Throwing back to the week of November 19, 1983, we find Lionel Richie on top of Billboard’s Hot 100 with ‘All Night Long (All Night).’
I’ve featured that song already, however, so I’m moving on to #2, a hit duet between Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. ‘Say Say Say’ was the first collaboration the duo recorded, but the second they released. ‘The Girl is Mine’ showed up on Jackson’s Thriller the year before.
‘The Girl is Mine’ was the first single released from Thriller (a bizarre choice, IMO) and made it to #2 on the Hot 100. ‘Say Say Say,’ the lead single from McCartney’s Pipes of Peace album, eventually made it to #1. The fates of the respective albums, of course, were a bit different.
My one lasting memory of ‘Say Say Say’ is that it’s the first song I remember hearing differently after repeated listens. I’ve always said I need to hear a song a couple of times to know if I like it, or at least to know that I get it. This was the first example.
The first time I heard the song (through its MTV video, I believe), I recall thinking it was a chaotic mess. My 11-year-old brain didn’t know what to make of it. A couple of listens later, it sounded like the catchy pop tune it is. I don’t know why it took time for this rather simple track to settle with me, but it did, and that will remain its claim to fame.
Say, say, say what you want
But don’t play games with my affection
Take, take, take what you need
But don’t leave me with no direction
[Chorus]
All alone, I sit home by the phone
Waiting for you, baby (Baby)
Through the years, how can you stand to hear
My pleading for you, dear?
You know I’m crying, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Yeah, yeah
[Verse 2]
Now, go, go, go where you want
But don’t leave me here forever
You, you, you, stay away
So long, girl, I see you never
[Chorus]
What can I do, girl, to get through to you?
‘Cause I love you, baby (Baby)
Standing here, baptized in all my tears
Baby, through the years, you know I’m crying
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
[Post-Chorus]
(You’ve got to say, say, say
You’ve got to say, say, say…)
[Bridge]
(You’ve got to say, say, say
You’ve got to say, say, say…)
You never, ever worry
And you never shed a tear
You’re saying that my love ain’t real
Just look at my face, these tears ain’t drying
[Verse 3]
You, you, you can never say
That I’m not the one who really loves you
I pray, pray, pray everyday
That you’ll see things, girl, like I do
[Chorus]
What can I do, girl, to get through to you
‘Cause I love you, baby (Love you, baby)
Standing here, baptized in all my tears
Baby, through the years, you know I’m crying
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Meet Me In Montauk 
I always considered “The Girl is Mine” to be awful and “Say Say Say” to be only slightly better, Time, distance and nostalgia have softened my opinion on the latter a bit, but not on the former.