Geffen Records withdrew from radio the second single from Loose, " Maneater", before promoting "Say It Right".
In the United States, the song was made available for airplay at mainstream contemporary hit radio stations on 30 October 2006. It was also nominated for two MuchMusic Video Awards. Also, DJ Z's reviewed the song as "the only single in the world to work at both a club in Manhattan, and on a safari through the natives land of (fill in the blank)." The song received a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, losing to Amy Winehouse's " Rehab". Furtado sings a melancholy chorus she doesn't quite believe", comparing the coda, with music getting louder and then slowly fading, "the way the best - and worst - nights out often do". The New York Times described the song as "building a groove from hard drums and ghostly, multitracked voices, and Ms. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine considered the song "a dark meditative piece that would have fit on previous records". IGN Music calls the song ".one of the brightest moments on the album" and "another throwback to the '80s" which ".lets loose with the most hypnotic chorus". He described the song as "the foundation of Loose" and "a welcomed presence in the pop top 40". Well done, if in the most generic sense." 's Bill Lamb gave the song 4/5 stars, saying that with "Say It Right", "many pop music fans are likely to take a second look at purchasing ". Critical reception īillboard magazine called the song "a Pussycat Dolls-inspired contempo jam, high on hooks and of-the-moment production. In other interviews Furtado said that she does not really know what "Say It Right" is about, "but it captures the feeling I had when I wrote it, and it taps into this other sphere." The song was played during the Miss Universe 2007 Introductory Ceremony, the 2006 American Music Awards, and Concert for Diana. It has a mystery to it, that I have not quite figured out. The song focuses on mystic or transcendental experiences, as Furtado explained in a 2007 interview, "It is a kind of a magical song. "I'm not 100 percent sure what about, but it always takes me away to another place, and I love it", she said. Furtado has cited the "spooky, keyboard-driven pop sound" of the band Eurythmics, particularly their 1983 song " Here Comes the Rain Again", as an influence on "Say It Right" and other tracks on Loose. Furtado's vocal range spans from Ab3 to F5. "Say It Right" is performed with a moderate techno groove and is written in F minor.
"e experimented a lot with depth and different sounds," Furtado said of the making of the song. It kind of sounds like in another country." Afterwards, they picked the best vocals and "perfected" them, before inserting "reverbs and weird alien sounds" onto them. The team used four microphones in the live room and moved them around during recording, about which Furtado said, ".when you listen to it-there's a lot of dimension. Nate Hills and Timbaland soon joined her, writing and producing as they went, and according to Furtado, this process intensified as she sang. Furtado, who had heard that the band U2 (a band she says she deeply admires) wrote many of their songs in the studio control room, said "Really? I'll show you", put on her hoodie and began to " jam". The process of creating the song began in the recording studio one morning at around 4:00 a.m., when Timbaland recommended that Furtado should go home because she was tired. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2008 Grammy Awards but lost to Amy Winehouse's " Rehab". The song has been performed on a number of live appearances by Furtado, including her third headlining Get Loose Tour. The accompanying music video for the song, directed by Rankin & Chris, portrays Furtado singing in various costumes and in various locations. "Say It Right" attained worldwide success, topping the charts in more than seven countries, including the United States, France, New Zealand, and many European countries. It was the album's fifth single in Latin America. It was released digitally in the United Kingdom in March 2007. The song was released as the album's third single in North America and Australia and as the fourth single in certain European and Asian countries. Written by Furtado, Tim "Timbaland" Mosley and Nate "Danja" Hills, Furtado credited the Eurythmics song " Here Comes the Rain Again" as her inspiration. " Say It Right" is a song by Canadian singer Nelly Furtado from her third studio album, Loose (2006).