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.
Don't look back
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You can't run it, you can't hide it, you can't run it
Love has problems I know but there problems, we'll just have to face.
If you just put your hand in mine,
We're gonna leave all our troubles behind.
We're gonna walk and don't look back.
Don't look back
And don't look back
Don't look back
The places behind you let them re-remind you
If your first lover broke your heart,
There's something that can be done.
You don't run it, you don't hide it, you don't run it
Don't end your faith in love because of what he's done.
So if you just put your hand in mine,
We're gonna leave all our troubles behind.
Keep on walking and don't look back.
Forget about the past now.
Don't look back, baby.
Keep on walking and don't look back
The places behind you let them re-remind you.
Love can be a beautiful thing.
Though your first love let you down.
'Cause I know we can make love bloom, baby.
The second time around.
So if you just put your hand in mine,
We're gonna leave all our troubles behind.
Keep on pushing and don't look back.
Now, till I say, we won't look back, girl.
Keep on walking and won't look back.
Forget about the past now, baby.
And don't look back.
Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, don't look back.
"Don't Look Back" is a song about embracing love and letting go of past heartbreaks. The lyrics suggest that love can be messy and complicated, but ultimately it's something that can't be ignored or avoided. Instead, the song encourages the listener to take a chance on love and not be held back by past experiences.
The opening line "If it's love that you're running from, there's no hiding place" sets the tone for the rest of the song. Love is something that can't be escaped, and the lyrics suggest that it's better to face it head-on than to run away from it. The second verse mentions that past heartbreaks shouldn't be a reason to give up on love altogether. Instead, the song suggests that with the right person, love can be a beautiful thing, even if it didn't work out the first time.
The chorus, "Keep on walking and don't look back," is a powerful message about moving forward and not dwelling on the past. The repetition of this line throughout the song emphasizes its importance. The bridge takes a step further in encouraging listeners to forget about the past entirely and focus on the present moment.
Overall, "Don't Look Back" is a positive and uplifting song that encourages listeners to embrace love and not be held back by past heartbreaks. Its catchy melody and message make it a timeless classic that's still relevant today.
Line by Line Meaning
If it's love that you're running from, there's no hiding place.
Avoiding love won't help you escape it. You can't run or hide from it.
Love has problems I know but there problems, we'll just have to face.
Love can bring challenges and issues, but we need to confront and handle them together.
If you just put your hand in mine, We're gonna leave all our troubles behind.
If we join hands, we can move past any issues that come our way and leave them behind us.
We're gonna walk and don't look back.
Let's move forward and not dwell on the past or our fears.
The places behind you let them re-remind you
The places behind us can serve as reminders of how far we've come and what we've overcome.
If your first lover broke your heart, There's something that can be done.
Don't lose hope in love just because of a painful past. There is potential for healing and love again.
Forget about the past now.
Stop dwelling on what has already happened and focus on what lies ahead.
Love can be a beautiful thing.
Despite its challenges, love can bring joy and beauty to our lives.
Though your first love let you down.
Even if the past has brought heartbreak, we have the potential to find love again.
Now, till I say, we won't look back, girl.
We will focus on the present and our future together, leaving the past behind us until I say otherwise.
Lyrics Β© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: PETE WHITE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ianhope3203
Sounds so much better now than when it first came out. Compared to today's dross.
@garrettgoins9894
i never heard and new this track existed,. and its real good,...thanks for posting,...you have my undevided attention
@christineescajeda3776
Waiting On You On YouTube
Hello wake up somebody
Wake up everybody
He's waiting on you
You
@darm.8172
I'm STILL Waiting...MY WHOLE LIFE!!! πππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππ
@dominiquejones3805
Al got so many joints we didn't hear. My Dad checked out after the gospel stuff then got back
@brucelittles4797
It's a message in the music. Tell them Al.
@brucelittles4797
β€β€
@patrickrene5007
All my life Iβve been waiting on you
do the things that you really wanna do
I know taken this so long oh be strong
I thought I say oh I did something wrong
@pamelaevans4080
THEY DO NOT KNOW THANK YOU DAD!!!!
@dominiquejones3805
Al can't fall off, im goin n the crates on the gospel years and finding music