R&B veteran Tevin Campbell looks back on a short-lived love in “Dandelion,” which is track number eight of his self-titled fourth album. The song sits deep in a record built on grown-folks R&B, the kind of quiet storm material that never rushes its point. BET reads “Dandelion” as a look at love that fades fast, with some sweetness left behind.
It runs just over six minutes, so it is one of the longer cuts on the album. “Everything You Are,” with Coko, comes right before it, while “Losing All Control” follows. A Spanish take, “Siempre Estarás En Mí (Dandelion),” closes the album at 6:18, so the project ends with the same song in another language.
The Waxahachie, Texas native started out singing gospel in his local church. Quincy Jones took him on as a protégé in early 1990, and his debut T.E.V.I.N. arrived through Qwest Records. The self-titled album runs just under an hour across 12 tracks, opening with “Another Way” at 4:55. It performed poorly on Billboard’s album chart, yet it still spun off three singles.
BET put “Dandelion” on a list of songs every R&B fan should revisit, written for his birthday. Where does “Dandelion” rank for you? Drop your pick for the next Tevin Campbell song on that list in the comments below.
