13 Please Songs That You Must Listen To | Playlist 🎧

13 Please Songs That You Must Listen To features music courtesy of Cardi B, Daniel Caesar, Dua Lipa, Father John Misty & Lana Del Rey. 

We strive to compile compendiums that will be PLEASING in your sight with songs that are also PLEASING to your ears.  The key, hence, is we aim to PLEASE.  Can we – I – make it any clearer about the modus operandi of this playlist, 🎧 13 Please Songs That You Must Listen To? Yeah, it’s meant to PLEASE the sugar honey iced tea out of you! 🎧 13 Please Songs That You Must Listen To, hence, features music courtesy of 🎙 Cardi B, 🎙 Daniel Caesar, 🎙 Dua Lipa, 🎙 Father John Misty, and 🎙 Lana Del Rey among others.  Keeping tabs stylistically, we have rap, we have R&B, we have pop, and we have alternative/singer-songwriter.  Always eclectic when it comes to PLEASE songs, we are no different, always seeking to PLEASE different ears.

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1. Lana Del Rey, “Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing”

💿 Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd • 🏷 Interscope • 🗓 2023

“God, if you’re near me, send me three white butterflies / Or an owl to know you’re listening, sitting while I’m drinking.” Um, okay… 🎵 “Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing” (what a title) maintains the sheer excellence of 💿 Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, the ninth studio album by 🎙 Lana Del Rey. It features French pianist 🎙 RIOPY, sampling his 2019 song, 🎵 “Flo”. RIOPY successfully fuels Del Rey’s fire, further accentuated by the production genius of 🎛 Jack Antonoff.  Antonoff performs most of the instruments, with 🎙 Evan Smith adding saxophone to this awe-inspiring moment.  As for Lana, she ‘does her thing,’ impressing with her haunting instrument and colorful lyrics.  “Cause I’m good in spirit, warm-bodied / A fallible deity wrapped up in white,” she sings in the bridge, adding, “I’m folk, I’m jazz, I’m blue, I’m green / Regrettably, also a white woman / But I have good intentions even if I’m one of the last ones.” Well, alright, then!

2. Daniel Caesar, “Please Do Not Lean” (Ft. BADBADNOTGOOD)

🎵 “Please Do Not Lean” • 🏷 Hollace Inc. / Republic • 📅 2022

“Please do not lean on me, I’m unstable / You’re all you need, I’ve seen it, you’re able.” 🎙 Daniel Caesar gives “Sweet Emily, my bride to be” a fair warning on 🎵 “Please Do Not Lean”.  The 🏆 Grammy winner collaborates with the always talented 🎙 BADBADNOTGOOD, conjuring up a brilliant, contemporary soul cut. Safe to say, “Please Do Not Lean” is incredibly pleasing to the ears. Caesar, being unfit for her is an awesome means to drive the narrative; it keeps things interesting.  The fact that he isn’t shy about his shortcomings is awesome. Of course, it comes down to more than just theme and lyrics.  Caesar offers up a soulful, refined brand of vocals, showcasing his talent.  Furthermore, he has an incredibly beautiful backdrop supporting him. The boys of BADBADNOTGOOD put in some serious work behind the boards, and of course, performing on their respective instruments. I heart the harmonized vocals during the chorus. Here, the production grows in scope. Notably, there’s a stellar change of pace following the second chorus including some instrumentation changes, with rhythm guitar leading the charge.  It’s an awesome way to conclude an awesome record.

3. Dua Lipa, “Pretty Please”

💿 Future Nostalgia • 🏷 Warner • 📅 2022 

“Exactly where I want me, yeah / Underneath your body, yeah / If we take it further, I swear I ain’t gonna break.” Woo! From start to finish, 🏆 Grammy-winning English pop star 🎙 Dua Lipa is on autopilot on her incredibly engaging, utterly consistent sophomore album, 💿 Future Nostalgia. Not only is she ‘on,’ but I dare you find a chorus that won’t get stuck in your head after listening!  One of many ‘pleasing’ joints on the album is 🎵 “Pretty Please”. On “Pretty Please” pleasure is essential: “Pretty please / I need your hands on me / Sweet relief / Pretty please.” One of the best moments of this number is the end of the pre-chorus leading into the excerpted chorus.  Here, Lipa slows the tempo temporarily singing, “Could you help me slow it down?” before picking things back up (“Put my mind at ease…”).  It’s a small detail, but it contributes to the success of the song itself – a surefire bop – as well as the overall success of Future Nostalgia. 

4. Lil Baby & Lil Durk, “Please”

💿 The Voice of the Heroes • 🏷 Quality Control Music • 📅 2021 

“Lost some people on the way up, but I don’t even care / I can’t keep you, but for the night, I want to please your body.” Woo! 🎙 Lil Baby and 🎙 Lil Durk  joined forces in 2021 to serve up 💿 The Voice of the Heroes. While the joint album has many selections that ‘please’ our ears, there’s only one that literally does so: 🎵 “Please”, of course! “Please” features enigmatic production during the intro (🎛 254Bodi and Turbo). The backdrop fully establishes itself with the addition of drum programming. Lil Baby draws first blood, with his ever-alluring flow. As always, he’s agile and of course, honest. One lyric that stands out: “I’ll make you call my name until you lose your voice / Me and money married, we fuck off as a couple / Taking uppers, ‘cause I don’t like to be down too much / But I sip syrup, and I don’t play around too much.” Oh, sugar honey iced tea! Lil Baby follows his verse with the chorus, which trends more melodic.

Lil Durk enters the mix in the second verse, compelling with his tough but melodic flow. As always, he rides he beat like a champ. “No cap, got a top tier bitch, she my side bitch / Bitches from the trenches claim they kids on they taxes,” Durk spits, continuing, “How you dressing better than your kids? You need your ass kicked / A laugh, he wasn’t matching, now he matching with his casket.” All told, “Please” is worth listening to.

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5. Cardi B & Bruno Mars, “Please Me”

🎵 “Please Me” • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2019

🎙 Cardi B and 🎙 Bruno Mars – both 🏆 Grammy winners – make a formidable, totally kick ass team. On their collaboration, 🎵 “Please Me”, the results are nothing short of stellar – must-hear ear candy. “Please Me” is comprised of sleek production (Mars and 🎛 The Stereotypes) with some old-school contemporary R&B sensibilities FTW. Mars delivers smooth, high-flying vocals on the ‘irresistibly good’ chorus: “Please me, baby / Turn around and just tease me, baby / You know what I want and what I need, baby / (Let me hear you say) / Please / (Let me hear you say) / Please.” Cardi B raps both verses, exhibiting a compelling flow. In the first, she delivers one standout, freaky line: “Better fuck me like we listenin’ to Jodeci.” Hell yeah! The second verse is briefer, and she manages to break out some Spanish.  Again, I say, hell yeah! Additionally, she sings on the pre-chorus, with Bruno Mars joining her at the tail-end of this section.  Ultimately, the ear-candy and the pleasure are legit. 

Appears in 🔻:

• Awesome Songs: February 2019

6. Teddy Swims, “Please Turn Green”

💿 Tough Love (EP) • 🏷 SWIMS Int. / Warner • 🗓 2022

“We called it quits, I put it in my rearview / One light away, on my way back home / Thought I was done movin’ on.” 🎵 “Please Turn Green” arrives as the second track on 💿 Tough Love.  What is Tough Love, you ask? Well, it is the 2022 EP by ATL “chameleon soul” artist, 🎙 Teddy Swims (Jaten Dimsdale).  Following a fantastic opener (🎵 “911”), he cedes no momentum whatsoever.  Beginning as a more pop-oriented track, as “Please Turn Green” progresses, there are more ‘urban elements’ with the drum programming and those modern pop trends. What remains intact and untouched are the vocals. A talented singer, Dimsdale impresses with a beautiful tone.  Furthermore, as he sings, you buy what he’s selling; he comes off incredibly authentic. “Please Turn Green” features strong songwriting, particularly in the chorus, as well as the clever title.

“Now we’re both stopped in the same place at 11:23

Prayin’ that this light would just, please, please turn green

Just please, turn green.”

7. Jessie Ware, “Please”

💿 What’s Your Pleasure (Platinum Pleasure Edition) • 🏷 Universal Music Operations Limited • 📅 2021 

“I can’ help it when the vision hits / ‘Cause I wanna be next to you.” Say that 🎙 Jessie Ware! Ware shimmers on 🎵 “Please,” a pleasant, pleasurable four-and-a-half minutes gem. “Pleases” graces the 2021 Platinum Pleasure Edition of Ware’s 2020 album, 💿 What’s Your Pleasure.  Safe to say, “Please” is a vibe – a bop-and-a-half! “I’ll give you a little if you give me a little / So, don’t upset the rhythm tonight.” “Please” commences the second disc of 💿 What’s Your Pleasure (Platinum Pleasure Edition). It features a danceable beat, cool, rhythmic synths. I adore the production by 🎛 James Ford; he puts in serious work.  Initially, the listener gets low-key vocals by Ware.  Even though she sounds cool as a cucumber, she’s sassy, delivering ample personality. She ascends higher beginning in the pre-chorus (excerpted above), signaling higher heights in the chorus.  As to be expected, the chorus is bigger, more ornate, with more dynamic vocals by Ware.

“So please (Please, please)

Show me you know how to be sweet (Sweet, sweet)

Don’t you be too good to believe

I could be the girl of your dreams (Dreams, dreams).”

8. Gucci Mane, “Gucci Please”

💿 Everybody Looking • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2016 

“Gucci please / Tell me that you love me, can I be your main squeeze / Tell me that you love me, Gucci, Gucci, Gucci please.” My, my, my! In 2016, after being incarcerated, 🎙 Gucci Mane released his first album in years, 💿 Everybody Looking.  The LP had some great moments, reintroducing the rapper. Anyways, a highlight from his comeback LP was 🎵 “Gucci Please,” where there’s plenty to heart about.  It starts with the production by 🎛 Mike WiLL Made-It, who puts in work. “Gucci Please” features pulsating, rhythmic synths – an excellent touch.  Furthermore, it’s anchored by a hard-hitting, knocking trap beat.  Switching gears to Gucci, he’s true to self. The chorus (excerpted above) is catchy, even if it is silly as albeit.  His flow is on-point, showcasing the personality we’ve come to know and love.  He doesn’t reinvent the wheel nor say much ultimately, but, following that lengthy incarceration, in 2016, it was just awesome to hear Gucci Mane again. So, what I’m saying is, we wanted every bit of 🎵 “Gucci Please!”

9. Toni Braxton, “Please”

💿 Libra • 🏷 Blackground • 📅 2005

“If he needs good lovin’ (I got it) / If I need to heat it up (I got fire) / Make sure I’m the best (for him) for (sure) / He’s running home to me for it.”  Woo, 🎙 Toni Braxton – girl! The electric 🎵 “Please” commences 💿 Libra with a bang – that’s an understatement! 🎛 Scott Storch – a force at the time – gave the 🏆 Grammy winner a sophisticated, banging backdrop to work with. “Please” fits Braxton’s adult contemporary R&B aesthetic as well as matching a sound idiomatic of the mid-aughts.  As usual, we get the full range of Toni Braxton vocally.  In the verses, she relies on that signature, sultry low register.  In the chorus, she ascends, showing off her robust middle and upper register.  All the while, she has no shortage of personality.  “Tell ya girl I don’t care to fight / I got it locked, and he’s all mine,” she boasts in the first verse, adding, “So you should know better than / To think that you could ever put it down.” Oh, snap! “Please” is a standout from an album that deserved better commercially.  At least it was certified gold.

10. Tank, “Please Don’t Go”

💿 Sex, Love & Pain • 🏷 Blackground • 📅 2007 

“Oh, she found all of the numbers I had in my car / Oh, she called all the ones I had marked wit a star.” Uh-oh! 🎙 Durrell Babbs, best known as 🎙 Tank, had a good year in 2007. His album, 💿 Sex, Love & Pain debuted at no. 2 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a 🏆 Grammy (Best R&B Album).  Woo! The song that put Sex, Love & Pain on the map was 🎵 “Please Don’t Go,” a grown-folks R&B joint that performed moderately well on the pop charts (peaked at no. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100). Also, it should come as no surprise, it was also nominated for a Grammy. “Please Don’t Go” ultimately is a well-written, well-performed R&B record.  It’s not particularly flashy or other worldly but it’s sound, sound, sound.  Tank sings well without ever forcing one note, NO CAP.  He’s sexy – physically and vocally – and that alone plays a key role in the success of “Please Don’t Go.” There’s just something about that masculine voice and ultimately, his entire masculine presence.  That said, his ripe falsetto is a vibe too.  The verses are #winning but that chorus – man – it’s the sugar honey iced tea!

“It ain’t worth telling lie

It ain’t worth seeing you cry

It ain’t worth …that’s why I’m right here begging you to please don’t go cause

… Please don’t go

Please don’t go

Please don’t go

Please don’t go.”

11. Father John Misty, “Please Don’t Die”

💿 God’s Favorite Customer • 🏷 Sub Pop • 📅 2018

“One more wasted morning / When I could be holding you / To my side, somebody stop this joyless joy ride / I’m feeling older than my thirty-five years.” 🎙 Father John Misty (Josh Tillman) is reflective and serious on the slower 🎵 “Please Don’t Die,” a highlight from his 2018 album, 💿 God’s Favorite Customer. Clearly, Tillman has been in a bad spot regarding his mental health and his wife is extremely worried about potentially losing him.  Although Tillman isn’t explicit about his intentions, the tone of the record suggests the unfortunate possibility of suicide. Tillman seem to realize how he’s affecting his wife, and he sings from her perspective on the thrilling chorus. This is where one can truly see the potential fear that Tillman’s wife had regarding him potentially committing suicide because of his mental health issues.

“Oh, and honey, I’m worried ‘bout you

You’re too much to lose

You’re all that I have

And honey, I’m worried ‘bout you

Put yourself in my shoes

You’re all that I have so please don’t die

Wherever you are tonight.” 

Appears in 🔻:

• 15 Songs That Center Around Sadness & Depression (2019)
• Songs Centered Around or Referencing Suicide, Vol. 2 (2019)

12. James Brown, “Please, Please, Please”

💿 Please, Please, Please • 🏷 Universal • 📅 1958 

“Please, please, please, please (Please, please don’t go).” Those iconic lines hail from 🎵 “Please, Please, Please,” a beloved gem from music icon 🎙 James Brown. “Please, Please, Please” is a prime example of early R&B at its best.  It was released in 1956 as single, eventually appearing on Brown’s debut album, fitting titled, 💿 Please, Please, Please.  Worth noting, this song is attributed to 🎙 James Brown & His Famous Flames.

What stands out most about “Please, Please, Please” is exactly what you’d expect – JAMES BROWN.  This record truly foreshadows the greatness to come for The Godfather of Soul.  His voice is incredibly nuanced.  He can pull back, he can push – he does a little bit of everything on this complete performance.  I’m not sure if he convinces her not to go, but he sure convinces me.  I mean, I’d be a fool to leave after he gives his all on this spirited gem! “Please, Please, Please” is iconic!

13. Bobby Womack, “Please Forgive My Heart”

💿 The Bravest Man in the Universe • 🏷 XL • 📅 2012

“Please forgive my heart / It’s not that the problem / Lies anywhere in there / I’m a liar, I’m in a dream / Going my own way / Nothing to rely on.” Prior to his death in 2014, soul icon 🎙 Bobby Womack released one final studio album, 💿 The Bravest Man in the Universe in 2012.  Sure, The Bravest Man in the Universe didn’t possess the caliber of hits that made him an icon, but for a post- prime of career album, it’s pretty sweet.  Among the crème de la crème of the final Womack studio album is the forgiving single, 🎵 “Please Forgive My Heart,” which appears as the second track on the album.

“I could try, to say I’m sorry / But that won’t be quite enough,” Womack sings on the first verse, continuing, “To let you know the pain that I feel / And it just won’t let up.” Clearly, heartbreak and heartache propel “Please Forgive My Heart.” Womack comes off repentant on this beautiful, minimalist, rhythmic number (produced by 🎛 Damon Albarn), admitting his flaws and shortcomings. In the second verse, the lyrics are more poetic than the first, with Womack singing, “Oh, the dawn is a silent witness / To the blindness of the night…” He closes the verse stunningly, singing, “Your term is not commuted / It lingers, lingers without a sound.” Of course, the chorus, which appears at the top of the blurb, sums it all up superbly.

Appears in 🔻:

• 13 Songs That Explore the Power of Forgiveness (2019)

13 Please Songs That You Must Listen To [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Atlantic, Blackground, Hollace Inc., Interscope, Quality Control Music, Republic, Sub Pop, SWIMS Int., Universal Music Operations Limited, Warner, XL; DreamDigitalArtist via Pixabay; Bernice Tong on Unsplash]