you know
I’ll be stronger than before, I will love you even more
Oh, I’ll take you back, if you come back
I’ll take you anywhere you ever want to be
You’re the light inside of me
Oh, I’ll take you back, if you come back to me
If you heard the whole thing before
Then once again, I’ll tell you more
I would be a fool to ever let you go
Oh I had to go away to finally know
How much I need you back, I need your love
I’ll be stronger than before, I will love you even more
Oh, I’ll take you back, if you come back
I’ll take you anywhere you ever want to be
You’re the light inside of me
Oh, I’ll take you back, if you come back
I’ll take you anywhere you ever want to be
You’re the light inside of me
Oh, I’ll take you back, if you come back to me
Come back to me, come back to me
I’ll take you back, if you come back to me
Come back to me
If you come back to me
Come back to me, come back to me
I’ll take you back
If you come back to me, come back to me
(Stronger, stronger) Stronger than before
I will love you even more
Oh, I’ll take you back, if you come back
I’ll take you anywhere you ever want to be (Stronger, stronger)
You’re the light inside of me
Oh, I’ll take you back if you come back to me,
Come back to me, come back to me
(Stronger, yeah) I’ll be stronger than before,
I will love you even more
Oh, I’ll take you back, if you come back
I’ll take you anywhere you ever want to be (Stronger, stronger)
By the light inside of me
Oh, I’ll take you back if you come back to me,
Come back to me, come back to me
(Stronger, yeah) I’ll be stronger than before,
I will love you even more
Oh, I’ll take you back, if you come back
I’ll take you anywhere you ever want to be (oh yeah, yeah)
You’re the light inside of me
Oh, I’ll take you back if you come back to me,
Come back to me, come back to me