Hard to Say I'm Sorry

Hard to Say I'm Sorry is the lead single from Chicago 16, released on Full Moon and Warner Bros. on May 17, 1982, three weeks before the album; MusicBrainz dates the release group to July 1982, which conflicts. It was the band's first single on either label, with Sonny Think Twice on the B-side. Peter Cetera and David Foster wrote it; on the album it is a two-part track, Hard to Say I'm Sorry / Get Away, with Robert Lamm adding the second part. The album version runs 5:06 or 5:08 and the single 3:42. The US single number was not verified.

David Foster produced, the band's first outside producer. Chicago 16 was recorded from January to April 1982 across Bill Schnee Studios, the Record Plant, Davlen Sound, Skyline Recording and Studio 55, and no source says which studio cut this track. Cetera sings and plays acoustic guitar, Foster plays piano, Steve Lukather of Toto plays electric guitars, David Paich and Steve Porcaro of Toto play synthesizers, and Danny Seraphine on drums is the only other member of Chicago on it. Bill Schnee mixed it.

A hit that split the band

It is a power ballad built on layered synthesizers and distorted guitar, with the horns largely sidelined. American Songwriter says it was mostly the product of Cetera, the producer and the hired players, which did not sit well with the other members. Most adult-contemporary stations cut the album version before Get Away, and about half of Top 40 stations played the longer one. It was the ending theme of the 1982 film Summer Lovers.

It was number 1 on the US Hot 100 for two weeks in September 1982, number 1 on US Adult Contemporary and on Canada's RPM chart, number 1 in Ireland, Italy and Switzerland, and number 4 in the UK and Australia. It was the band's second US number one after If You Leave Me Now in 1976. It was nominated for a Grammy for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal, Cetera won an ASCAP award for it, and Billboard in 2019 ranked it second of 50 best Chicago songs. Billboard at the time called it a stately pop ballad.

Afterlives

The video, on Rhino's channel and the one on hypersongs, was shot the same day as the one for Love Me Tomorrow, with the band in a black room with diamonds on the wall. Az Yet with Peter Cetera made a 1996 version produced with Babyface, and a David Foster remix in 1997 reached number 8 on the US Hot 100; Aquagen reworked it in 2002 and Leslie Cheung recorded a Cantonese version in 1983. Setlist.fm's band stats, from a search summary, list the combined song at 864 performances, the 13th most played; first and last dates were not found.