LogFAQs > #956445505

93. Four Tops Reach Out Ill Be There (1966)
from the album Reach Out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EaflX0MWRo

Reach Out Ill Be There stands among Motowns biggest hits. It also stands out among that selection due to its unusually rough edge. The lyrics here could make a standard pop tune, but the production suggests anything but. Levi Stubbs sings with a sense of desperate urgency, and this song pushes his voice to a breaking point. As he shouts these seemingly comforting phrases, the tone takes on a dire edge, as though his love is dangling so precariously that this might be their last chance.

Holland-Dozier-Holland reached a high with this song. The trio fused together numerous distinct styles, intentionally evoking Bob Dylan by forcing Stubbs into his strained shout while taking disparate genre influences to separate the verses and chorus. As the song shifts from a minor to major key, it generates tension instead of relief. This is another love song at an extreme, simulating the panic of uncertainty as you watch a lover stumble. Reach Out Ill Be There absolutely oozes with unease.

Though changing up the Motown sound, this is far from a deconstruction. The Four Tops were excellent performers, and the backing harmonies bring this together. Like an inversed Where Did Our Love Go, the backing vocalists lend an air of hope to counter Stubbs desperation. The chorus is a masterwork, balancing the tension perfectly. The lead vocals could have suggested something a whole lot darker on their own a man shouting his love tends to be a scary sight. But the bliss of the harmonies reinforces his good intentions. The construction of this song appears as precarious as a house of cards, yet the final result is an unforgettable and haunting classic.

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