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.
Oh Me Oh My
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Thinking that you were gone
Leaving me on my own
And you, you was there
In some other's arms
Giving away all my charms
I want to hear you
Filling my life with cheer
And when I come back
You won't be alone
'Cause I'll be at home
Sayin', ?Oh, me, oh, my?
Dreams in my arms
With you at home with me
I'm so relaxed
It was only a dream
Sayin', ?Oh, me, oh, my?
Dreams in my arms
Is all I have to hold
Since you've been gone, I'm through
Baby, I can be some help to you
Help me to help me sing
Oh, me, oh, my
Dreams in my arms
Ever since you been gone
Is all I'm glad, it's only a dream
Let me say one thing
Oh, me, oh, my
Dreams in my arms
Is all I have to hold
Since you've been gone
Come on back home
Sometimes I dream
About you, baby
Oh, me, oh, my
Dreams in my arms
Ever since you been gone
The lyrics of Al Green's "Oh Me Oh My" express the feelings of heartbreak and longing for a lost love. Green starts the song by revealing that he had a dream where he believed that the woman he loves had gone and left him alone. In his dream, he sees her with someone else, giving away all his charms. When he wakes up from the dream, all he wants is to hear her voice and feel her presence in his life again. He promises her that when he comes back, she won't be alone because he'll be at home, with her.
The chorus of "Oh Me Oh My," is both reflective and optimistic. Green sings about how much he misses his lover, dreaming of her in his arms, but feels more relaxed since he now understands that his main longing for her only exists in the subconsciousness of his mind. He reassures her that she can depend on him and asks her to come back home. Green implores her to consider his offer, revealing that his dreams are filled with thoughts of her, and now this is all that he has left to hold.
Line by Line Meaning
I had a dream
I had a nightmare about the possibility of losing you
Thinking that you were gone
Imagining that you have left me
Leaving me on my own
Causing me to be lonely and helpless without you
And you, you was there
But then in my dream, I saw you with someone else
In some other's arms
Being intimate with another person
Giving away all my charms
Giving someone else the love and affection that is supposed to be mine
And when I awake
When I came back to reality
I want to hear you
I want to be reassured that you still love me
Filling my life with cheer
Bringing joy and happiness into my life
And when I come back
When I come back home to you
You won't be alone
You will have me by your side
Cause I'll be at home
I will always be with you
Sayin', ?Oh, me, oh, my?
Expressing my feelings of longing and need
Dreams in my arms
Holding onto the hope that you will come back to me
With you at home with me
Being together with you, where we belong
I'm so relaxed
Feeling at ease and comforted
It was only a dream
Realizing that the nightmare did not actually happen
Is all I have to hold
All I have left to keep me going
Since you've been gone, I'm through
Without you, my life is incomplete and purposeless
Baby, I can be some help to you
I can support and assist you in any way you need
Help me to help me sing
Join me in expressing my longing for you
Ever since you been gone
My life has been empty without you
Let me say one thing
I have something important to tell you
Is all I'm glad, it's only a dream
I am relieved that it was only a nightmare
Come on back home
Return to me and the place where you belong
Sometimes I dream
Thinking about you often
About you, baby
My thoughts and heart are consumed by you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: AL L. GREEN, MABON HODGES, WILLIE MITCHELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dexter Richardson
The beautiful voice of one of the great singers in the history of modern popular music.
Debbie Daniels
This song just makes a person
want to dream... (Beautiful) ❤️
Christopher Pendergrass
I remember hearing this for the first time when I was 14. My grandmother loved this song, and we'd say Oh me oh my when we greeted each other. I became a life long fan after hearing this song.
MO CANCER
I'm a huge fan of your late great dad
Sue Wilkinson
So many good memories listening to this TUNE!!!
Shea Shea
Oh me, oh my I love this song!!
Shea Shea
@BOISE BLACK 😉😉😉😉
Jason Ward
Underrated jam
PhotoTroopax001
Reminds of a love lost in time you have to move when your parents say "Let's go!
Nautica Anderson
I love this song