Uncle Sam “I Don’t Ever Want to See You Again”

I’m gonna talk about a song from back in the day that I loved a lot when I was a kid. It came up yesterday in conversation when I was asked if I knew who Uncle Sam was, and I mentioned this song. I still listen to it every now and then but it had been a while, so I listened to it again recently. I still like it for all the same reasons… the story, the emotion. It’s so sad, what a painful situation to be in.

This is the kind of R&B that inspires me…gGreat vocals and great songwriting. I love a meaningful song that tells a great story. Whether that story is happy, sad, complicated, it doesn’t matter. The vulnerability is what speaks to me, and when it’s conveyed with raw emotion I’m compelled to listen.

Now onto the story. He receives a letter from his best friend confessing that he’s been messing around with his girl. This song is about him trying to process how messed up the situation is, because he lost two people he loved and trusted, and they both betrayed him in the worst way. He’s hurting and wants nothing to do with either of them.

Here are the lines that break my heart.
“It took me a minute to wake up and see
What the love of my life was doing to me
I wanted to lay down and die
Cuz my pride wouldn’t let me cry
Some how I knew I had to get over it”
Ouch. I just feel terrible for him in that moment. It hurts so bad, he wants to release it but can’t let himself, he’s stuck… trapped in the cutting weight of that betrayal.

“He said he couldn’t understand until he felt your touch
Now he can see why I love you so much
And that’s so unfair
I never thought I’d have to share
Your love that I thought was given to only me”
Those first 2 lines are bittersweet. Sweet for how it illustrates the effect she had on him, bitter for how it also had that effect on the best friend, making the loss sting that much more. The last 3 are that realization that her love and touch wasn’t as special as he thought it was… it wasn’t for him only. The relationship was totally devalued.

I also really like these lines from the chorus, because of how they depict his feelings of hurt and betrayal, and how he acknowledges that love caused him to ignore any signs that were there.
“Tell me why did it have to be my best friend
That you were messin’ round with
I didn’t wanna notice it
I was true to my love for you”

I really like the adlibs on the final choruses as well, they bring so much more emotion to it, which is part of what makes adlibs so special. This is the kind of song no one would understand if I talked about when I was young, people around me were not into this type of music, or would dismiss it. I knew that was only because they didn’t get it, so it did cause me to keep certain types of songs to myself. I just obsessed over it alone in my room, and identified with callers on the radio who requested it, or DJ’s who spoke highly of it. I’ve got a few of those lol this is just one on the list. Anyway, obviously I enjoy the song, hopefully you do too.