The most fascinating thing to me about “As We Lay” is that it was produced by Roger Troutman. You (well, I…and maybe you) normally associate his productions with noise, but “As We Lay” is hushed, almost ghostly. I love the background vocal effect (which is probably a combination of Shirley and Roger on the vocoder; it sounds super haunting).

The hushed quality of “As We Lay” is quite appropriate, considering it’s a song about an illicit affair. It’s pretty spicy for mid ‘80s radio, I’m actually kind of surprised that it was as big a hit as it was (and it made the top 3o on the pop charts, too!) I also had no idea what I was listening to as a 10 year old.

Song is real, though. You could make a movie based on the lyrics, and I’m kinda surprised it hasn’t become one of those gospel plays that R&B singers whose time have passed always seem to join.