Reared on Motown backbeats, 70s groove bands, and gospel wails, multi-talen… Read Full Bio ↴Reared on Motown backbeats, 70s groove bands, and gospel wails, multi-talented artist Angela Johnson has a knack for creating songs that infuse the classic elements of music’s yesteryear into a dynamic and contemporary brew distinctly her own. Her critically-acclaimed solo albums They Don’t Know (2002 Purpose) and Got To Let It Go (2005 Purpose) introduced Angela as a soothing soul singer with a stealth, gut-punching alto and a sensitive songwriter of deceptively simple melodies that moved listeners from romantic sways to back-burning sweats. Her most recent offering, A Woman’s Touch (2008 Purpose) is a single-producer project that furthers Angela’s evolution as an erudite production talent and continues a legacy of female musician/producers not seen since the pioneering days of Patrice Rushen and Angela Winbush. Boasting the crème de la crème of soul and R&B, from Rahsaan Patterson and Eric Roberson to Maysa and Julie Dexter, A Woman’s Touch is more than an indie soul project, it is an industry event unseen since the timeless producer albums of Quincy Jones and Norman Conners. When considered alongside a body of work that includes two solo masterpieces and two highly-hailed group projects as the lead singer of the soul-funk band, Cooly’s Hot Box, Angela’s fifth studio release is a revealing testament to the time and commitment Angela has spent honing her multi-faceted skills to a spit-shined perfection. To thrive for over 15 years in this bare-knuckle business of music requires talent, beauty, a strong constitution, and steely determination—qualities Angela has possessed since day one. Her enduring career isn’t surprising to those in the know; Angela’s talents and tenacity have made it seem destined. As a musical child prodigy who played piano by age 4 and violin by age 9, it appears Angela Johnson was born for music. She certainly was prepped for this glorious—and occasionally brutal ride—by her upstate New York rearing in the tough industrial town of Utica, NY. There, as a teenage choir director and church organist in her Baptist church, Angela received her first critical training on how to rouse a crowd through the power of song. Refinement as a musician and performer came through a fated stint at State University of New York (SUNY) in Purchase. At SUNY, Angela studied as a violin major and met her fellow students and future Cooly’s Hot Box bandmates, including close collaborator Christian Urich of the cult favorite, Tortured Soul. Several years of singing lead and writing for Cooly’s Hot Box produced three dance hits (“What A Surprise,” “Make Me Happy,” and “We Don’t Have To Be Alone”), a doomed label deal with Virgin Records that still produced Cooly's commendable debut Take It, and a much celebrated sophomore project (Don’t Be Afraid, Get On) under Angela’s current label home, Purpose Records, signaled the end of the Cooly's era. After departing Cooly’s in 2002, Angela met the industry as a grown woman of esteemed talents with an experience earned doctorate in music business chicanery. The year also found a newly motivated Angela Johnson determined to show the world what she could do as an artist, alone. Since her 2002 solo debut, They Don’t Know, and its auspicious follow-up, Got To Let Go, Angela Johnson has been making the kind of honest soul music that has inspired promoters, music lovers and industry insiders everywhere to make sure that everyone knows exactly who she is. With the 2008 release of A Woman’s Touch, interest in Angela’s music has exploded throughout the music scene, from radio to industry bloggers the word is out. Even before A Woman’s Touch, Angela’s talents as a singer, songwriter and producer have been in high demand. With songs featured on HBO’s The Wire, UPN’s Kevin Hill, FX’s The Shield, and WB’s Roswell, and a 2005 national TV advertising campaign with Cooly’s Hot Box for SBCglobal.net (AT&T/Cingular) already under her belt, soon everyone will be whistling an Angela tune. Madison Avenue aren’t the only ones taking notice of Angela’s talents. Artists like Conya Doss (“Emotions”), Seek (“Journey Into Day”), Laurnea (“No Shame”), and Reel People (“Can’t Stop”) have all sought out Angela Johnson’s unique sound to grace their projects. More than an artist’s musician, Angela’s a proven hit producer and songwriter with a 2001 top ten, gold selling hit, “Angel,” for Japanese R&B superstar, Double. It’s because of Angela’s track record for helping talented artists’ deliver some of their most memorable work that A Woman’s Touch track listing reads like the who’s who of contemporary soul. On her latest project Angela expertly guides Grammy award-winning artists like Gordon Chambers (“Get Away”) and Claude McKnight of Take 6 (“Here I Stand”) through unexpected, tropical soundscapes, revealing different sides of these familiar talents. As the writer, producer and arranger of every track of A Woman’s Touch, Angela repeatedly illuminates recognizable artists through the different lenses of her unique musical kaleidoscope. Whether it’s pushing Frank McComb (“Play”), labelmate Monet (“That’s Just The Way”) or Eric Roberson (“Let Me Know”) to move their soulful sounds to the dance floor or lifting the curtain on her solo-worthy backing singers Lisala (Walkin’) and Tricia Angus (“Not The One”) on compositions that places their ample voices firmly center stage, Angela’s never predictable. Even when she allows trademark artists to do what they do best, like Maysa on the romantic “More Than You Know” or Rahsaan Patterson’s funky “Dream Flight”, Angela Johnson still manages to put her indelible stamp on the music. A Woman’s Touch also illustrates Angela’s ear for arranging persuasive, radio-friendly material that would be at home on any adult contemporary, smooth jazz or progressive soul station. Catchy duets like Jazzhole front man Marlon Saunders (“Wait On A Maybe”) with newcomer Lenora Jaye, or Angela’s own vocal collaborations with band mate Ernesto Abreu (“Amal”) or Lisala and Tricia Angus (“Crying Over You”) confirm that independent soul needn’t ever be dull or esoteric to be good. Then again, that’s Angela Johnson’s work, to keep the music simple, yet vibrant to the ear. It’s the music she’s best at that is perhaps most reflective of whom Angela is as an artist, wife, mother, and as a woman: a strong, uncomplicated, uncompromising melody determined to play all the keys of life. Six years after the release of her solo debut and countless more steadily riding the music industry rollercoaster to prominence, A Woman’s Touch, parades an artist at her peak. Still in fighting form with a point to prove, Angela Johnson is an ever-evolving talent with an unquenchable desire to feed her listeners that good, soul-nurturing music their hungry for.

More Than You Know
Angela Johnson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

More than you know
More than you know

It hurts so bad to know I can't show you
The half of my love for you
I couldn't know if you ask me to
Nights I lay helplessly
Looking on as you are asleep

Wishing I could make you see
Just how much you mean to me

More than you know, baby
I love you so baby
Words never told you, no
I could never show you

More than you know, baby
I want you, I need you
I live and breathe for you
More than you know

I could love you a thousand lifetimes
Oh, for sure
And still would need another thousand more
And even that could not show
Just how deep it really goes
All this love inside of me
If only my poor heart could speak

More than you know, baby
I love you so baby
Words never told you, no
I could never show you

More than you know, baby
I want you, I need you
I live and breathe for you
More than you know

There's just so much I feel, I can express
You overwhelm me with so much joy and happiness
But in your eyes, I see that you understand
And doing everything, I humanly can

More than you know, baby
I love you so baby
Words never told you, no
I could never show you

More than you know, baby
I want you, I need you
I live and breathe for you
More than you know

More than you know, baby
I love you so baby
Words never told you, no
I could never show you

More than you know, baby
I want you, I need you
I live and breathe for you
More than you know

More than you know
More than you know

Overall Meaning

The song "More Than You Know" by Angela Johnson is a soulful ballad written about the deeply-rooted, unspoken love that one person feels for another. The lyrics showcase the desperation of wanting to express the love but being unable to. The opening lines "More than you know, more than you know" set the tone for the song, immediately establishing that there is more to the love being felt than can ever be put into words. In the first verse, the singer expresses her pain at not being able to show her love. She wishes that she could convey the depth of her feelings to the recipient of her affection, but she is unable to. The chorus is repeated twice, highlighting the intensity of the singer's love. She loves "more than you know" and "wants and needs" her partner more than they could ever comprehend.

The second verse of the song offers the most profound expression of the singer's deep, boundless love. She states that she could love her partner for a thousand lifetimes, but it still wouldn't be enough. The love that she feels is so profound that she needs not only this life but also the next thousand to fully express it. She continues to speak about the vast amount of love in her that she cannot articulate. The bridge of the song is a reflection of how the singer's partner understands everything there is to know about her feelings without even her having to say anything. It's clear that the love between the two is mutual, but the singer feels a need to make sure that her partner truly knows how much they mean to her.

Line by Line Meaning

It hurts so bad to know I can't show you
I feel so much love for you that it hurts that I can't express it fully.

The half of my love for you
I haven't been able to show you even a fraction of the love that I have for you.

Nights I lay helplessly
I spend many nights feeling powerless in my love for you.

Looking on as you are asleep
I watch you sleeping and wish I could convey my love for you.

Wishing I could make you see
I desire for you to truly understand just how much you mean to me.

Just how much you mean to me
You hold a significant place in my heart and life that I can't even begin to describe.

I could love you a thousand lifetimes, Oh, for sure
I will never stop loving you, no matter how much time has passed.

And still would need another thousand more
My love for you is infinite and boundless, and I will always need more time to express it.

All this love inside of me
There's so much love within me that I can't contain or even express fully.

If only my poor heart could speak
I wish my heart could communicate the depth of my love for you.

There's just so much I feel, I can express
I feel overwhelmed by the enormity of my love for you, and I can't put it into words.

You overwhelm me with so much joy and happiness
Being around you brings me immense joy and happiness that I can't describe.

But in your eyes, I see that you understand
Although I can't express my love fully, I see that you comprehend my feelings in your eyes.

Doing everything, I humanly can
I will try my best to show you my love in every way possible.

More than you know, baby
My love for you is incomprehensibly vast and deep.

I love you so baby
My love for you is intense and heartfelt.

Words never told you, no
There are no words in the world that can express my love for you fully.

I want you, I need you
You are an essential and integral part of my life.

I live and breathe for you
You are my reason for living, and I absolutely adore you!

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Cynthia De Mari Biggs, Barry James Eastmond

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

Graham Robinson

7y↑4

I LOVE THIS. SO MUCH TRUE LOVE AND EMOTION IN THIS TRACK. THE COLLABORATION OF MAYSA ANGELA JOHNSON IS AWESOME.

Moka King

14y↑1

This is a beautiful song and it means so much to so many people who have a hard time expressing their feelings like I do. Thank you Anglea and Maysa. Love it

Alvena Rahming

6y↑3

I had the pleasure of meeting Maysa in South Florida b4 she and Incognito hit the stage. She is so warm, charming and beautiful inside and out. That was years ago before she went full fledge solo. I have been a fan of hers for years. I’m glad I discovered this track with Angela Johnson. What a collaborative duo! I love it Ladies!!