"It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" is a song written, produced, and performed by American musician Lenny Kravitz for his second studio album, '' Mama Said'' (1991). Released as the album's second single in June 1991 by

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

, the song is a mid-

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

musically inspired by Motown, Philly soul, and

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

(particularly "

That's the Way of the World ''That's the Way of the World'' is the sixth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on March 3, 1975, by Columbia Records. This was also the soundtrack for a That's the Way of the World (film), 1975 motion picture of the same ...

"). The horn line at the end is performed by the Phenix Horns from Earth, Wind & Fire. "That song just came out one day, and I knew it had a classic vibe. And I still love that song very much today," Kravitz said in an interview for VivaMusic.com in 2000. The line is based on a Yogiism, or quotation from

Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born Lorenzo Pietro Berra; May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seas ...

: "It ain't over 'til it's over." "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" was Kravitz's first top-10 hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching 2 to become his highest-peaking song on the chart. Worldwide, the single reached No. 2 in Canada and peaked within the top 10 in Australia, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, it reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart. Jesse Dylan directed its music video. British singer Mutya Buena's 2007 song " Real Girl" contains a sample from "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over"; this recording peaked at No. 2 on the UK chart.

Background

The song was written by Kravitz while dealing with a struggling marriage to his then wife,

Lisa Bonet Lilakoi Moon (born Lisa Michelle Bonet ; November 16, 1967) is an American actress. She portrayed Denise Huxtable on the sitcom ''The Cosby Show'' (1984–1992), for which she earned widespread acclaim and a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Aw ...

, and was an attempt to rekindle the relationship. Kravitz has described his thinking at that time as "not just a depression, but a fog. I didn’t know which way was up". Initially Kravitz, realizing the hit potential of the song, did not want to release the song himself, wishing to remain an underground artist, thinking instead of giving the song to

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

. His label however eventually persuaded him to include it on the album.

Chart performance

"It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" is Kravitz's most successful single on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart to date, peaking at No. 2. It also reached No. 6 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100, as well as No. 2 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Top Singles chart. The song was also popular in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

noted the song's "swirling Philly soul", describing it as "instantly addictive".

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' complimented it as a "delicious slice of Philly soul/pop, flavored with lush strings, understated

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

bass and guitar riffs, and Kravitz's engaging

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

vocal. Could be a sleeper smash." Alex Henderson from '' Cashbox'' named the song one of the "goodies" from the album, describing it as "uptown soul"-flavoured. Adam Sweeting from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' declared it as "nimble soul with chart potential". Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' felt the singer "sings in smooth tones, reminiscent of

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

and

the Style Council The Style Council were an English pop band formed in Woking in 1982 by Paul Weller, the former lead vocalist, principal songwriter and guitarist with the rock band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previously a member of Dexys Midnight Ru ...

. Soultime on EHR." Parry Gettelman from ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'' complimented "a nice guitar solo that sounds a bit like Hall & Oates circa " She's Gone"." ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to ta ...

s reviewer also noted the echoes of

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

and Mayfield in the song.

Retrospective response

In a 2016 retrospective review, Christopher A. Daniel from Albumism remarked that the song "marries his Curtis Mayfield-inspired falsetto with chunky

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in September 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. ...

guitars and a lush MFSB-flavored (possibly Love Unlimited Orchestra) string arrangement." In 2020, Carla Hay of AXS ranked it number four in her list of "The Top 10 Best Lenny Kravitz Songs". She wrote, "Kravitz has said he wrote this song about the breakdown of his marriage to actress

(they eventually divorced), and the heartbreak is oozing all over this song." She added, "With a

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

-ish 1960s vibe, this

(from 1991’s '' Mama Said'' album) is one of Kravitz’s best ballads. It remains his highest-charting hit of his career in the US, where it peaked at No. 2 on the ''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart."

Music video

The accompanying music video for "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over", directed by American film director and production executive Jesse Dylan, features Kravitz and his band performing the song. Different kinds of background lighting colors were featured in the video.

Track listings and formats

* US cassette single :A. "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" :B. "I'll Be Around" * 7-inch single and UK cassette single # "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" – 3:55 # "The Difference Is Why" – 4:48 * 12-inch and CD single # "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" – 3:55 # "I'll Be Around" # "The Difference Is Why" – 4:48 * UK 12-inch picture disc :A. "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" – 3:55 :B. Lenny Kravitz talking to Robert Sandall in an interview for '' Q'' magazine – 15:20 * Japanese CD single # "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" – 4:01 # " Let Love Rule" – 5:43 # "I'll Be Around" – 2:55 # " Always on the Run" (instrumental) – 3:56

Personnel

* Lenny Kravitz –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, electric sitar, string and horn arrangements * The Phenix Horns –

horn section A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the term ...

* Strings contracted by Al Brown

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 1990s ballads 1991 singles Lenny Kravitz songs Music videos directed by Jesse Dylan Soul ballads Song recordings produced by Lenny Kravitz Songs written by Lenny Kravitz 1991 songs Virgin Records singles