“I know that you’ve been hurt before

by men who swear it all.

But I just wanna say,

wanna take it day by day.“

– After 7

“What U R 2 Me”, performed by After 7, lends its sweet and understated melody to the mid-tempo dance-pop of the Spice Girls’ “Say You’ll Be There.” The former’s reassuring lyrics and easygoing manner also provide an antidote to the latter’s romantic ambivalence.

Lines like “a thousand words for why I love you” and “you’re the rest of my life” would terrify any commitment-phobe. However, buoyed by smooth, jazzy saxophone and the honey harmonies of After 7’s Melvin Edmonds, Kevon Edmonds, and Keith Mitchell, the avowals should sound at minimum intriguing.

For those would-be lovers shilly-shallying between “I do” and “I don’t,” “What U R 2 Me” soothes all hesitation with comforting concessions: “I can understand how you want your space. Give it all some time to let it soak into your mind.”

In “Say You’ll Be There”, the Spice quintet protests, “Last time we had this conversation, I decided we should be friends.” Undaunted by the resistance, the After 7 trio responds with the forbearance of a suitor nestled in for the long haul: “Wanna take it day by day…Pick you up whenever you fall.”

From the album Reflections

Written by Jon B.

Interpolated in “Say You’ll Be There”,

performed by Spice Girls