I Can Help

"I Can Help" is a song written and performed by Billy Swan. Released in July 1974, the song was a big crossover smash, reaching No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Singles charts late that fall. Although Swan had other charting singles on both the Hot 100 and country charts, the song is generally recognized as being Swan's only major hit single release. However, Swan had continued success as a songwriter for other artists and as a session musician.

Production

Billy Swan secured his own recording deal with Monument Records, after his return to Nashville in August 1963. From the time he secured the deal, Swan began composition of 'I Can Help' in a music room that his wife, Marlu, had converted from a closet inside the small duplex that they shared close to his city's Centennial Park. Swan has revealed that he used a 'Rock' preset, from his Rhythm Master drum machine, when writing the song; "It played 16ths and sounded like a sock cymbal, so I just started playing these chords along with it, and the song came in about 20 minutes. I didn't always write that quickly, but from my experience the ones that come quickly are the good ones. 'Lover Please' was like that, and so was 'Everything's the Same'. With 'I Can Help' I actually wrote the three verses first, and since I needed something to put between the second and third verse I then came up with the bridge. The whole thing just came out of the air, including the words."

I Can

I Can may refer to:

See also

I Can (Blue song)

"I Can" is a song by British pop group Blue, taken from their fourth studio album, Roulette. It was the United Kingdom's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany. The song came 11th scoring 100 points. The single was released on 1 May 2011 as a digital download, with the physical release the day after. "I Can" peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Blue's lowest-charting single in the UK. The song was written by group members Duncan James and Lee Ryan with Ciaron Bell, Ben Collier, Ian Hope, Liam Keenan, and Norwegian production team StarSign. It was produced by Ronny Svendsen and Hallgeir Rustan, the latter who previously produced several of Blue's hit singles.

Critical reception

Digital Spy gave the song three stars out of five, and wrote: "I've never lost anything quite like this/ No second chances if I don't find it," the band continue over juddering synths that give way to a fist-clenching, Blue for 2011 chorus that sadly just misses the spot - the watered down production suggesting they aren't as cocksure of this plan as they claim. [...] Still - call them crazy, but there's enough here to suggest they might just pull the whole thing off."

I Can (Nas song)

"I Can" is the second single from the Nas album, God's Son. It was released internationally February 11, 2003.

Composition

Boasting production from Salaam Remi, the song samples Ludwig van Beethoven's "Für Elise" and The Honey Drippers' "Impeach the President".

Its lyrics are positive, encouraging the youth to stay drug-free, and pursue their dreams. The lyrics also detail various events in African history.

Music video

The music video, directed by Chris Robinson, was shot in Philadelphia, and contains footage of Nas rapping while children stand around him. The video starts out with the music from the introduction of "Get Down," but it soon transitions into "I Can." As the video starts, a young girl starts off by playing the piano in a vacant lot, and later one can see children jumping on a mattress in the same lot. The video also contains footage of break dancing and famous Egyptian structures.

Reception

The single received mixed to positive reviews. Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone magazine labels "I Can" as "a silly stay-in-school ad attached to a Beethoven sample." This comment may be attributed to the "singsongy" call and response chorus featuring the voices of young children. Other reviewers appreciated "I Can" more: Jon Robinson of IGN.com claims that on his second single, "Nas delivers some of his most inspiring lyrics to date."