It's Gotta Be That Way
Gladys Knight & The Pips Lyrics

Now if I should walk away
If I ever decide to leave our relationship

From this freedom I now possess
From the freedom I currently have within our relationship

Honey, you must do the same
You also need to be able to walk away without regrets

Without having any regrets, no
Without feeling guilty or remorseful about it

And you must offer me more
I need more from you than just promises of treating me right

Than your promise of treating me right
I need tangible actions from you, not just words

Whoa, oh, oh, it's gotta be that way
Our relationship has to be based on mutual effort and respect

Now I don't mean to save my bill
I'm not saying that you have to bear all the expenses

I must have money to be extreme
But I need financial security to be comfortable and secure

Just give me a lot of love and care
What I need from you is affection, concern, and attention

Oh, honey and all of those things
And all the things that make someone feel cared for and loved

And I won't ask no more of you
I won't demand more than what I'm willing to do for you

Than I wouldn't do for you myself
I won't ask you to do anything that I would not do for you myself

Now we can't judge what we've got
We cannot compare our relationship with others

By the people living next door
Or with anyone around us

Even though Mr. Jones makes
Even if someone appears to have more than we do

Ooh and he has a whole lot more
We cannot judge our happiness based on material possessions

But instead let's make each other feel
Let's make each other feel loved and appreciated

That having our love is twice as much
That our love is more valuable than any material possessions

Now should our mothers say something
If our families try to interfere in our relationship

About maybe doing each other wrong
Or point out our mistakes or faults

I'd simply say we can work it out
We can solve our problems and differences by ourselves

And politely ask them to leave us alone
And request them to stay out of our personal lives

And we won't let our friends interfere
We won't allow our friends to get involved in our relationship issues

Let our problems to them be unknown
We'll keep our personal problems private and handle them ourselves

I want to say it's gotta be that way
Our relationship has to be based on trust, understanding, and mutual effort

And if I give you all I've got
If I give you everything I have - my love, effort, and commitment

I want all that you've got to give
I want the same from you - your love, effort, and commitment

Now if you should sometimes
If there are times when you want to do things independently

Want to be out with the boys
Or hang out with your friends

It's alright with me, go ahead
I'm okay with that, it's your decision

If that's really what you enjoy
If that makes you happy

And if I want to be with the girls
And if I want to do things independently, too

Playing cards and all those kinds of games
Like playing games with my friends

I'm not trying to be demanding
I'm not being controlling or manipulative about this

I just want to have a little understanding
I just want us to have open communication and respect each other's independence

'Cause this ain't no game we're about to play
Our relationship is serious and we must be willing to make sacrifices to make it work

And a good foundation is based on
A strong, stable relationship is built on

A lot of love and sacrifice
A lot of love, effort, and compromises

Can't you understand, can't you understand
Don't you see, don't you see

No matter how much I love you, babe
No matter how much I love you

It's gotta be that way
Our relationship must be based on mutual respect and effort