Kidjo was born in Ouidah, Benin. Her father is Fon from Ouidah and her mother is Yoruba . She grew up listening to James Brown, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, and Santana.
By the time she was six, Kidjo was performing with her mother's theatre troupe, giving her an early appreciation for traditional music and dance. She started singing in her school band Les Sphinx and found success as a teenager with her adaptation of Miriam Makeba's "Les Trois Z" which played on national radio. She recorded the album Pretty with the Camerounese producer Ekambi Brilliant and her brother Oscar. It featured the songs Ninive, Gbe Agossi and a tribute to the singer Bella Bellow, one of her role models. The success of the album allowed her to tour all over West Africa. Continuing political conflicts in Benin prevented her from being an independent artist in her own country and led her to relocate to Paris in 1982.
While working various day jobs to pay for her tuition, Angelique studied music at the CIM, a reputable Jazz school in Paris where she met and married musician and producer Jean Hebrail with whom she has composed most of her music. She started out as a backup singer in local bands. In 1985, she became the front singer of the known Euro-African jazz/rock band Jasper van't Hof's Pili Pili. Three Pili Pili studio albums followed: Jakko(1987) Be In Two Minds (1988, produced by Marlon Klein) and Hotel Babo (1990). By the end of the 1980s, she had become one of the most popular live performers in Paris and recorded a solo album called Parakou for the Open Jazz Label.
She was then discovered in Paris by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell who signed her in 1991. She recorded four albums for Island until Chris Blackwell's departure from the label. In 2000 she was signed in New York by Columbia Records for which she recorded two albums.
Her musical influences include the Afropop, Caribbean zouk, Congolese rumba, jazz, gospel, and Latin styles; as well as her childhood idols Bella Bellow, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Miriam Makeba and Carlos Santana.
She has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2002. With UNICEF, she has traveled to many countries in Africa. Reports on her visits can be found on the UNICEF site. Kidjo founded The Batonga Foundation which gives girls a secondary school and higher education so they can take the lead in changing Africa. The foundation is doing this by granting scholarships, building secondary schools, increasing enrollment, improving teaching standards, providing school supplies, supporting mentor programs, exploring alternative education models and advocating for community awareness of the value of education for girls.
She has campaigned for Oxfam at the 2005 Hong Kong WTO meeting, for the their Fair Trade Campaign and travelled with them in North Kenya and at the border of Darfur and Chad with a group of women leaders in 2007 and contributed to the video for the In My Name Campaign with Will I Am from The Black Eyed Peas. She has hosted the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's Prize for Achievement in African Leadership in Alexandria, Egypt on November 26th, 2007 and on November 15th, 2008
Lay Lady Lay
Angélique Kidjo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Whatever colors you have in your mind
I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine.
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile
And you're the best thing that he's ever seen.
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Why wait any longer for the world to begin
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why wait any longer for the one you love
When he's standing in front of you.
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
I long to see you in the morning light
I long to reach for you in the night
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead.
Angelique Kidjo's rendition of Bob Dylan's classic song "Lay Lady Lay" is a beautiful and heartfelt expression of love and devotion. The lyrics center around a man who wants a woman to lay in his big brass bed with him and promises to show her the beautiful colors of her mind. He urges her to stay with him awhile and make him smile until the break of day. The man acknowledges that he may not be perfect, as his clothes are dirty, but he declares the woman to be the best thing he's ever seen.
The lyrics convey a sense of urgency and passion, as the man tells the woman not to wait any longer for the world to begin and to seize the moment with the one she loves. He longs to see her in the morning light and reach for her in the night. The repetition of "lay, lady, lay" and "stay, lady, stay" throughout the song creates a hypnotic and dreamy atmosphere, adding to the romantic nature of the song. The lyrics are powerful and poetic, conveying a deep love and appreciation for the woman.
Overall, Angelique Kidjo's rendition of "Lay Lady Lay" is a beautiful interpretation of Bob Dylan's classic love song. The lyrics are rich with emotion and convey a passionate love and devotion. Kidjo's voice is smooth and soulful, perfectly channeling the raw emotions of the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Lie down, woman, lie down on my large, brass bed.
Whatever colors you have in your mind
Whatever thoughts or fantasies you have, I will make them real.
I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine.
I will bring your dreams to life in a way that will make them shine.
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Stay with your significant other for a while longer.
Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile
Make your partner happy until the morning comes.
His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean
He might look rough on the outside, but he's a good person at heart.
And you're the best thing that he's ever seen.
You are the love of his life and everything he has ever wanted.
Why wait any longer for the world to begin
Don't wait for the perfect moment, take action now.
You can have your cake and eat it too
You can have everything you want without any consequences.
Why wait any longer for the one you love
Don't wait any longer to be with the person you love.
When he's standing in front of you.
When your significant other is right there with you.
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
Stay the night with me, it's not over yet.
I long to see you in the morning light
I want to see you again in the light of day.
I long to reach for you in the night
I want to be close to you even at night.
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead.
Stay with me until morning comes.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bob Dylan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kwame Atoapoma Oteanankanduro
on Summertime
Awesome! Haa, I want the lyrics in the language she sang in.