Alwin Lopez Jarreau (12 March 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - 12 february 20… Read Full Bio ↴Alwin Lopez Jarreau (12 March 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - 12 february 2017, Los Angeles, California), known popularly as Al Jarreau, was an American, Grammy Award–winning jazz singer. Versatile in his singing style, Jarreau is a twelve-time Grammy-nominated vocalist and the only vocalist in history to win a Grammy Award in three separate categories: jazz, pop, and R&B.

As the son of a vicar, he had his first singing experiences in a church choir. He attended Ripon College, where he also sang non-professionally with a group called the Indigos, and graduated in 1962. He went on to earn a master's degree in Vocational Rehabilitation from the University of Iowa, and worked as a rehabilitation counselor in San Francisco before joining a small jazz club trio headed by George Duke and deciding that he would make professional singing his life in 1968

He appeared in such Los Angeles hot spots as Dino's, the Troubador and Bitter End West. Television exposure came from Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin and David Frost, while he expanded his nightclub appearances to include performing at the Improv between the acts of such rising-star comics as Bette Midler, Jimmie Walker, and John Belushi, among others.

He was spotted by Warner Bros. in 1975 and soon thereafter released his critically acclaimed debut album, We Got By, which catapulted him into international fame and garnered him a German Grammy Award. A second German Grammy would follow with the release of his second album, Glow.

One of Jarreau's most commercially and artistically successful albums is Breakin' Away (1981), which includes the hit song "We're in This Love Together." He wrote and performed the Grammy-nominated theme to the 1980s American television show Moonlighting. Among other things, he is well-known for his scat singing and the ability to perfectly imitate conventional guitar, bass and percussive instrumentation. He was also a featured vocalist on USA for Africa's "We are the World" and sang the line, "...and so we all must lend a helping hand."

He has toured and performed with such greats as Joe Sample, Kathleen Battle, Miles Davis, David Sanborn and Rick Braun. He also performed the role of the Teen Angel in a 1996 Broadway production of Grease. On March 6, 2001 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His star is located at 7083 Hollywood Boulevard on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.

Aladdin's Lamp
Al Jarreau Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Just beside the door
The bold and certain hand
That turned the dragons trembled
He touched the Holy Lamp
And faintly saw his feet

And just beside the door,
His pure uncertain tears

The burden fell so tender
And in the darkest night a
Rose grew by his feet

Stand beside me now,
I've been in your place
And you've been in mine
And the only difference
Is our space and time
And the only light is
Somehow in the lamp
That's at your feet
Why can't you see?

But ain't it high,
Ain't holy when you see?
And it's just times when
I'm weary worries me
Don't you know how Aladdin's
Lamp guards the night
Ten thousand clandles beam
The silver stream you're
Searching for

Oh, friend, the words are true
I want to offer them to you

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Al Jarreau's "Aladdin's Lamp" are quite introspective and delve into themes of uncertainty, burden, and finding hope in the darkness. The first verse begins with a bold and certain hand, one that turns dragons, trembling. This hand touches the Holy Lamp and sees faintly sees his feet. The imagery here seems to hint at the idea of overcoming fear and finding a source of strength and light in the form of the lamp. However, it is followed by the lines, "And just beside the door, his pure uncertain tears, the burden fell so tender and in the darkest night a rose grew by his feet." Here, the uncertainty and burden that one may feel is acknowledged, but there is also a sense of beauty in the growth of a rose in the darkness.

Line by Line Meaning

Just beside the door
Right next to the entrance

The bold and certain hand
The confident and determined hand

That turned the dragons trembled
The hand that made even the dragons tremble

He touched the Holy Lamp
He laid his hand on the sacred lamp

And faintly saw his feet
And could barely see his own feet

And just beside the door,
Again, next to the entrance

His pure uncertain tears
His genuine, yet unsure, tears

The burden fell so tender
The weight of his troubles was lifted gently

And in the darkest night a
During the darkest hour

Rose grew by his feet
A rose bloomed at his feet

Stand beside me now,
Be with me at this moment