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.
I Wish You Were Here
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Birds singin', tryin' to make things right
I've got good music on my radio
How did your love songs play from those doors?
I don't want no one to come in to catch me sigh
But every since you left, said goodbye
I wish you were here with me
[Incomprehensible] 'bout your kiss, gloom all around me
Seem like love is never gonna find me
I keep on looking for a, a brighter day
When all I see is time slipping away
I've got to stop and get myself together
All I can see is stormy weather
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here with me
I've got to stop, get myself together
'Coz all I can see is stormy weather
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here
I just wish you were here with me
In "I Wish You Were Here," Al Green sings about the longing and pain he feels after a breakup. The song begins with Green sitting at his window, looking out at the sunlight and listening to good music on his radio. However, despite the beauty around him, he can't shake off the sadness he feels about his lost love. He wonders how the love songs he hears played through those same doors when he was with his ex and reflects that he wishes she were here with him.
In the second verse, the gloom around him seems to deepen, and he wonders if he will ever find love again. He's looking for a brighter day, but all he sees is time slipping away. He realizes that he needs to get himself together to weather the storm, but he can't help wishing that his ex were still beside him.
The song conveys the sense of loss and longing that comes with a breakup. Despite the sunshine and birds singing outside, Green can't escape the gloom that surrounds him. He wishes his ex were there with him to share in the good times and bad. The repetition of the chorus emphasizes this desire, driving home the theme of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Lookin' out my window, sun shinin' bright
I am looking out of my window and the sun is shining brightly.
Birds singin', tryin' to make things right
The birds are singing, perhaps in an attempt to make the world a better place.
I've got good music on my radio
I am listening to good music on my radio.
How did your love songs play from those doors?
I am wondering how your love songs used to sound when they played from these doors.
I don't want no one to come in to catch me sigh
I do not want anyone to come in and catch me sighing.
But every since you left, said goodbye
Ever since you left and said goodbye.
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here with me.
[Incomprehensible] 'bout your kiss, gloom all around me
I am feeling gloomy and uncertain about your kiss (it is unclear from the lyrics what the incomprehensible part is).
Seem like love is never gonna find me
It feels like I will never find love.
I keep on looking for a, a brighter day
I keep searching for a brighter day.
When all I see is time slipping away
Despite my efforts, it feels like time is slipping away from me.
I've got to stop and get myself together
I realize that I need to stop and gather myself.
All I can see is stormy weather
All I can see is difficult and turbulent times ahead.
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here with me.
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here with me.
I've got to stop, get myself together
I need to pull myself together.
'Coz all I can see is stormy weather
Because all I can see is difficult and turbulent times ahead.
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here with me.
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here with me.
I wish you were here
I wish you were here.
I just wish you were here with me
I simply wish that you were here with me.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@meandmymonkeyzone
Looking out my window, sun shinning bright
Birds singing, trying to make things right
How did your love songs play from those doors?
I don't want no one to come in to catch me sigh
But every since you left, said goodbye
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here with me
? bout your kiss, gloom all around me
Seem like love is never gonna find me
I keep on looking for a, brighter day
When all I see is time slipping away
I've got to stop and get myself together
All I can see is stormy weather
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here with me
I've got to stop, get myself together
Cause all I can see is stormy weather
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here with me
I wish you were here
I just wish you were here with me
@carouselred8994
One of Al's finest. His falsetto parts are ethereal.
A hidden gem from the LOVE lp.
@dominiquejones3805
This album is underrated
@dominiquejones3805
Something about the 2:06 spot. There is a war goin on internally
@kevintangney1849
This is one of my favorite in-studio singing performances of all time.
@mikehorgan6025
When I need a good cry I can always count on this Al Green gem !! "Thinking about your kiss, gloom all around me..seems like love is never gonna find me"....that covers it...
@debbiedaniels553
I sure know how you feel
I have lost someone as well...
@dominiquejones3805
Al had that genius tug if war goin on
@amyjr7950
Dang, how did I not know about this song back then? 😢 I love it ❤
@stanleydural3424
This whole LP is a work of "Art"! I bought it in 1975 and never forgot not one of the songs!
@larryjohnson8042
My first time hearing this Beautiful song,Al voice is amazing!! smh