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.
Unchained Melody
Al Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My darling
I’ve hungered for your touch
A long lonely time
As time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
God speed your love
To me
Lonely rivers flow
To the sea
To the sea
To the open arms
Of the sea
Lonely rivers sigh
Wait for me, wait for me
I’ll be coming home
Wait for me.
Oh my love
My darling
I’ve hungered for your touch
A long lonely time
And I know that time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love
To me
To…..
Ooooooooooh.
In Al Green's rendition of "Unchained Melody", the singer is lamenting the longing he has for his beloved. The opening lines, "Oh my love, my darling, I've hungered for your touch, a long lonely time," convey a deep need for physical contact and emotional intimacy. The repetition of the phrase "a long lonely time" emphasizes just how much time has passed since the singer has been with his beloved.
As the song progresses, the singer acknowledges that time can both heal and hurt, and wonders if his beloved is still his. The lines "Are you still mine? I need your love, I need your love, God speed your love to me" are a plea to his beloved to come back to him and to rekindle their love. The image of "lonely rivers" flowing "to the sea" and "lonely rivers" sighing, "Wait for me, wait for me / I'll be coming home" evoke a sense of longing and a desire to be reunited with his beloved.
Overall, "Unchained Melody" is a haunting love song that expresses the depth of longing and desire that can be felt for someone who is physically absent. Through the use of imagery and repetition, Al Green conveys the power of love and the longing for connection.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh my love
Addressing the loved one with affection and endearment
My darling
Addressing the loved one with love and tenderness
I’ve hungered for your touch
Expressing a strong desire for physical intimacy and connection
A long lonely time
Emphasizing the length and difficulty of the separation
As time goes by so slowly
Noting how the passage of time can feel unbearable during a long separation
And time can do so much
Acknowledge the potential for time to change and affect the relationship
Are you still mine?
Posing a question about the status of the relationship and if it is still intact
I need your love
A declaration of the artist's need for their lover's affection and care
God speed your love
A plea for their lover's love and care to arrive quickly and safely
To me
Clarifying the destination of the lover's love
Lonely rivers flow
Using the metaphor of a river to express the loneliness and sorrow of the singer
To the sea
The direction in which the river flows, suggesting a journey and a release
To the open arms
The destination of the river, suggesting an embrace or comfort
Of the sea
Further emphasizing the idea of release and freedom
Lonely rivers sigh
Further emphasizing the loneliness and sorrow of the singer
Wait for me, wait for me
A plea for the lover to wait for the artist's return and reunion
I’ll be coming home
Assuring the lover of the artist's eventual return
Ooooooooooh.
An emotional exclamation to express the intensity of the singer's feelings
Contributed by Brayden Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Raimundo França
Buraco negro!
Em águas turvas me encontro a deriva,
Num cochilo de inexperiência eu despenquei,
E nessa enxurrada em meio a destroços,
Num buraco negro eu me encontrei.
A vida me pregou uma armadilha,
Não tive tempo nem de me precaver,
E nessas águas turbulentas eu cai,
Agora o que eu faço pra sobreviver.
Dos amores eu só tive foi ilusão,
Dos amigos que contei me abandonaram,
Dos sonhos e castelos que eu construí,
Nem se quer as cinzas deles restaram.
Mares e rios aos meus olhos secaram,
A escuridão tomou conta de mim,
Nuvens negras, raios e tempestades,
Nesse buraco negro me encontro assim.
Canto o meu cantar de tristeza,
Na proeza de um doce despertar,
Mas ao final de cada dia o meu pranto,
Vem com a solidão me machucar.
Na vida eu fiz tudo que pude,
Pra felicidade nunca me abandonar,
Mas é como se fosse um castigo,
De viver nesse mundo sem poder amar.
Que de mim ainda querem me dizer,
Pois não previ os perigos a minha volta,
Agora me encontro nesse negro buraco,
Onde laços me prende e não me solta.
Raimundo frança.04/05/12
Raimundo França
Poeta sem a inspiração!!!
De repente em minha mente,
Bem agora no momento
Tudo em mim se fundiu,
Não encontro palavras,
Inspiração é coisa rara,
O meu cérebro, explodiu.
Sem versos e sem rimas,
Muito pouco a emoção,
Como um maestro sem baqueta,
Me encontro na sarjeta,
E o olhar sem direção
Mesmo encontrando palavras,
Que possa rimar com a dor,
Mesmo sem alegria,
Eu fiz esta poesia,
Pra expressar o meu amor.
Minhas lagrimas rolam,
A se perderam pelo chão,
Manchou toda a poesia,
Que sem amor sem sem alegria
Me faz está sem inspiração.
Ray!
Danrod847
Oh, my love
my darling
I've hungered for your touch
a long lonely time
and time goes by so slowly
and time can do so much
are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
Godspeed your love to me
Lonely rivers flow to the sea,
to the sea
to the open arms of the sea
lonely rivers sigh 'wait for me, wait for me'
I'll be coming home wait for me
Oh, my love
my darling
I've hungered for your touch
a long lonely time
and time goes by so slowly
and time can do so much
are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
Godspeed your love to me
Susan Higgins
He can never go wrong no matter what he sings
Dangelog Christley
@mary warren 1u8p
Is Blessed
So true lol
mary warren
so right
Saulo Souza
Existem cantores e existe o Al Green 💯❤️💖
Lrs Rodrigues
Incomparável, sem palavras para descrever esta obra prima na voz do reverendo Al green
Brian Cortés
La interpretación de Al Green es exquisita. El sentimiento que le pone a sus canciones no tiene comparación.
Lillian Price
Drumwright my heart is broke and I miss you.so much I give my money I want use himi. Pay my way every month maybe you can see me come talk to me 28 years I went every Saturday I love you so I wish I could go on only god will take me when he's ready will you meet at the light guide me to heaven with you.come see me talk to me I believe in spirits I look every day for you your uncle scare me he screams at me don't want to talk been in my room 2years no I still haven't been out of house .my ot wanted to put me in chair I can't go even my pt he wants to try get me to go in yard I miss you I would for you and you know I will. But you in heaven please visit me. I never loved any one as do you and I will see you still love you I'm feeling sick I catch myself holding the phone as the music plays next to my heart rocking back my heart rocking back and forth
Brian Cortés
@Manuel Cortez no paro de escuchar este cover
Manuel Cortez
Así mismo es ❤