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.
Something's Gotta Give
Cleo Laine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Meets an old immovable object like me
You can bet just as sure as you live
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta give
Warms an old implacable heart such as mine
Don't say no because I insist
Somewhere, somehow
Someone's gotta be kissed
So, en garde, who knows what the fates might have in store
From their vast mysterious sky
I'll try hard ignorin' those lips that I adore
But how long can anyone try?
Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight it with all of our might
Chances are some heavenly star-spangled night
We'll find out just as sure as we live
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta give
Fight, fight, fight it with all of your might
Chances are that some heavenly star-spangled night
We'll find out just as sure as we live
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta give
Something's gotta give
Aw, let's tear it up
The lyrics to Cleo Laine's "Something's Gotta Give" explore the tension between two opposites: an irresistible force and an immovable object. The singer describes themselves as the latter and the object of their affection as the former, highlighting the stark difference between the two. The use of the metaphor of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object suggests that the two cannot coexist without conflict or change. The singer acknowledges that "something's gotta give," indicating that one of them must give in to the other, or that they must find a compromise.
The second half of the song explores the idea that despite the opposition between the two, the singer cannot resist the irresistible force in front of them. They describe their heart as "old" and "implacable," but they acknowledge that they cannot resist the "irrepressible smile" of the person they are attracted to. They insist that they must be kissed and that they will fight it with all their might, suggesting that they are resistant to the idea of giving in, but they ultimately concede that "something's gotta give."
The lyrics are filled with tension and uncertainty, as the singer explores the possibility of compromise and change, but also acknowledges the difficulty of resisting something so powerful. The metaphors of the irresistible force and immovable object highlight the intrinsic opposition between the two, but the singer ultimately suggests that they are willing to find a way to make things work, even if it means giving up some of their own resistance.
Line by Line Meaning
When an irresistible force such as you
When someone as irresistible as you enters my world
Meets an old immovable object like me
And meets someone as stubborn like me
You can bet just as sure as you live
You can bet that something's going to need to change
Something's gotta give
Something must change
When an irrepressible smile such as yours
When your contagious smile spreads happiness
Warms an old implacable heart such as mine
And makes its mark on an unwilling recipient like me
Don't say no because I insist
Do not refuse me because I cannot resist
Somewhere, somehow
In some way, at some point
Someone's gotta be kissed
We have to kiss
So, en garde, who knows what the fates might have in store
So, be ready for anything because the future is uncertain
From their vast mysterious sky
From the great unknown
I'll try hard ignorin' those lips that I adore
I will try hard to ignore the one I love
But how long can anyone try?
But how long can we resist our true feelings?
Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight it with all of our might
We must fight with all our strength to resist
Chances are some heavenly star-spangled night
Perhaps one magical, starry night
We'll find out just as sure as we live
We will finally discover what was meant to be
Something's gotta give
Something will have to change
Fight, fight, fight it with all of your might
We must keep on fighting
Something's gotta give
Something must change
Something's gotta give
Something must change
Aw, let's tear it up
Let's go for it!
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHNNY MERCER
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.