Say It Right

"Say It Right" has a sultry and mysterious vibe with seemingly paradoxical lyrics: "you don't mean nothing at all to me," followed by "you could mean everything to me." Nelly Furtado often writes her lyrics to evoke a feel and to sing well over the beat, which is the case here. She admitted that she doesn't know what the song is about. Said Furtado, "It captures the feeling I had when I wrote it, and it taps into this other sphere."

Timbaland and Nate Hills produced this track and helped Furtado write it. They experimented a great deal, coming up with layers of distinctive sounds. Furtado adapted her vocals to fit the track.

With its poetic lyrics and layered keyboard sound, The Eurythmics hit "Here Comes The Rain Again" was an influence on this song.