“If You Don’t Know Me by Now” by Simply Red
This song features the singer beefing to his lady about the state of their relationship. And what actually has him cheesed off is the fact that she doesn’t trust him. Indeed in his eyes, they’ve “been through” enough together for her to know that he wouldn’t cheat.
So the way the situation reads now is that he’s extremely frustrated with her constantly accusing him of infidelity and over-interpreting his mood swings. In fact if she maintains such behavior, he’d rather just call the entire romance off as opposed to continuing.
“If you don’t know me by now
You will never never never know me”
Facts about “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”
Despite being one of Simply Red’s greatest hits, the band aren’t the original performers of this track. Neither are they the writers.
The original version of this song, as rendered by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, came out in 1972. And it was written by two musicians , Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff, who as a pair were amongst the top songwriters/producers of that day. And for the record they actually wrote this song to be sung by Labelle – the R&B group fronted by Patti Labelle – who turned the opportunity down.
Simply Red’s rendition came out on 27 March 1989, being the second single from their third album, A New Flame. And theirs was produced by the band’s formative collaborator, Stewart Levine.
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ version was a notable success, but not even close to that of Simply Red’s. For instance the latter’s rendition topped the Billboard Hot 100 and scored a number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. And it also achieved gold certification in four countries, including the US and Australia.
The tune also earned the crew a 1989 Grammy Award in the category of Best R&B Song.
Appearance on “American Psycho”
Simply Red’s version of this classic appears on multiple major films, including 2000’s “American Psycho“, starring Christian Bale. The film is noted for making using of a host of super famous tracks. In addition to “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”, other very famous classics that were used in the film include the following:
- New Order’s “True Faith”
- Genesis’ “In Too Deep”
- Phil Collins’ “Sussudio”
- Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence”
- Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All“
In 1996, “If You Don’t Know Me Right Now” was also included in the band’s first compilation album (“Greatest Hits”). Other iconic Simply Red songs you’d find on this album, include:
