Dialogue (Part I & II)
| "Dialogue (Part I & II)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Chicago | ||||
| from the album Chicago V | ||||
| B-side | "Now That You've Gone" | |||
| Released | October 1972 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | September 1971 | |||
| Genre | Funk rock, pop rock | |||
| Length |
5:00 (Single version) 2:56 (Part I) 4:13 (Part II) 7:11 (Album version) | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Robert Lamm | |||
| Producer(s) | James William Guercio | |||
| Chicago singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Dialogue" is a song written by Robert Lamm for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago V (1972). On the album the song is over 7 minutes long and is divided into two tracks. An edited version of the song was released as a single in October 1972, eventually reaching #24 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[1]
In Part I, the song's lyrics are a dialogue between two young people with different views. The first person (whose lines are sung by Terry Kath) is very concerned about events of the early 1970s, such as war, starvation, and "repression... closing in around." The second person (whose lines are sung by Peter Cetera) maintains that "everything is fine." Musically, the song is also a dialogue between Kath's rhythm guitar and Cetera's bass, which is all the more interesting as the songwriting credit went to keyboardist Lamm. As Part I comes to a close, Kath's character sarcastically endorses the other character's worldview, saying "you know you really eased my mind; / I was troubled by the shapes of things to come." The response, which hints at an acknowledgment of culpability: "Well, if you had my outlook, your feelings would be numb - you'd always think that everything was fine"
Part II contains more optimistic lyrics sung by the whole band, including "we can make it better" and "we can change the world now" and points the way by noting "we can save the children."
Personnel
- Terry Kath - lead vocals (first person and part two), fuzzed wah-wah electric guitars (plus solo)
- Peter Cetera - lead vocals (second person and part two), bass
- Robert Lamm - lead vocals (part two), Fender Rhodes electric piano
- Danny Seraphine - drums, maracas, timbales, tambourine, backing vocals (part two)
- Jimmy Pankow - trombone, backing vocals (part two)
- Lee Loughnane - trumpet, backing vocals (part two)
- Walt Parazaider - tenor saxophone, backing vocals (part two)
References
- ↑ "Chicago Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-08-17.