She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired debut album, Whoa, Nelly! (2000), which was a critical and commercial success that spawned two top-10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, "I'm Like a Bird" and "Turn Off the Light". The first of the two singles won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Furtado's introspective folk-heavy 2003 second album, Folklore, explored her Portuguese roots. Its singles received moderate success in Europe, but the album's underperformance compared to her debut was regarded as a sophomore slump.
Furtado's third album, Loose (2006), was a smash hit and became her bestselling album, with more than 10 million copies sold worldwide, also making it one of the bestselling albums of the 2000s. Considered a radical image reinvention, Furtado continued to explore her Portuguese heritage while leaning heavier into hip hop. The album spawned four successful number-one singles worldwide; "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "Say It Right" and "All Good Things (Come to an End)".
She released her first Spanish-language album, Mi Plan, in 2009, which won her a Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album. In 2012, Furtado released her nostalgia-inspired fifth album The Spirit Indestructible. Furtado split with her management and went independent thereafter, releasing her indie-pop sixth album, The Ride, in 2017 under her own label Nelstar Entertainment.
She has won many awards throughout her career, including one Grammy Award from seven nominations, one Latin Grammy Award, ten Juno Awards, one BRIT Award, one Billboard Music Award, one MTV Europe Music Award, one World Music Award, and three Much Music Video Awards. Furtado has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame, and was awarded Commander of the Order of Prince Henry on February 28, 2014, by Aníbal Cavaco Silva, the then-President of Portugal.
Say It Right
Nelly Furtado Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the day, in the night
Say it right, say it all
You either got it or you don't
You either stand or you fall
When your will is broken
When it slips from your hand
There's a hole in the plan
Oh, you don't mean nothing at all to me
No, you don't mean nothing at all to me
But you got what it takes to set me free
Oh, you could mean everything to me
I can't say (say) that I'm not (not)
Lost (lost) and at fault (fault)
I can't say (say) that I don't (don't)
Love the light (love) and the dark (love the light and the dark)
I can't say that I don't (don't)
Know that I (am) am alive
And all of what I feel (feel)
I could show (show you) you tonight, you tonight
Oh, you don't mean nothing at all to me
No, you don't mean nothing at all to me
But you got what it takes to set me free
Oh, you could mean everything to me
From my hands, I could give you
Something that I made
From my mouth, I could sing you
Another brick that I laid
From my body (from my body), I could show you (I could show you)
A place (a place) God knows (that only God knows)
You should know the space is holy (ah)
Do you really wanna go? (Three, four)
(You don't mean nothing at all to me)
(You don't mean nothing at all to me)
The lyrics of Nelly Furtado's song "Say It Right" embody the idea of communication and understanding in relationships. It speaks of the importance of being clear in what you say and what you want in a relationship. The song begins with the idea of timing and saying things at the right time, which could either make or break a relationship. The line "You either stand or you fall" highlights the importance of taking chances at the right moment or losing the opportunity entirely. The following lines deal with the fragility of relationships and the willingness to let go if it isn't working out.
The chorus, "Oh, you don't mean nothing at all to me, No, you don't mean nothing at all to me, But you got what it takes to set me free, Oh, you could mean everything to me" is about the duality of a relationship. It highlights the idea that someone may not be significant in your life, but they have the ability to affect your life positively or negatively. The bridge emphasizes the idea that one can offer themselves wholly to another and conversely, knowledge of one's space in one's life is equally important.
Overall, "Say It Right" is a song that delves deep into human relationships and emphasizes the need for clarity in communication.
Line by Line Meaning
In the day, in the night
Whether it's daytime or nighttime
Say it right, say it all
Express exactly what you mean to say
You either got it or you don't
Either you have the ability or you don't
You either stand or you fall
You either succeed or fail
When your will is broken
When your determination is shattered
When it slips from your hand
When you lose control of the situation
When there's no time for joking
When the situation is serious
There's a hole in the plan
There is an issue with the plan
Oh, you don't mean nothing at all to me
You are not important to me
No, you don't mean nothing at all to me
You are not significant to me
But you got what it takes to set me free
You have the ability to free me
Oh, you could mean everything to me
You have the potential to be very important to me
I can't say (say) that I'm not (not)
I cannot deny that I am
Lost (lost) and at fault (fault)
Confused and responsible for the mistake
I can't say (say) that I don't (don't)
I cannot deny that I
Love the light (love) and the dark (love the light and the dark)
I have a deep appreciation for both good and bad experiences
I can't say that I don't (don't)
I cannot deny that I
Know that I (am) am alive
I am aware that I am alive
And all of what I feel (feel)
Every emotion that I experience
I could show (show you) you tonight, you tonight
I could express it all to you tonight
From my hands, I could give you
I could offer you something I created with my hands
Something that I made
Something that is my creation
From my mouth, I could sing you
I could serenade you with my voice
Another brick that I laid
Another contribution that I have made
From my body (from my body), I could show you (I could show you)
I could physically show you something
A place (a place) God knows (that only God knows)
A destination that only God is aware of
You should know the space is holy (ah)
You should understand that it is sacred
Do you really wanna go? (Three, four)
Are you sure you want to venture there?
(You don't mean nothing at all to me)
You are not important to me
(You don't mean nothing at all to me)
You are not significant to me
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Anthem Entertainment, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Written by: Floyd Nathaniel Hills, Nelly Kim Furtado, Timothy Z. Mosley
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Juandomngz
@@sosickandtiredofalltheneed568 I agree with you, i'm a huge fan of Nelly and i have analysed carefully the reason why she fell from the top of the earth and i agree with you.
After "Loose", in 2009 she released the spanish album "Mi Plan", it was a huge success in the latin market and in some markets of Europe where she was one of the top selling, like Germany, Austria and Switzerland, then 3 years passed (2012) and when she cameback with an english album "The Spirit Indestructible", it had passed 6 whole years since "Loose" and besides that huge reason that she dissapeared from the limelight for so many years and in pop music (where artist usually release an album every 2 years, 3 maximum) it was a long time.
Other reasons why it flopped were that:
1) The album was introduced with the horrendous single "Big Hoops", bad choice, it should have been "Parking Lot" with a remix with Flo rida or Nicki Minaj or "Waiting for the night".
2) The album has a horrible first single, so what happens next? The single along with the album get basically ZERO promotion, aside from maybe 5 interviews in Canadian talk shows, there's no promo.
3) The album doesn't have a commercial, it's very experimental, and if you know Nelly, you know that she has ALWAYS been experimental and has gather tons of different genres and influences with each album, but if she needed an album to catapult her back to being relevant again, this was not gonna be it.
4) Something that also helps to maintain a persona in the media is attending awards shows and collaborating with big names, she didn't do any of those things either.
For the next 5 years, she was inactive in all kinds of social media and no one knew shit about her, then she comes back with an indie pop record in 2017 "The Ride", this was not going to bring her back to the charts like "Loose", but it could have created a cult following similar to the likes of Lana Del Rey, Melanie Martinez, Marina and the Diamonds, FKA Twigs, due to to the sound and aesthetics of the album, but it didn't either and now she's not even an B-list celebrity, she's like in D category.
It's 2020 and no one knows anything about her since at least the beginning of 2018, she does not use social media and it's sad, cause now she is like a nostalgia artist of the 00's.
@whatever
Anyone else going through all these old songs? Crazy that it's been 10 years!
@AndreaAlison
+whatever Meeeeeee
@ryujinjakk4
me too. btw I watch your videos
@grouphome4ever
Fo sho fam! That's what I'm all about! Some was so much better back then for ex music! It gave u that feeling like damn bruuh nowdays we got iggy on crack and other tards...
@LostFeli
+A. Huckamee Ikr! Time flies by to fast.
@misstila213
there are new songs now, a blink another 10 yrs soon lol life is like a dream
@MasterDumb
Kids on tiktok: "this song should blow up" haha they dont know this song was played everywhere in 2006! edit : i was 10 years old…my old sisters didnt had any friends back then and she was inviting me to car nights with nelly furtado on drivin on the rez!!!
@helalgulzad7208
2006 ? 🤔
@MasterDumb
@@helalgulzad7208 yes this song came in 2006, they uploaded it to youtube in 2009 ..
@jto0194
@@MasterDumb 2007