Green was born in Forrest City, Arkansas. He started performing at age ten in a Forrest City quartet called the Greene Brothers; he dropped the final "E" from his last name years later as a solo artist. They toured extensively in the mid-1950s in the South until the Greenes moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, when they began to tour around Michigan. His father kicked him out of the group because he caught Green listening to Jackie Wilson.
In 1967 at the age of 16, Al formed an R&B group, Al Green & the Creations, with several of his high-school friends. Two Creation members, Curtis Rogers and Palmer James, founded their own independent record company, Hot Line Music Journal, and had the group record for the label. By that time, the Creations had been re-named the Soul Mates. The group's first single, "Back Up Train," became a surprise hit, climbing to number five on the R&B charts early in 1968. The Soul Mates attempted to record another hit, but all of their subsequent singles failed to find an audience. In 1969, Al Green met bandleader and Hi Records vice president Willie Mitchell while on tour in Midland, Texas. Impressed with Green's voice, he signed the singer to Hi Records, and began collaborating with Al on his debut album
He was perhaps the ideal complement to the orchestral, syrupy, strong soul production work of Hi Records wizard Willie Mitchell, who also helmed 70s classics for Syl Johnson, Ann Peebles, and himself.
On October 18, 1974, Mary Woodson, a woman who was his longtime girlfriend, threw a large pot of sticky boiling grits on him as he was preparing to shower, because he didn't want to get married. She committed suicide in minutes, which deeply affected Green to turn to God and religion. This assault from behind caused third-degree burns on his back, stomach and arm. Deeply shaken, Green continued to reaffirm and grow closer to his deeply held love for God, and became an ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976.
Continuing to record R&B, Green saw his sales start to slip and drew mixed reviews from critics. 1977's The Belle Album was critically acclaimed but did not regain his former mass audience. In 1979 Green injured himself falling off the stage while performing in Cincinnati and interpreted this as a message from God. He then concentrated his energies towards pastoring his church and gospel singing, also appearing in 1982 with Patti Labelle in the Broadway musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. According to Glide Magazine, "by the late 70s, he had begun concentrating almost exclusively on gospel music." His first gospel album was The Lord Will Make a Way. From 1981 to 1989 Green recorded a series of gospel recordings, garnering eight "soul gospel performance" Grammys in that period. In 1985, he reunited with Willie Mitchell along with Angelo Earl for He Is the Light, his first album for A&M Records. In 1984, director Robert Mugge released a documentary film, Gospel According to Al Green, including interviews about his life and footage from his church. In 1989, Green released "I Get Joy", again with producer/guitarist Angelo Earl. In 2001, he appeared in the movie and soundtrack of On the Line featuring Lance Bass.
After spending several years exclusively performing gospel, Green began to return to Rhythm & Blues. First, he released a duet with Annie Lennox, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" for Scrooged, a 1988 Bill Murray film. In 1989 Green worked with producer Arthur Baker writing and producing the international hit "The Message Is Love". In 1991 he created the introductory theme song for the short-lived television series Good Sports featuring Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett. In 1992, Green recorded again with Baker, the Fine Young Cannibals, and reunited with his former Memphis mix engineer (this time functioning as producer) Terry Manning, to release the album Don't Look Back. His 1994 duet with country music singer Lyle Lovett blended country with R&B, garnering him his ninth Grammy, this time in a pop music category. Green's first secular album in some time was Your Heart's In Good Hands (1995), released to positive reviews but disappointing sales, the same year Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2000, Green published Take Me to the River, a book discussing his career. Green received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.
In 2001, Green's live cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" was released on the soundtrack to Will Smith's film Ali (the song plays when Muhammad Ali learns of the death of close friend Malcolm X).
By 2003 Green released a non-religious (secular) album entitled I Can't Stop, his first collaboration with Willie Mitchell since 1985's He is the Light. In March 2005 he issued Everything's OK as the follow-up to I Can't Stop. Green also collaborated with Mitchell on this secular CD.
The title of Al Green's latest album Lay It Down released May, 2008, truly tells it like it is. Conceived as a collaboration between the soul legend and a handful of gifted young admirers from the worlds of contemporary R&B and hip hop, the album is drawn from a series of inspired sessions that yielded the most high-spirited, funky and often lushly romantic songs of Green's latter-day career.
The project features the sophisticated R&B voices of singer-songwriters John Legend, Anthony Hamilton and Corinne Bailey Rae, and it was co-produced with Green by two of hip-hop's most innovative players, drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson from the Roots and keyboardist James Poyser , the go-to guy for high-profile artists ranging from Erykah Badu to Common. Add in Brooklyn's celebrated Dap-King Horns (Sharon Jones, Amy Winehouse), guitarist Chalmers "Spanky" Alford (Mighty Clouds of Joy, Joss Stone) and bassist Adam Blackstone (Jill Scott, DJ Jazzy Jeff), among others, and you've got a modern soul-music dream team, fronted by the most expressive voice in the business.
07-I can't get next to you
Al Green Lyrics
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Oh I,
Can turn the gray sky blue, I
You see I can make it rain, when I want it to, oh I
I can build a castle from a single grain of sand, I
You see I can make a ship sail, on dry land tell 'em yeah
I'm unhappy with all the powers I possess, yeah
Girl you're the key to my happiness and I
(I can't get next to you)
I've trying a long time
(I can't get next to you, babe)
(I can't get next you)
I don't know what to do
I,
Oh I,
I, oh Lord
I can fly like a bird in the sky, oh I
And I can buy anything that money can buy, oh I
Can turn a river into a raging fire, oh I
And I can live forever if I so desire, yeah
I'm unhappy with all the power I possess, yeah girl
'Cause girl your the key cause
(I can't get next to you babe)
(I can't get next to you)
(I can't get next to you babe)
(I can't get next to you)
Let me tell that
I can turn back the hands of time,
You better believe I can, oh I
You see I can take the season's change just by waving my hand, let me say I
I can change anything from old to new girl, oh I
All the things I want to do the most, you see, I'm unable to do, yeah
Unimportant these things that I'm trying to do here today
'Cause girl, you see, I
(Can't get next to you babe)
I've been trying a long time
(I can't get next to you)
Oh somebody oughta help me
(I can't get next to you, babe)
Let me, let me go
(I can't get next to you)
Let me
I, Lord I've been working on it, baby
I've been thinking about it
Oh I
But you see, I've been trying to call you all day long
But you see I don't have your phone number, honey, I
I've been, I've been, thinking about you baby, something awful
You see, I, oh I, sometimes I feel like I want to moan about it
And I, I don't just know what to say about it
The lyrics to Al Green's song "I Can't Get Next To You" are about a man who is constantly trying to impress a woman but is unable to do so. He lists all the things that he can do with his power, emphasizing his abilities to change the weather and the seasons and to turn old things into new. But despite his impressive abilities, he is unable to get the attention of the woman he desires.
The lyrics reveal the frustration and helplessness that the man feels as he tries to win over the woman he loves. He is unhappy with all the power he possesses because it doesn't seem to help him achieve what he wants most. The line "I've been trying a long time" shows that he's been at this for a while and is feeling defeated. He doesn't know what to do, and he even says that he feels like moaning about it.
Overall, the lyrics convey the message that even with great power and abilities, there are some things that are out of our control. No matter how much we try, we cannot force someone to love us or to pay attention to us.
Line by Line Meaning
I, my, my, my, my
The singer is emphasizing himself and his abilities
Oh I,
Can turn the gray sky blue, I
You see I can make it rain, when I want it to, oh I
I can build a castle from a single grain of sand, I
You see I can make a ship sail, on dry land tell 'em yeah
The singer boasts of his powers and abilities by claiming he can control the weather and perform miraculous feats
I'm unhappy with all the powers I possess, yeah
Girl you're the key to my happiness and I
Despite his immense abilities, the singer is unhappy and believes that the girl he sings about holds the key to his happiness
(I can't get next to you, babe)
(I can't get next to you)
I've trying a long time
(I can't get next to you, babe)
(I can't get next you)
I don't know what to do
The artist has been trying to get close to the girl but is unsuccessful and is unsure what to do next
I, oh Lord
I can fly like a bird in the sky, oh I
And I can buy anything that money can buy, oh I
Can turn a river into a raging fire, oh I
And I can live forever if I so desire, yeah
The artist continues to assert his god-like abilities and power
I'm unhappy with all the power I possess, yeah girl
'Cause girl your the key cause
(I can't get next to you babe)
(I can't get next to you)
(I can't get next to you babe)
(I can't get next to you)
Again, the singer claims to be unhappy with his power and emphasizes that the girl is the key to his happiness
Let me tell that
I can turn back the hands of time,
You better believe I can, oh I
You see I can take the season's change just by waving my hand, let me say I
I can change anything from old to new girl, oh I
All the things I want to do the most, you see, I'm unable to do, yeah
The singer continues to emphasize his power by claiming he can manipulate time and the seasons, yet he is still unable to accomplish the one thing he desires- getting close to the girl
Unimportant these things that I'm trying to do here today
'Cause girl, you see, I
(Can't get next to you babe)
I've been trying a long time
(I can't get next to you)
Oh somebody oughta help me
(I can't get next to you, babe)
Let me, let me go
(I can't get next to you)
The artist considers all of his powers and abilities unimportant in the face of his failure to get close to the girl
I, Lord I've been working on it, baby
I've been thinking about it
Oh I
But you see, I've been trying to call you all day long
But you see I don't have your phone number, honey, I
I've been, I've been, thinking about you baby, something awful
You see, I, oh I, sometimes I feel like I want to moan about it
And I, I don't just know what to say about it
The artist has been trying to get close to the girl by calling her and thinking about her, but to no avail. He is frustrated and unsure about what to do next.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BARRETT STRONG, NORMAN WHITFIELD, NORMAN J. WHITFIELD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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