“As We Lay” “Husband,” and “Go On Without You” singer,Shirley Murdock, revealed that she didn’t want to create her song that most of us loved back in the day: “As We Lay.” In fact, it almost didn’t get recorded and here’s why according to Murdock:
Shirley Murdock: “What a lot of people don’t know is that “As We Lay” was a remake. It was originally sung by a group called The Human Body, which consisted of Billy Beck from the Ohio Players, Ray Davis of George Clinton’s P-funk [the deep bass voice on hits like “Atomic Dog”] and Larry Hatcher of P-Funk’s Horny Horns. Billy Beck sang the lead vocals on the original version but it never really hit for them.”
“Although it was one of the last songs to go on my debut album, everyone thought it would be a hit. However, I had a problem with the song because I was a born-again Christian and the lyrics didn’t sound like [those adulterers] were remorseful, nor was it a Godly situation. So I added a line that I could live with: ‘We should have counted up the cost, but instead we got lost, in the second, in the minute, in the hour, as we lay.’ The reason I had no problem singing the song once I added that line was because it reflected everyday life. It didn’t have to be in your situation for you to understand it. Those words explained that in life there’s a price tag, and the moral of “As We Lay” is that you have to count the cost because it doesn’t just affect you, but everyone in your world. It’s like writing a check and you know good and well you don’t have the money to pay for that bill. It’s a shame that people bounce their life accounts with insufficient funds, making permanent decisions based upon temporary wants.” -via Essence
Aren’t you glad Shirley was able to create the line that she wanted to include? Whew! That was close though…we almost didn’t get “As We Lay!” I sure am happy she was able to think quick on that one, because had she not, it would have changed our old school ‘slow dragging’ memories forever.
Nowadays, you can catch Murdock on various stage plays, such as the one she starred in a few years ago- the Kandi Burruss/Todd Tucker produced, “A Mother’s Love,” alongside with Kandi and Eddie Levert. She is mostly singing gospel music now, but you can still catch her also performing some of her R&B jams.
ILOSM fam,’ reminisce with us to this Shirley Murdock classic…
