Brenda's greatest success came in 1988 with the release of her third album, "Get Here". It featured the hit singles "Get Here" and "Piano In The Dark". At the 31st Grammy Awards, Brenda was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female for "Get Here". "Piano In The Dark" was nominated for Song of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group (there was a duet? -- duet vocal was by Joe Esposito of Brooklyn Dreams). "Get Here" was later a huge hit covered by Oleta Adams.
Nearly all of her songs were written by herself. Some of her compositions are also performed by others like Roberta Flack, Diana Ross, Patrice Rushen, Patti Austin, Donna Summer, Chaka Khan, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Justin Guarini, and very successfully by the aforementioned Luther Vandross and Oleta Adams.
Russell is also a chief songwriter and lyricist for the hit Broadway musical "The Color Purple". In 2005 she saw a Broadway musical version of Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Produced by Oprah Winfrey, the show's score is written by Russell and lyricists-composers Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. Russell and her co-writers were nominated for a Tony Award (for Best Score) and a Grammy Award (in the Best Musical Show Album category).
Gravity
Brenda Russell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But that was a mistake
For it was a warm feeling
Wrapped around me like a shawl
Learn to love the corners
And the angles of the world
To not love them you'll never live
The only peace is death.
Love isn't a glow or a song in the heart
It's bony fingers tugging through your hair
It's sharp hipbones bruising blue your thigh
It's saying something softly that goes unheard.
Love snarls up the patterns
Of everything you know
It doesn't send you off to space
But buries you instead
Love holds on to gravity
And gravity is love
To love another human is
A puzzle for the head.
In Brenda Russell's song Gravity, the artist reflects on her personal experience with love and how it has challenged her perspectives. The opening lines of the song suggest she had a false understanding of what love entails, believing it was a warm and comforting feeling that enveloped her. However, as she delves into the complexities of love, she realizes that love is not always a rosy experience. It comes with bony fingers that tug through your hair, sharp hipbones that bruise your thigh, and those soft words unsaid. Love disrupts the patterns of one's life, throwing them off guard and burying them without any warning.
Russell suggests that the only way to experience true love is to embrace the corners and angles of the world without reservation. To reject them is a failure to fully live, and only death can bring true peace. She further argues that love is a puzzle for the head, a seemingly impenetrable enigma that must be solved to attain completeness. Love and gravity are interconnected, and the force of gravity represents the very essence of love. So, to hold on to gravity is to hold on to love.
Line by Line Meaning
Once I thought I was in love
I used to believe that I was in love with someone
But that was a mistake
However, that belief was incorrect
For it was a warm feeling
I had mistaken a feeling of warmth for love
Wrapped around me like a shawl
This feeling enveloped me in a comforting manner
Learn to love the corners
One should learn to appreciate the less desirable aspects of life
And the angles of the world
The sharp edges and difficult parts of life are just as important
To not love them you'll never live
Disliking these parts of life will prevent one from truly experiencing it
The only peace is death.
The only true peace one can find in life is through death
Love isn't a glow or a song in the heart
Love isn't simply a feeling or emotion
It's bony fingers tugging through your hair
Love can be painful and cause discomfort
It's sharp hipbones bruising blue your thigh
Love can also cause physical harm
It's saying something softly that goes unheard.
Sometimes, love can go unappreciated or unnoticed
Love snarls up the patterns
Love disrupts the usual patterns of life
Of everything you know
This disruption affects all aspects of one's life
It doesn't send you off to space
Love doesn't transport you somewhere else, like space
But buries you instead
Instead, love can feel suffocating or overwhelming
Love holds on to gravity
Love can hold people together
And gravity is love
Gravity, like love, is an unbreakable force that holds things together
To love another human is
Loving another person
A puzzle for the head.
Can be a complex and difficult thing to understand.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management
Written by: ALLEN, CAMPBELL, COLLEN, ELLIOTT, SAVAGE, WOODROFFE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@guima9886
Jay Worthy & Harry Fraud brought me here. Great sample
@jesse6496
Thanks Harry 🐸
@dennybish67
This underrated tune deserved massive success.
@senecanicholson1090
@Den Bishop. It's a beautiful, soothing song either way. It doesn't need validation.
@LisaDavis1
2019. This whole CD was an INSTANT CLASSIC and I’m still listening. Never saw this video and decided to search for it.
@DeanStrickson
I didn’t even realize they’d made a video to this underappreciated song. Brenda looks stunning!
@alexgomez4214
Jay worthy brought me here p funk on p's❤🔥🔒
@ronaldelston6039
I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT THIS EXISTED ALWAYS LOVED THIS AND NOW THE VIDEO ALSO WITH HERB ALPERT PLAYING HORN TOO 😍😚
@jeffmalone5557
I thought that was him.
@MsgJazz99
If it's love that brought us together, what else do you want love to do? Can't we just relax and feel better, take a look at life and enjoy the view! Beautiful lyrics Brenda. I don't care how you get here, but please get to Austin, Texas and do a live concert. You got mass appeal.