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.
Keep on Trippin'
Curtis Mayfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And now you keep denying
Child you don't here what your missing
So much I want to give ya
Let go of the love that's in ya
Say you got an answer
But it's my opinion
You just, keep on trippin'
Keep on lippin'
Go on about your worldly (airs)
But, before there's a total loss
And you nail us to the cross
What about the men you claim affairs
You just
Keep on trippin'
Keep on
Keep on trippin'
Keep on trippin'
Keep on
Keep on trippin'
Take what I have to offer
Bt I think my girl I've lost her
Goin' to another other than me
I don't know what
You've been smokin'
But I'm layin' here still hopin'
Trippin' will bring you back to me
We're still just the perfect match
And I've rather grown attached
I know I love you tenderly
But just try to understand
Selfish, tryin' to be your man
Tought I'm just another human being
Loving you
Keep on trippin'
Keep on
Keep on trippin'
Keep on trippin'
Keep on
Keep on trippin'
The lyrics to Keep on Trippin' by Curtis Mayfield convey a message of disappointment, frustration, and confusion towards a lover who is refusing to acknowledge the depth of love being offered to them. The singer is trying to offer everything they have, but the other person is denying it because they think they have a better answer. The chorus "Keep on trippin'" is directed at the lover's confused and unfocused behavior that's causing the singer to lose their love. The singer is urging their lover to let go of the love that they have in them and this will lead them back to the singer.
The verse "Take what I have to offer, but I think my girl I've lost her, goin' to another other than me" explains that the singer has offered their all to the lover but has realized that the lover has moved on. However, the singer is still hoping that the lover will realize what they are missing and come back to them. "But I'm layin' here still hopin', trippin' will bring you back to me" indicates that the singer will not give up on the relationship and still loves the lover. The song is a plea to the lover to recognize the love offered by the singer and come back.
Line by Line Meaning
Your love's so satisfying
I appreciate how fulfilling our love is
And now you keep denying
But you keep rejecting me
Child you don't here what your missing
You don't realize what you're giving up
So much I want to give ya
I have a lot to offer you
Let go of the love that's in ya
Stop holding back your love
Say you got an answer
You claim to have a solution
But it's my opinion
But I disagree
You just, keep on trippin'
You're being irrational
Keep on lippin'
You keep talking nonsense
Go on about your worldly (airs)
You keep acting arrogant and self-centered
But, before there's a total loss
Before we lose each other completely
And you nail us to the cross
And you blame us for our problems
What about the men you claim affairs
What about the other guys you've been seeing
Take what I have to offer
Accept my love and affection
Bt I think my girl I've lost her
But I fear that I've already lost you
Goin' to another other than me
You're pursuing other men instead of me
I don't know what
I'm confused about
You've been smokin'
What you've been thinking or doing
But I'm layin' here still hopin'
But I'm still hopeful we can work things out
Trippin' will bring you back to me
You just need to snap out of it and come back to me
We're still just the perfect match
We're still meant to be together
And I've rather grown attached
And I've become even more emotionally invested
I know I love you tenderly
I truly love you tenderly
But just try to understand
But please try to see things from my perspective
Selfish, tryin' to be your man
I may appear selfish, but I'm just trying to be there for you
Tought I'm just another human being
But remember that I'm also just a person
Loving you
I will always love you
Keep on trippin'
But you keep being irrational and holding us back
Keep on lippin'
You keep talking nonsense
Keep on trippin'
You need to stop being irrational and come back to me
Keep on trippin'
You're holding us back and it's hurting me
Keep on
Just keep doing what you're doing
Keep on trippin'
And never come back to me
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG Rights Management
Written by: CURTIS MAYFIELD, PHILIP R. UPCHURCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind