Michael Franti & Spearhead: "Say Hey" (2009)

Michael Franti (born April 21, 1966) is an American poet, musician, and composer. He is the creator and lead vocalist of Michael Franti & Spearhead, a band that blends hip hop with a variety of other styles including funk, reggae, jazz, folk, and rock. He is also an outspoken supporter for a wide spectrum of peace and social justice issues.

"Say Hey (I Love You)" is a single by Michael Franti & Spearhead featuring Jamaica soulstress Cherine Anderson released in 2009 from their album All Rebel Rockers. The single is produced by Sly & Robbie. The music video peaked at number five on the VH1 Top 20 countdown and the single has peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Franti's first Hot 100 chart entry. Digital sales of "Say Hey (I Love You)" have topped 120,000 downloads.

In a January 2010 interview Franti said he wrote the lyrics to this song in the steam of a mirror just after a shower. He joked to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul: "I was staying at (US actor) Woody Harrelson's house. And, when Woody called and asked how the songwriting was going, I was like 'It's going great! I think I just wrote a hit song in the bathroom!'... And straightaway he was like 'So, is it a Number One or a Number Two?'!!"

The video for this song was filmed at Vigário Geral favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.


- Lyrics:

This one goes out to you and yours
worldwide
I say hey I'll be gone today
But I'll be back all around the way
It seems like everywhere I go
The more I see
the less I know
But I know one thing
That I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you

I’ve been a lot of places all around the way
I’ve seen a lot joy and I’ve seen a lot of pain
but I don’t want to write a love song for the world,
I just want to write a song about a boy and a girl
Junkies on the corner always calling my name
And the kids on the corner playing ghetto games
When I saw you getting down well I hoped it was you
And when I looked into your eyes I knew it was true
I say Hey I'll be gone today
But I'll be back all around the way
It seems like everywhere I go
The more I see
the less I know
But I know one thing
That I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you

Now I’m not a highly metaphysical man
But I know when the stars are aligned you can
bump into person in the middle of the road
look into their eyes and you suddenly know
Rocking in the dance hall moving with you
Dancing in the night in the middle of June
My momma told me don’t lose you
‘cause the best luck I had was you
I said Hey I'll be gone today
But I'll be back all around the way
It seems like everywhere I go
The more I see the less I know
But I know one thing
That I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you

And I said rocking in the dance hall moving with you
I said Hey momma hey momma close to you
Rocking in the dance hall moving with you
I said hey papa, hey papa close to you
Rocking in the dance hall moving with you
I said Hey Momma close to you
Rocking in the dance hall moving with you I said
hey momma, hey momma, hey momma, hey momma
hey momma, hey momma, hey momma, hey momma
what you gonna do?

My momma told me don’t lose you
Cause the best luck I had was you
And I know one thing that I love you
I said Hey I'll be gone today
but I’ll be back all around the way
It seems like everywhere I go
The more I see the less I know
I said Hey I'll be gone today
but I’ll be back all around the way
It seems like everywhere I go
The more I see the less I know
But I know one thing that I love you
I love you (3x)
I love you (3x)
I love you (3x)
I love you (3x)