I just heard that soul crooner Teddy Pendergrass has succumbed to complications stemming from surgery for colon cancer, and the world has truly lost a legend with his passing, having had one of the deepest (in every way) deliveries around, raspy and guttural in a manner which was consistent with the decades this man spent singing his heart out---Mr. Pendergrass was ordained as a minister at the tender age of 10, and always sang in Philly-area gospel choirs previous to his breaking into the recording world. Renowned production duo Gamble & Huff worked real magic with this track, giving it a feeling of movement with those violins and that rubbery bassline, like walking down a bustling metropolitan street; DJ Sneak reworked this number into a stomping house track in the mid ‘90s, appropriately titled “You Can’t Hide from Your Bud”. The zen-like simplicity of his chorus actually packs a wallop upon further contemplation, “…you can’t hide from yourself; everywhere you go, there you are…” The human capacity to lie to oneself is seemingly endless, knowing full well that what Teddy says is true even though we often try so hard to believe otherwise, drunk on the success of fooling others and acting day to day from Kindergarten forwards; problem is, you can’t lie to yourself forever, so you might as well just embrace what’s there, because life is too damn short!
