i made a thread a few months ago about the best original r&b ballads of the 90's.
i inducted men at large's so alone and i have been re-visited the last few days.
this song is really really special to me.
it's not the most tender or emotional song as far as the notes and keys that are played and sung.
it easily could have content-wise gone in a "baby i love you" or a "please take me back baby" direction over the one it took,
but they opted to make a song vaguely about losing friendship.
not explicitly or necessarily about death - just having a friend that's no longer around.
and it's just so vulnerable it's disarming.
r&b in the 90's generally was so female/love/freakin-off oriented that i think we forgot that there are other directions that songwriting can go when being matched to music that still have emotional weight.
and in this song's particular case, very heavy emotional weight.
it reminds me in some ways of drs "gangsta lean" meets gc camerons "its so hard..." albeit it's not as good a song as the latter, but emotionally it plucks similar strings if you're willing to commit to it.
this song is just so disarmingly vulnerable that it makes me cry maybe because it reminds me so much of the early 90's i dunno but i'm not even thinking about anyone i know that's died or i'm not friends with in particular - just the sentiment.
and imo, that is the ultimate purpose of songwriting/music.