100 Yard Dash

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"100 Yard Dash" is a short, upbeat song with a traditional soul style, tambourine shakes,{{cite magazine|last=Menachem|first=Michael|date=February 21, 2009|url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/magazine/reviews/singles/e3i6a1d515f274b8d4efc1db56bd17ddbe6|title=100 Yard Dash|magazine=Billboard|access-date=2012-10-19|archive-date=2010-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114113848/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/magazine/reviews/singles/e3i6a1d515f274b8d4efc1db56bd17ddbe6|url-status=dead}} and a stiff backbeat.{{cite journal|last=Sless-Kitain |first=Areif |date=November 18, 2008 |url=http://timeoutchicago.com/music-nightlife/music/60369/raphael-saadiq |title=Raphael Saadiq |journal=Time Out |location=Chicago |access-date=2012-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031402/http://timeoutchicago.com/music-nightlife/music/60369/raphael-saadiq |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=live }} Percussionist Jack Ashford played characteristically funky, tambourine shuffle notes on the song.

The song's lyrics express playful physicality,{{cite web|last=Deusner |first=Stephen M. |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12301-the-way-i-see-it/ |title=Raphael Saadiq: The Way I See It |publisher=Pitchfork Media |date=October 22, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918094721/http://www.pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12301-the-way-i-see-it/ |archive-date=September 18, 2012 |url-status=live }} and liken love to a fast race that impels a man's heart: "My heart is pumping but still running in place".{{cite news|last=Hope |first=Clover |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-09-17/music/raphael-saadiq-celebrating-classic-soul-without-merely-aping-it/ |title=Raphael Saadiq, Celebrating Classic Soul Without Merely Aping It |newspaper=The Village Voice |location=New York |date=September 17, 2008 |access-date=2012-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017225021/http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-09-17/music/raphael-saadiq-celebrating-classic-soul-without-merely-aping-it/ |archive-date=October 17, 2012 |url-status=live }} Arts critic Ken Tucker views "100 Yard Dash" as exemplary of "top-rate" soul songwriting, writing that, "Saadiq takes an unorthodox metaphor ... and he earns it by the variations he sustains verbally, increasing the tension in the song."{{cite episode|last1=Bianculli|first1=David|last2=Tucker|first2=Ken|author-link2=Ken Tucker|url=https://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=95597193&m=95600117|title=Saadiq Revisits R&B Past In 'The Way I See It'|series=Fresh Air|network=NPR|station=WHYY-FM|location=Philadelphia|date=October 10, 2008|transcript=Transcript|transcript-url=https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=95597193|access-date=2012-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101040011/http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=95597193&m=95600117|archive-date=2015-01-01|url-status=dead}} Saadiq sings at an uncharacteristically high pitch,{{cite journal |last=Farinella |first=David John |date=January 1, 2009 |url=http://mixonline.com/recording/tracking/music-raphael-saadiq/ |title=Music: Raphael Saadiq |journal=Mix |access-date=April 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709035758/http://mixonline.com/recording/tracking/music-raphael-saadiq/ |archive-date=2012-07-09 |url-status=dead }} the highest of any song on the album.{{cite web |last=Coachman |first=Dale |url=http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2008/09/raphael-saadiq-world-soul/ |title=Raphael Saadiq: World Soul |publisher=Clutch Magazine. Sutton New Media LLC |date=September 1, 2008 |access-date=April 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421171553/http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2008/09/raphael-saadiq-world-soul/ |archive-date=2012-04-21 |url-status=dead }}

A music video for the song was released on January 27, 2009.{{cite web|last=Eisen |first=Benjy |date=January 27, 2009 |url=http://www.spinner.com/2009/01/27/raphael-saadiq-100-yard-dash-video-premiere/ |title=Raphael Saadiq, '100 Yard Dash' — Video Premiere |publisher=Spinner. AOL |access-date=2012-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518192816/http://www.spinner.com/2009/01/27/raphael-saadiq-100-yard-dash-video-premiere/ |archive-date=May 18, 2020 |url-status=live }} It was filmed in black-and-white and incorporated splashes of color in graphics inspired by classic Reprise and Blue Note Records album covers.{{cite news|date=February 15, 2009|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ST&s_site=dfw&p_multi=ST&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=12657A8E6268B358&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=The Fab Five|newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|at=Your Life section, p. F5|access-date=2012-09-18}} Saadiq wanted the video to serve as an "extension" of the song's album and evoke the music era that inspired its sound.

Saadiq performed the song on Live from the Artists Den on December 3, 2008.{{cite magazine|last=Concepcion|first=Mariel|date=August 14, 2009|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/267697/watch-raphael-saadiq-perform-100-yard-dash-live|title=Watch Raphael Saadiq Perform '100 Yard Dash' Live|magazine=Billboard|access-date=2012-10-19}} He also performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on February 10, 2009,{{cite web|author=Shamz |date=February 11, 2009 |url=http://www.okayplayer.com/news/Video-Raphael-Saadiq-100-Yard-Dash-Live-on-Jay-Leno.html |title=Video: Raphael Saadiq "100 Yard Dash" (Live on Jay Leno) |publisher=Okayplayer |access-date=2012-04-09 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908212526/http://www.okayplayer.com/news/Video-Raphael-Saadiq-100-Yard-Dash-Live-on-Jay-Leno.html |archive-date=September 8, 2012 |url-status=live }} and on Dancing with the Stars on May 13.{{cite magazine|last=Barrett |first=Annie |date=May 13, 2009 |url=http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/dancing-with-the-stars-recap-season-8-episode-19/ |title=Dancing With the Stars recap: And Then There Were Three |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |location=New York |access-date=2012-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614203820/http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/dancing-with-the-stars-recap-season-8-episode-19/ |archive-date=June 14, 2011 |url-status=live }} Niccole Culver of Creative Loafing cited the song as a "crowd favorite" in a review of Saadiq's performance at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta.{{cite journal|last=Culver|first=Niccole|date=March 31, 2009|url=https://creativeloafing.com/content-156693-live-review-raphael-saadiq-at-variety|title=Live review: Raphael Saadiq at Variety Playhouse|journal=Creative Loafing|location=Atlanta|access-date=2012-10-19}}

Luke Grundy of The Independent called "100 Yard Dash" "irrepressibly funky",{{cite news|last=Grundy |first=Luke |date=May 2, 2011 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/raphael-saadiq-shepherds-bush-empire-london-2277638.html |title=Raphael Saadiq, Shepherd's Bush Empire, London |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |access-date=2012-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111071825/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/raphael-saadiq-shepherds-bush-empire-london-2277638.html |archive-date=November 11, 2012 |url-status=live }} and Time Out{{'}}s Areif Sless-Kitain cited it as one of the "strongest tracks" on The Way I See It. Thomas Fawcett of The Austin Chronicle commented that it "demands a sprint to the dance floor."{{cite news|last=Fawcett |first=Thomas |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2008-10-24/693632/ |title=Raphael Saadiq |newspaper=The Austin Chronicle |date=October 24, 2012 |access-date=2012-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224351/http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2008-10-24/693632/ |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |url-status=live }} Misha Berson of The Seattle Times complimented "Saadiq's high, sweet voice" and the song's "slick soul arrangement," writing that it "evokes happy memories of '60s Motown stars like Marvin Gaye and The Temptations in their prime."{{cite news|last=Berson|first=Misha|date=September 4, 2009|url=http://seattletimes.com/html/musicnightlife/2009802264_bumbercountdown04.html|title=Raphael Saadiq finds a new groove of his own in '60s soul|newspaper=The Seattle Times|access-date=2012-10-19}} Ken Tucker of NPR praised the song's "propulsive melody" and viewed it as "a brilliant take on Smokey Robinson and the Miracles." Michael Menachem of Billboard found the song to be "complemented by Saadiq's vocal, with emphasis in all the right places", and "recorded in the classic tradition of short R&B songs: It leaves listeners wanting more, so they play the record again and again."

Nate Chinen of The New York Times named "100 Yard Dash" one of the top-five singles of 2008.{{cite news|last=Chinen |first=Nate |date=December 21, 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/music/21chin.html |title=Standouts in Rap, Jazz and Country |newspaper=The New York Times |page=AR33 |access-date=2012-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615064206/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/arts/music/21chin.html?_r=0 |archive-date=June 15, 2022 |url-status=live }} The single did not chart.{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=raphael saadiq|chart=all}}|title=100 Yard Dash - Raphael Saadiq|magazine=Billboard|access-date=2012-10-19}}

Credits adapted from liner notes for The Way I See It.{{cite AV media notes|title=The Way I See It|others=Raphael Saadiq|year=2008|type=CD liner|publisher=Columbia Records|id=88697 08585 2|location=New York City}}

• Jack Ashford – bells, shaker, tambourine, vibraphone
• Charles Brungardt – recording engineer
• Tom Coyne – mastering
• Bobby Ozuna – co-producer, composer
• Raphael Saadiq – composer, instrumentalist, mixing, producer, recording engineer, vocals

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• {{YouTube|id=P5O3OUjA00Y|title="100 Yard Dash"}}

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Category:2009 singles

Category:Columbia Records singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Raphael Saadiq

Category:Songs written by Raphael Saadiq

Category:Raphael Saadiq songs

Category:2009 songs

Category:Songs written by Robert Ozuna