She is the only person to have received Grammy nominations in the jazz, popular and classical music awards.
Laine was born in a London suburb to a Jamaican father and English mother who sent her to singing and dancing lessons at an early age. She did not take up singing seriously until her mid-twenties, however. She auditioned successfully for a band led by musician John Dankworth, with which she performed until 1958, when she and Dankworth married.
She then began her career as a singer and actress. She played the lead in a new play at London's famous Royal Court Theatre, home of the new wave of playwrights of the 1950s: Harold Pinter and the like. This led to other stage performances such as the musical Valmouth in 1959, the play A Time to Laugh (with Robert Morley and Ruth Gordon) in 1962, and eventually to her show stopping Julie in the Wendy Toye production of Showboat at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1971.
During this period she had two major recording successes. You'll Answer to Me reached the British Top 10 while Laine was 'prima donna' in the 1961 Edinburgh Festival production of Kurt Weill's opera/ballet The Seven Deadly Sins. In 1964 her Shakespeare and All that Jazz album with Dankworth received widespread critical acclaim, and to this day remains an important milestone in her identification with the more unusual aspects of a singer's repertoire.
1972 marked the start of Laine's international activities, with a successful first tour of Australia. Shortly afterwards, her career in the United States was launched with a concert at New York's Lincoln Center, followed in 1973 by the first of many Carnegie Hall appearances. Coast-to-coast tours of the U.S. and Canada soon followed, and with them a succession of record albums and television appearances. This led, after several nominations, to Cleo's first Grammy award, in recognition of the live recording of her 1983 Carnegie concert.
Laine colaborated with many great classical musicians including James Galway, Nigel Kennedy, Julian Lloyd Webber and John Williams.
Other important recordings during that time were duet albums with Ray Charles (Porgy and Bess) and Mel Tormé (see Nothing Without You), as well as Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire which won Laine a classical Grammy nomination.
Laine's relationship with the musical theatre, started in Britain, continued in the United States with starring performances in Sondheim's A Little Night Music and The Merry Widow (Michigan Opera). In 1985 she originated the role of Princess Puffer in the Broadway hit musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood, for which she received a Tony nomination, and in 1989 she received the Los Angeles critics' acclaim for her portrayal of the Witch in Sondheim's Into the Woods.
In the 2006 New Years Honours list, her husband John Dankworth was made a knight bachelor, becoming Sir John Dankworth. As his wife, she is entitled to be known as "Lady Dankworth," however, she uses her own professional name.
Alfie
Cleo Laine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is it just for the moment we live?
Whats it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give
Or are we meant to be kind?
And if only fools are kind, Alfie,
Then I guess its wise to be cruel.
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie,
As sure as I believe there's a heaven above, Alfie,
I know there's something much more,
Something even non-believers can believe in.
I believe in love, Alfie.
Without true love we just exist, Alfie.
Until you find the love you've missed you're nothing, Alfie.
When you walk let your heart lead the way
And you'll find love any day, Alfie, Alfie.
The song "Alfie" by Cleo Laine poses several existential questions that are worth pondering upon. The song talks about the search for meaning in life and what really matters in the grand scheme of things. The first verse asks Alfie what life is all about and whether it is just temporary. The second verse probes whether humans are meant to be kind or whether cruelty is the way to go. The third verse asks about the purpose of life and if it is only for the strong to survive, then what is the point of living by the old golden rule?
However, the chorus of the song offers a glimmer of hope. Laine sings that she believes in something more than physical existence, something that even non-believers can believe in - love. She believes that without true love, people are just existing and go about their lives without any purpose. The song suggests that the only way to find true love is by following one's heart rather than listening to the world around us. It is a timeless reminder that love is what ultimately gives meaning to our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Whats it all about, Alfie?
Alfie, what is the true meaning and purpose of life?
Is it just for the moment we live?
Are we living for the moment or is there something more meaningful?
Whats it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
If we try to make sense of life, what is it really about, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give or are we meant to be kind?
Should we be selfish or kind and giving in life, Alfie?
And if only fools are kind, Alfie, Then I guess its wise to be cruel.
If only naive people are kind, Alfie, does that mean it's smarter to be cruel?
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie, What will you lend on an old golden rule?
If only the strong can succeed in life, Alfie, do traditional values still hold any worth?
As sure as I believe there's a heaven above, Alfie, I know there's something much more, Something even non-believers can believe in.
I am certain there is an afterlife, Alfie, but there's something even non-believers can believe in.
I believe in love, Alfie.
I believe true love is the key to a fulfilled life, Alfie.
Without true love we just exist, Alfie.
Without true love, our lives have no real meaning or purpose, Alfie.
Until you find the love you've missed you're nothing, Alfie.
If you haven't found true love yet, Alfie, you are incomplete and unfulfilled.
When you walk let your heart lead the way And you'll find love any day, Alfie, Alfie.
Always trust your heart and you will find true love someday, Alfie, Alfie.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Burt Bacharach, Hal David
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
John Jagger
on Sunday
Those lyrics above bear no relation to the song ‘Sunday’ on the album ‘Born on a Friday’
John
on Born on a Friday
No lyrics for the song Born on a Friday? These lyrics are very hard to find. It would be nice to see because of a British expression that's used in the song that I'm not sure what the meaning is.