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Dialogue (Part I & II)
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Wikipedia article
"'Dialogue'" is a song written by Robert Lamm for the group Chicago and recorded for their album 'Chicago V' (1972). On the album the song is over 7 minutes long and is divided in two parts. An edited version was released as a single in October 1972, eventually reaching #24 on the U.S. 'Billboard' Hot 100.
In Part I, the song's lyrics are a dialogue between two young people with different views. The first person (whose lines are sung by Terry Kath) is very concerned about events of the early 1970s, such as the Vietnam war, starvation, and "repression... closing in around." The second person (whose lines are sung by Peter Cetera) maintains that "everything is fine." The dialogue between the two people is also reflected musically, with Kath's guitar and Cetera's bass feeding off each other. As Part I comes to a close, Kath's character thanks the other character for the talk, saying "you know you really eased my mind/I was troubled by the shapes of things to come." Cetera's character response is of gratitude for the eye-opener: "Well, if you had my outlook, your feelings would be numb you'd always think that everything was fine".
With the two characters acknowledging the other's position, the song moves to Part II, where more propositive lyrics such as "we can make it better", "we can change the world now" and "we can save the children" are sung by the whole band. In the finale, the music fades away with the band singing a cappella the optimistic appeal "we can make it happen".
A live recording of the full song can be heard in 'Chicago XXXIV: Live in '75'. Part II was included in 'Greatest Hits, Volume II' (1982).
Personnel
* Terry Kath guitar, lead vocals (1st person, part 1), backing vocals (part 2)
* Peter Cetera bass, lead vocals (2nd person, part 1), backing vocals (part 2)
* Robert Lamm keyboards, backing vocals (part 2)
* Danny Seraphine drums, backing vocals (part 2)
* Jimmy Pankow trombone, backing vocals (part 2)
* Lee Loughnane trumpet, backing vocals (part 2)
* Walt Parazaider tenor saxophone, backing vocals (part 2)
Chart history
References
Category:1972 singles
Category:Chicago (band) songs
Category:Songs written by Robert Lamm
Category:Song recordings produced by James William Guercio
Category:Columbia Records singles
Category:1971 songs
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