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.
It Was Love That We Needed
Curtis Mayfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We needed love (it was love)
It was love that we needed (oh, yeah)
(Yeah, yeah) Love?
It was love (it was love)
It was love (that we needed)
We needed love, darlin'
Yeah, yeah-eh (We needed love)
Somewhat impossible
No idea what was happenin' to me
All of my life, things were cool 'til now
Then the feelin', the strangest feelin' came over me
(Ooh, oh, na, na, na, na, na, na, na)
My happiness just came with such surprise
The water just swelled up in my eyes
An all I could see was your pretty, pretty face (pretty face)
Jumpin' up and down
All around (round) the place
It was love (it was love)
It was love (that we needed) that we needed
It was love, it was love, it was love, it was love
We needed love
It was love (it was love)
It was love (that we needed) that we needed, oh, yeah
Yeah, yeah
We needed love
Never, never, never did I know till now
My deep, deep feelings for another
When just romancin' in the world
Dancin' with you, girl
I knew we'd soon discover, soon discover
(Ooh, oh, na, na, na, na, na, na, na)
My happiness just came with such surprise
The water just swelled up in my eyes
An all I could see was your pretty, pretty face (pretty face)
Jumpin' up and down
All around (round) the place
It was love (it was love)
It was love (that we needed) that we needed
It was love, it was love, it was love, it was love
We needed love
It was love (it was love)
It was love (that we needed) that we needed, yeah, yeah-eh
We needed love
Sing it, girl
Loves, merry go round, goes around and round (whoo, ooh)
Loves, merry go round, goes round (round)
Loves, merry go round (listen)
Loves, merry go round, goes around and round
(Romancin' in the world)
(Just dancin' with you, girl)
Loves, merry go round, goes round (you're my world)
Loves, merry go round (oh, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Loves, merry go round, goes around and round
(Romancin' in the world)
(Just dancin' with you, girl)
Loves, merry go round, goes round (you're my world)
Loves, merry go round (whoo, ooh)
It was love (it was love)
It was love, it was love (that we needed) that we needed
It was love, it was love, it was love, it was love, it was love
We needed love
It was love (it was love) it was love
Love that we needed (that we needed)
We needed love, darlin'
We needed love, love, love, love
We needed love
Loves, merry go round, goes around and round
(Loves, merry go round, goes around and round)
(Round and around)
That love, merry go round, goes round
(Goes round and around, round and around, round)
Loves, merry go round
We needed love
Loves, merry go round, goes around and round
(All that we needed)
(It was all that we needed, yeah, yeah, yeah)
That love, merry go round, goes round
Loves, merry go round (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
We needed love
Loves, merry go round, goes around and round
(I'm so proud of you, I'm so proud of you)
That love, merry go round, goes round
(Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Loves, merry go round
We needed love
(All that we needed was love)
Loves, merry go round, goes around and round
(All that we needed was love)
That love, merry go round, goes round?
The lyrics to Curtis Mayfield's "It Was Love That We Needed" speak about the transformative power of love. The song begins with a repetition of the phrase, "It was love that we needed." The singer emphasizes the importance of love in their lives. The lyrics suggest that the singer was not aware of their deep feelings for someone until now. They describe feeling surprised when they realized that love was what they needed. The water swells up in the singer's eyes when they see the object of their affection, and they can only see their pretty face. The lyrics describe jumping up and down, and all around the place, emphasizing the joy that the singer feels.
The lyrics also suggest that love is a merry-go-round, "that goes round and round." The merry-go-round imagery emphasizes the cyclical nature of love, how it can be dizzying and exciting, and can bring people around in circles. The singer feels proud of their love, saying "I'm so proud of you." Overall, the lyrics emphasize the transformative power of love, how it can take someone by surprise and make them see the world in a new way.
Line by Line Meaning
It was love that we needed (Hmm, hmm)
Love was the missing piece we needed in our lives.
We needed love (it was love)
We were lacking love, and it was specifically romantic love that we sought.
It was love that we needed (oh, yeah)
We needed love to feel fulfilled and happy in our lives.
(Yeah, yeah) Love?
Yes, love - it was the answer to our problems.
It was love (it was love)
Romantic love was the specific type of love that we were lacking.
It was love (that we needed)
We needed love - specifically, romantic love - to feel complete and satisfied.
We needed love, darlin'
We required romantic love to be content with our lives.
Yeah, yeah-eh (We needed love)
Yes, we did - we required romantic love to fill the void in our lives.
Somewhat impossible
Finding romantic love seemed difficult or unlikely.
No idea what was happenin' to me
I was confused and unsure about my feelings towards another person.
All of my life, things were cool 'til now
In the past, I was happy and content, but now I am seeking romantic love.
Then the feelin', the strangest feelin' came over me
I suddenly experienced unfamiliar feelings towards another person, which turned out to be romantic love.
My happiness just came with such surprise
My newfound romantic love for another person was unexpected and shocking.
The water just swelled up in my eyes
I was overcome with emotion and began to cry tears of joy.
An all I could see was your pretty, pretty face (pretty face)
The object of my romantic love was the only thing on my mind, and I found their appearance beautiful.
Jumpin' up and down / All around (round) the place
I was so overjoyed by my romantic love for this person that I was literally jumping up and down with excitement.
Never, never, never did I know till now / My deep, deep feelings for another
I had never experienced such strong romantic feelings towards another person until now.
When just romancin' in the world / Dancin' with you, girl / I knew we'd soon discover, soon discover
When I was spending time with the object of my romantic love, I knew that we were meant to be together and would soon realize our true feelings for one another.
Sing it, girl
Encouragement for a female vocalist to continue singing the song.
Loves, merry go round, goes around and round (whoo, ooh)
The ups and downs of romantic love are like a merry-go-round, with constant changes in emotions and circumstances.
All that we needed was love
Love was the most important thing that we needed in our lives.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CURTIS MAYFIELD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind