(February 23, 2025). Jerry Butler, the soul music icon and former member of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Impressions, left behind a remarkable legacy when he died February 20 in his home city of Chicago. From his first chart hit with The Impressions — 1958’s “For Your Precious Love” — to even bigger success with No. 1 soul chart hits like “He Will Break Your Heart” (retitled as “He Don’t Love You” in a pop No. 1 remake by Tony Orlando & Dawn in 1975), “Hey, Western Union Man” in 1968, and his biggest hit, “Only the Strong Survive” — a No. 1 soul and No. 4 pop hit in 1969 — Butler, a/k/a The Ice Man, left an indelible mark on both soul music and American history in general.
Though his contributions to music and public service were vast — spanning from his early days of shaping rhythm and blues to his tenure as a Chicago politician — one song that left the biggest impression on this blogger: a million-selling single called “Ain’t Understanding Mellow.”
A duet with his former backup singer Brenda Lee Eager, “Ain’t Understanding Mellow” appeared on Butler’s 1971 album The Sagittarius Movement, a title inspired by the soul crooner’s astrological sign. People born under that sign are mythologically presented as half-horse/ half-human — linked to having a higher intelligence that forms a bridge between heaven and earth. Upon further reflection, that spirituality gives deeper context to the album’s biggest single — and Jerry’s biggest post-1960s hit — in “Mellow.”
Co-produced by Butler, “Ain’t Understanding Mellow” spends its first nearly four minutes as a slow burner with a persistent bass and piano riff that doesn’t appear to go anywhere until an unexpected beat switch ushered in by Butler, Eager and their backup singers in a call-and-response arrangement at the 3:44 mark takes it to its mid-tempo finish. Executed long before rappers Travis Scott and Drake made tempo switches a thing in the 21st century, Butler and Eager’s hit seemed novel in 1971. That uniqueness helped make “Mellow” Butler’s biggest hit in two years; it reached No. 3 on Billboard’s soul chart and No. 21 on the Hot 100, the last top 40 pop single for either artist (and the first credited to Eager).
The record was one of the many vinyl 45s in my mother’s collection. Back then, I didn’t grasp the song’s lyrical depth, one delivered with Butler’s borderline gospel tones and Eager’s rousing contralto, and only in my adulthood did I fully appreciate “Ain’t Understanding Mellow” for what it represented.
Lyrically, the song is the joint testimony between a couple in the aftermath of a breakup, both parties navigating the emotions of love, loss and realization. If this were a grieving process, the two skip the denial phase altogether, going straight to acceptance. Rather than bitterness, they share gratitude — thanking God and the angels for the remarkable understanding they have for one another. This understanding is especially virtuous in the male protagonist’s case, where Jerry thanks his former partner for her decision “not to try to hide” her love for another man.
The woman could easily have been portrayed in the song as the villain — one whose decision to step outside of a relationship might have been seen as malicious and philandering. But here she’s not. Instead, her honesty leads to mutual appreciation, not resentment. Treated with sensitivity, their friendship bond remains unbroken, their love transformed into something enduring yet different. They promise to always be there for each other when needed — even just a call away.
The song’s title, then, is not a statement but a question — lack of punctuation on the label notwithstanding — posed rhetorically: Ain’t this understanding mellow? Isn’t it better to be at calm and peace — as they apparently are — than to be angry and resentful? Their friendship was the relationship’s foundation… and that remains intact, despite the romance’s end.
That level of emotional maturity, grace, and serenity is what makes ”Ain’t Understanding Mellow” so compelling to this writer, especially when viewed through a 21st century lens where toxicity is the prevailing sentiment in musical relationships. Butler’s and Eager’s is an astonishing perspective on love and relationships, one that feels almost divine in its execution (helped obviously by the song’s many references to God and angels). If there’s any hurt being felt by either party, it’s not the focus. It’s simply an expression of appreciation for the God-ordained friendship that both get to enjoy now that she’s with the person she truly loves and he isn’t shaming her for it.
Furthermore, the song’s musical foundation — as serene as it was with its slow pace and that repeated bass melody running throughout the verses — carried a smoothness befitting the cool, calm and collected image the Ice Man spent much of the 1960s cultivating. If there was any flaw in “Ain’t Understanding Mellow” at all, it was that the faster-paced ending didn’t go on for at least another minute longer to allow the two singers to fully vamp.
For all of Butler’s career-defining moments — like his indelible debut hit “For Your Precious Love” with The Impressions, his empowering Civil Rights anthem “Only the Strong Survive,” and his decades of public service as Cook County Commissioner — “Ain’t Understanding Mellow” remains my most cherished association with him, a 45 rpm vinyl record that remains in my collection to this day.
May Jerry Butler (December 8, 1939 – February 20, 2025) rest in peace.
And yes, Jerry, understanding is indeed mellow.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
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