Video hit Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige - Be Without You
Be Without You is a song by American recording artist Mary J. Blige. It was written by Johnta Austin, Bryan Michael Cox, Jason Perry and Blige for her seventh studio album The Breakthrough. Produced by Cox, it was released as the album's first official single in late 2005.
Ranking among the most played songs on US radio in the year 2006, the single was certified double platinum by the RIAA in 2007. With 15 weeks at number one, and a 75 week span on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, it is the second most successful R&B song in the 50 year history of that chart (after Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines"). It is also one of Mary J. Blige's most successful singles to date, peaking at 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 . The song was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year and won the Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance categories at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.
Music video
The music video for "Be Without You" was directed by Matthew Rolston and was shot on various locations in New York City in October 2005.
Starring Oscar-nominated actor Terrence Howard in the role of Blige's boyfriend the video first aired on November 28, 2005. It peaked on AOL Videos Top 11 on the tenth spot on the January 21, 2006 entering the chart the first time and also the LAUNCH Music Videos Top 100 at the sixth position the same week. There's also a "Live At Launch Exclusive Performance" available for download from January 2006, which peaked seventieth on the same chart.
It won the "Video of the Year" award at the 2006 BET Awards on June 27, 2006 and was nominated for "Best R&B Video" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.
The video begins in a black and white city where Blige is standing on top of the building as the song begins. Then, it shifts into a bathroom where Mary cleans out the mirror. In the 1st scene, Blige is typing the lyrics on her laptop. The next scene shows a color appeared where Mary is falling in love with her boyfriend and sleeping with him. Then, the next scene goes to a kitchen where Mary and her love interest are celebrating dinner with her family. Meanwhile, she is seen in a color scene where she is standing next to a group of candles and the next scene shows at a red carpet premiere where Mary wallks out of the limo. Then, Blige and her boyfriend breaks up after having a fight (As seen in the events at the beginning of the video) and her boyfriend storms off. After 2 candles started melting, the final scene as the black and white changes to a color scene where a knock was on the door. Blige opens it and it was her boyfriend. She hugged him at the end of the song.
The lyrics:
I wanna be with you, gotta be with you, need to be with you
I wanna be with you, gotta be with you, need to be with you
Chemistry was crazy from the get go, neither one of us knew why
We didn't deal nothing overnight cuz a love like this takes some time
People swore it off as a phase, said we can't see that
Now from top to bottom, they see that we did that
Yes, it's so true that
Yes, we've been through it
Yes, we got real sh**
Yes
See baby we've been too strong for too long
And I can't be without you baby
And I'll be waiting up until you get home
Cuz I can't sleep without you baby
Anybody who's ever loved, ya know just what I feel
Too hard to fake it, nothing can replace it
Call the radio if you just can't be without your baby
I got a question for ya
See I already know the answer
But still I wanna ask you
Would you lie?
No
Make me cry?
No
Do somethin' behind my back and then try to cover it up?
Well, neither would I, baby
My love is only your love
Yes, I'll be faithful
Yes, I'm for real
Yes, and with us you'll always know the deal
We've been too strong for too long
And I can't be without you baby
And I'll be waiting up until you get home
Cuz I can't sleep without you baby
If anybody who's ever loved, ya know just what I feel
Too hard to fake it, nothing can replace it
Call the radio if you just can't be without your baby
See this is real talk
I'ma always stay, no matter what
Good or bad, thick and thin
Right or wrong, all day every day
Now if you're down on love or don't believe
This ain't for you
No, this ain't for you
And if you got it deep in your heart
And deep down you know that it's true
Come on, come on, come on
Well, let me see you put your hands up
Hands up
Fellas tell your lady she's the one
Fellas tell your lady she's the one, oh
Put your hands up
Hands up
Ladies let him know he's got you locked
Look him right in his eyes and tell him
We've been too strong for too long
And I can't be without you baby
I'll be waiting up until you get home
Cuz I can't sleep without you baby
If anybody who's ever loved, ya know just what I feel
Too hard to fake it, nothing can replace it
Call the radio if you just can't be without your baby
Hey oh
Hey oh
I wanna be with you, gotta be with you, need to be with you
I wanna be with you, gotta be with you, need to be with you
I wanna be with you, gotta be with you, need to be with you
I wanna be with you, gotta be with you, need to be with you
I wanna be with you, gotta be with you, need to be with you