Kool & The Gang, “Cherish” | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 130^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2022), we recollect and reflect on “Cherish” by Kool & The Gang. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome – we don’t discriminate ‘round here! In the 130^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2022), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Cherish”, performed by 🎙 Kool & The Gang. 

Theme & Lyrics ✍

“Let’s cherish every moment we have been given / For time is passing by.” So true, 🎙 Kool & The Gang.  The R&B collective is responsible for a host of hits, including 🎵 “Cherish”, which just missed the top spot on the pop charts in 1985. It was the highest charting of the two top 10 hits from the group’s 1984 album, 💿 Emergency.  “Cherish” is an exquisitely produced, midtempo ballad that encourages cherishing love. “If you receive your calling before I wake / Could I make it through the night?” It is, indeed, food for thought.

The chorus, of course, serves as the centerpiece of “Cherish,” repeating the titular lyric a total of five times:

“Cherish the love we have

We should cherish the life we live

Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love.”

The words are simple but absolutely prudent – sound, sound advice.  The second verse focuses on an ever-changing world highlighting the fact that “Love will stand the test of time.” Good stuff! Also great is the following lyrics: “The next life that we live in remains to be seen / Will you be by my side?” We can only hope, right?

Final Thoughts 💭

Oh, my goodness, do I cherish the musical gift that Kool & The Gang unleashed with 🎵 “Cherish”.  Yes, the collective’s ace-in-the-hole is 🎵 “Celebration” rightfully, but “Cherish” is absolutely stunning.  It is a solid representation of the adult contemporary brand of R&B that evolved in the 1980s. While it sounds characteristic of the era, it certainly does NOT sound like an anachronism in the 2020s.  This is an epic R&B joint!

🎙 Kool & The Gang • 💿 Emergency • 🏷 UMG Recordings Inc. • 🗓 1984

Kool & The Gang, “Cherish”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 130 (2022) [📷: Brent Faulkner, Gerhard G., JL G via Pixabay,  Karl Hörnfeldt via Unsplash,  The Musical Hype, UMG Recordings Inc.]