Michelle Williams, “Say Yes” cover
You can shut down your computer after you read this article. Turn on your away message, go home, and get into bed, because nothing else you do today can possibly top the news that, for one video only, the women of Destiny’s Child are BACK TOGETHER.
In the video for her new single “Say Yes,” Williams dances exuberantly down side streets and in front of a tree, singing about how “when Jesus say yes, nobody can say no.” After the first chorus, Beyoncé shows up in front of the tree; then Kelly Rowland takes the bridge. If you’re not singing along on your feet at that point, maybe make sure you have a soul?
The song is a dance remix of a popular Nigerian gospel song–you can see the Soweto Gospel Choir performing the song last year at a New York Church–and makes a case for trusting God even when you’re worried. Sample lyrics:
Where you lead me, Lord I will go
I have no fear cause I know who’s in control
There’s no limit to what you can do
Cause it all belongs to you, yes it all belongs to you
You’re almighty and all powerful
And it all belongs to you, yes it all belongs to you
Williams, who stars as a mentor on the upcoming Oxygen show “Fix My Choir,” (which I hope is a lot like “Pimp My Ride,” but for choirs), has talked frequently about the pressures of being a Christian artist in a mostly secular arena. Critics have accused her of abandoning her Christian roots for fame, but as she said in an interview last year, “Some people will do gospel when their career fails, but I chose to do it at the height of the popularity of Destiny’s Child…And I didn’t want to do it because it was a fad. I wanted to do it because it’s in me. It’s in my heart.” Williams was also set to play Mary Magdalene on the latest tour of Jesus Christ Superstar before it was suddenly cancelled.
Looping her former bandmates into the “Say Yes” video will certainly give the song a boost, although I’ve already caught myself singing it enough today that it may not have even needed the help–it’s a catchy tune. But the Destiny’s Child dance break toward the end of the song will have me coming back to the video time and again throughout the summer. Can you play a song about Jesus in the club?
