In the style of an iconic Boyz II Men slow jam, first-time Saturday Nigth Live host Chance the Rapper alongside Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd, sang about the person missing from their lives: Barack Obama.
Chance teamed up with Thompson and Redd for a soulful song confessing their longing for Obama to return to office, complete with an excessive number of candles (over 200!), thin white scarves, and lounging on a bed laden with fur accents.
"We didn't know just what we had," harmonizes the trio, while clad in the white suits of New Jack Swing groups past. "You were so intelligent, you were so strong, I waited my whole life for you," sings Saturday Night Live newcomer, Chris Redd. Unfortunately, no amount of '90s R&B perfection can alter the Constitution and bring Obama back, a realization they come to mid-song. "Because that would undermine the very institutions that we’re barely holding onto as it is," says Thompson. Who said that forlorn love songs were logical?
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In a spoken-word breakdown, Thompson contemplates asking Michelle Obama to run in 2020, but decides against it, "Naw, let's not put Michelle through that," he adds. After being shocked by Barack Obama's public speaking fee, the trio comes to the saddest part of any song about heartbreak: realizing that the other person has moved on.
It is not the first time that Chance partnered with Thompson to serenade Obama. They broke out their best Run-D.M.C. tracksuits for an affectionate anthem when Chance was a musical guest last year. Even though Chance was not asked to do double duty as the musical guest as well, for a reason I cannot comprehend, the rapper still managed to get in two songs between his opening monologue and this ode to Barack Obama.
If Chance the Rapper, two key changes, and a dramatic rain scene can't bring Obama back, nothing will. Guess we're stuck with the other guy for a while.
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