Hard to Say I'm Sorry

History

The song, as well as the album on which it is featured, was a marked departure from Chicago's traditional soft rock, horn-driven sound, taking on a polished and modern feel. With minimal horns, the track instead featured more layered synthesizers and heavier distorted guitar in a 1980s power ballad styling. A second movement of the song, "Get Away", prominently does feature the Chicago horns, and it was co-written by Robert Lamm.

Deviating from Chicago's practice of having mostly band members playing on their albums, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" featured several session musicians. The song featured producer David Foster on the piano as well as three members of the American rock band Toto, Steve Lukather on electric guitars, also both David Paich and Steve Porcaro contributing synthesizers. The song's vocals were performed by Peter Cetera, who also plays acoustic guitar. The only other member of Chicago besides Cetera that played on the track was drummer Danny Seraphine.

"Hard to Say I'm Sorry" became the band's first single to break the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 since "No Tell Lover" in early 1979 and their 13th top ten single on that chart, having last done so with "Baby, What a Big Surprise" in 1977.

Critical reception

The UK music publication Music Week wrote that the song "sees Chicago searching for hit feel of "If You Leave Me Now" or non-charting gem Just You 'n' Me." They also characterised "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" as "slowish, melodic, [and] lush." Billboard called it a "stately pop ballad" with "even more of an orchestral sweep than usual." The same publication ranked the song No. 2 on its list of the 50 best Chicago songs.

Music video

Chicago made a music video for the song. According to Cetera, the videos for "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" and "Love Me Tomorrow" were shot on the same day. The band appears in a black colored room with diamonds on the wall.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Az Yet version

• LaFace
• Arista
• Peter Cetera
• David Foster

American R&B group Az Yet included a cover version of "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" on their 1996 self-titled debut album, which was produced by Babyface. A remix version by David Foster was released as a single on February 3, 1997, and features vocals from Peter Cetera. Foster won a BMI Pop Award for this version. The song peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached platinum status and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Performance by an R&B Group or Duo with Vocal. Aside from the David Foster remix, the single includes the album version (without Cetera), an a cappella version, and an extended remix.

Track listing

CD-single

1. "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (David Foster Remix featuring Peter Cetera) 3:18
2. "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (Album Version) 3:14
3. "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (Acappella) 3:14
4. "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (Chase Extended Mix) 5:14

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Other versions

• In 1983, Hong Kong singer Leslie Cheung released a Cantonese cover version with Chinese title "難以再說對不起" for his album **.
• In 2002, German electronic dance music group Aquagen had a hit with their song of the same title, which sampled "Hard to Say I'm Sorry". This version reached No. 33 on the UK Singles Chart.
• In 2015, country music singer Tim McGraw released a "behind-the-scenes" video of him and his band performing "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" as a warm-up for his show in Chicago. At the end of the song he turns to the camera and says, "Hello, Chicago."
• In January 2017, Roger Federer tweeted a video of him singing the song with fellow professional tennis players Tommy Haas and Grigor Dimitrov, with David Foster at the piano, while at the Australian Open. Haas is the son-in-law of Foster.

References

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