Mayfield is probably best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions and for the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Superfly.
Perhaps because he didn't cross over to the pop audience as heavily as Motown's stars, it may be that the scope of Curtis Mayfield's talents and contributions have yet to be fully recognized. Judged merely by his records alone, the man's legacy is enormous. As the leader of the Impressions, he recorded some of the finest soul vocal group music of the 1960s. As a solo artist in the 1970s, he helped pioneer funk and helped introduce hard-hitting urban commentary into soul music. "Gypsy Woman," "It's All Right," "People Get Ready," "Freddie's Dead," and "Superfly" are merely the most famous of his many hit records.
But Curtis Mayfield wasn't just a singer. Born in in Chicago, IL, he wrote most of his material at a time when that was not the norm for soul performers. He was among the first -- if not the very first -- to speak openly about African-American pride and community struggle in his compositions. As a songwriter and a producer, he was a key architect of Chicago Soul, penning material and working on sessions by notable Windy City soulsters like Gene Chandler, Jerry Butler, Major Lance, and Billy Butler. In this sense, he can be compared to Smokey Robinson, who also managed to find time to write and produce many classics for other soul stars. Mayfield was also an excellent guitarist, and his rolling, Latin-influenced lines were highlights of the Impressions' recordings in the '60s. During the next decade, he would toughen up his guitar work and production, incorporating some of the best features of psychedelic rock and funk.
Mayfield began his career as an associate of Jerry Butler, with whom he formed the Impressions in the late '50s. After the Impressions had a big hit in 1958 with "For Your Precious Love," Butler, who had sung lead on the record, split to start a solo career. Mayfield, while keeping the Impressions together, continued to write for and tour with Butler before the Impressions got their first Top 20 hit in 1961, "Gypsy Woman."
Mayfield was heavily steeped in gospel music before he entered the pop arena, and gospel, as well as doo wop, influences would figure prominently in most of his '60s work. Mayfield wasn't a staunch traditionalist, however. He and the Impressions may have often worked the call-and-response gospel style, but his songs (romantic and otherwise) were often veiled or unveiled messages of black pride, reflecting the increased confidence and self-determination of the African-American community. Musically he was an innovator as well, using arrangements that employed the punchy, blaring horns and Latin-influenced rhythms that came to be trademark flourishes of Chicago soul. As the staff producer for the OKeh label, Mayfield was also instrumental in lending his talents to the work of other Chi-town soul singers who went on to national success. With Mayfield singing lead and playing guitar, the Impressions had 14 Top 40 hits in the 1960s (five made the Top 20 in 1964 alone), and released some above-average albums during that period as well.
Given Mayfield's prodigious talents, it was perhaps inevitable that he would eventually leave the Impressions to begin a solo career, as he did in 1970. His first few singles boasted a harder, more funk-driven sound; singles like "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Gonna Go" found him confronting ghetto life with a realism that had rarely been heard on record. He really didn't hit his artistic or commercial stride as a solo artist, though, until Superfly, his soundtrack to a 1972 blaxploitation film. Drug deals, ghetto shootings, the death of young black men before their time: all were described in penetrating detail. Yet Mayfield's irrepressible falsetto vocals, uplifting melodies, and fabulous funk pop arrangements gave the oft-moralizing material a graceful strength that few others could have achieved. For all the glory of his past work, Superfly stands as his crowning achievement, not to mention a much-needed counterpoint to the sensationalistic portrayals of the film itself.
At this point Mayfield, along with Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, was the foremost exponent of a new level of compelling auteurism in soul. His failure to maintain the standards of Superfly qualifies as one of the great disappointments in the history of black popular music. Perhaps he'd simply reached his peak after a long climb, but the rest of his '70s work didn't match the musical brilliance and lyrical subtleties of Superfly, although he had a few large R&B hits in a much more conventional vein, such as "Kung Fu," "So in Love," and "Only You Babe."
Mayfield had a couple of hits in the early '80s, but the decade generally found his commercial fortunes in a steady downward spiral, despite some intermittent albums.
On August 14, 1990, he became paralyzed from the neck down when a lighting rig fell on top of him at a concert in Brooklyn, NY. In 1993, three years after the accident which caused Mayfield's paralysis, Shanachie records released the album People Get Ready: A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield featuring a.o. Jerry Butler, Don Covay and Steve Cropper.
Mayfield received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
Curtis Mayfield died December 26, 1999 at the North Fulton Regional Hospital in Roswell, Georgia.
Ghetto Child-
Curtis Mayfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Watch a while
You see he never smiles
Broken home, father gone
Mama tired, so he's all alone
Kind of sad, kind of mad
Ghetto child, thinkin' he's been had
But I can just hear him
In the back of his mind sayin'
Didn't have to be here
You didn't have to love for me
While I was just a nothin' child
Why couldn't y'all just let me be
Let me be, let me be, let me be?
Little child, runnin' wild
Watch a while
You see he never smiles
Broken home, daddy gone
Mama tired and he's all alone
Kind of sad, oh baby, kind of mad
Ghetto child, thinkin' he's been had
And I can just hear him sayin'
I didn't have to be here
You didn't have to love for me
While I was just a nothin' child
Why couldn't they just let me be
Let me be, let me be, let me be?
Ain't got no money
I got to play in the alleys, ain't got no pride
Just took everything out of me, I got it sad
Got to make it alone
Got to get away from home
There's ain't no fun, my life I just run
Run on, run on, run on ghetto child
Run on ghetto child
Run on ghetto child
Run on ghetto child
You're runnin' wild
Watch a while
You see he never smiles
Father gone, alright
In Curtis Mayfield’s song Ghetto Child, we are introduced to a young boy from the ghetto who seems to have lost all hope. The references to “Broken home, father gone” and “Mama tired, so he's all alone” suggest a childhood full of struggle and hardship. This has likely left the singer feeling sad and angry at the world. Mayfield’s lyrics suggest that the child feels like he has nothing and has been let down by those around him, even perhaps to the point where he feels that he should never have been born. Despite all of this, the child’s inner voice is strong and he still cries out to be allowed to be and to have lived differently as he asserts “let me be, let me be, let me be?”, in reference to a life beyond his ghetto surroundings.
Line by Line Meaning
Little child, runnin' wild
The song describes a young child who is running chaotically and uncontrollably.
Watch a while
The song urges listeners to observe and witness the child's behavior.
You see he never smiles
The child appears to be unhappy and does not smile.
Broken home, father gone
The child's family is broken, and the father figure is absent from the house.
Mama tired, so he's all alone
The mother is physically and emotionally exhausted, so the child is left alone.
Kind of sad, kind of mad
The child is experiencing mixed emotions, including sadness and anger.
Ghetto child, thinkin' he's been had
The child feels like he has been unfairly treated by society due to his socioeconomic status.
But I can just hear him
The song imagines the child's inner thoughts and feelings.
In the back of his mind sayin'
The song implies that the child is silently contemplating his situation.
Didn't have to be here
The child may be questioning why he was born into poverty.
You didn't have to love for me
The child may be questioning the love and care given to him by his parents.
While I was just a nothin' child
The child feels like he is worthless or insignificant in society's eyes.
Why couldn't y'all just let me be
The child may wish to escape or be left alone, rather than continuing to struggle in his current situation.
Ain't got no money
The child does not have any money or material possessions.
I got to play in the alleys, ain't got no pride
The child's financial situation is so dire that he must resort to playing in the alleys rather than more socially acceptable activities.
Just took everything out of me, I got it sad
The child's hardships have drained his energy and left him feeling depressed.
Got to make it alone
The child feels like he must rely on himself to overcome his struggles.
Got to get away from home
The child may wish to physically remove himself from his current living situation.
There's ain't no fun, my life I just run
The child's life is not enjoyable or fulfilling, and he feels like he is constantly trying to escape his problems.
Run on, run on, run on ghetto child
The song encourages the child to keep running and striving towards a better life, despite the obstacles he faces.
You're runnin' wild
The child's behavior is still uncontrolled and chaotic.
Father gone, alright
The song reiterates the absence of the father figure from the child's life.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CURTIS MAYFIELD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
T.H.Q
Here the lyrics y'all:
Little child
Runnin' wild
Watch a while
You see he never smiles
Broken home
Father gone
Mama tired
So he's all alone
Kind of sad
Kind of mad
Ghetto child
Thinkin' he's been had
In the back of his mind he's sayin'
Didn't have to be here
You didn't have to love for me
While I was just a nothin' child
Why couldn't they just let me be
Let me be, let me be, let me be
One room shack
On the alley-back
Control, I'm told
From across the track
Where is the mayor
Who'll make all things fair
He lives outside
Our polluted air
And I didn't have to be here
You didn't have to love for me
While I was just a nothin' child
Why couldn't they just let me be
Let me be, let me be, let me be
I got a Jones
Runnin' through ma' bones
I'm sorry son
All your money's gone
Painful rip
In my upper hip
I guess it's time
To take another trip
Don't care what nobody say
I got to take the pain away
It's getting worser day by day
And all my life has been this way
Can't reason with the pusher man
Finance is all that he understands
You junkie, mama cries, you know
Would rip her, but I love her so
Love her so, now
Cæ Fē
Homeless right now. Writing this from a McDonald’s. Times are tough and bills are tough. I’m not giving up and this song keeps me moving. Love y’all. God is good.
FM GENESIDE
how are you doing?
Michael Jenkins
🙏🏿
Chistability
I've Been There & I Hope You Are Ok🙏🏾
Bob Miller
power to u brother,, love and contentment from Liverpool UK,, one life, one love, one more chance to shine,,never STOP loving,,Bobble&MrTao,xxx
RedHawk
🙏💙🌻🌹
Fred Allen
Grown folks music. Little child running wild. There's never gonna be another a man like Mr. Curtis Mayfield. Rest In Peace.
alethea davis
It does seem that way, at least in the secular world.
Willie Brown
This is one of the most realest songs ever recorded, still so relevant today. RIP Curtis Mayfield👍🏾🙏🏾
Jarvis Murriel
💖💖💖💙MDR