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.
You're So Good To Me
Curtis Mayfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Kiss my lips a taste
But oh sweet ecstasy!
Give it all up to me (
give it all up give it all up, give it all up)
Carry on our day this way
You're so good to me
Don't try to understand, to much lack of this
I wanna be the man
I know there is some risk
Oh, sock it to me, sock it to me
Ooh, you're so good to me
Don't wanna see selfishly, us broken-hearted
Should always be you for me and you for me
We too, loving through, hey baby
(Sexy dancing minx), Sexy dancing minx
(Sexy dancing minx)
You're just what it takes
(You're just what it takes)
And I hope it's not too late
(And I hope it's not too late)
Want you tenderly
You're so good to me
Say girl you're my love
Friends are all we have
The way we have our love
When we want to enjoy
Lonely, lonely now
You're so good to me
I can never get over you
(I can never, can never, can never)
No matter how I try
Hung up for your love
(Hung up for your love)
(Hung up for your love)
Baby that's my life
(Hung up for your love)
No on could satisfy
You're so good to me
I never craze at pace
(Never get over, get over you)
Wanted you this way
(Never get over, get over you)
Love begin to race
Whatever come what may
Love me tenderly
You're so good to me
(Never get over, get over you)
I can never get over, get over you
No matter what I try to do
Hung up on your love its true
I can never get over, get over you
You're so good to me
Hey baby, hey baby
Oooh, embracing me this way
Kiss my lips a taste
But oh sweet ecstasy!
Give it all up to me
(give it all up give it all up, give it all up)
Get down, get down all day
Cos you're so good to me
But never get over, get over you
No matter how I try
Hung up on love, on love its true
Baby that's no lie
No one could satisfy
You're so good to me
You see, I could never get over you, get over you, get over you
Cos you're so good to me
The lyrics of Curtis Mayfield's song "You're So Good to Me" talk about an all-consuming love that the singer feels for his lover. The singer is grateful for the love that his lover gives him, and he reciprocates that love by giving himself to her fully. He wants to be the man in the relationship and doesn't want too much understanding, preferring the risk-filled passion that comes with love. The lyrics reflect the singer's deep love and his fear of losing the relationship.
The song's chorus "you're so good to me" is repeated throughout the song, highlighting the strength of the singer's feelings. The singer wants to be with his lover forever and doesn't want to see them brokenhearted. He feels like they both love each other and wants to enjoy their love, even when they're feeling lonely. The song ends with the singer admitting that he can never get over his lover and that she is so good to him.
Line by Line Meaning
Embracing me this way
You hold me close in your arms
Kiss my lips a taste
You kiss me softly and tenderly
But oh sweet ecstasy!
It feels amazing to be with you
Give it all up to me (give it all up give it all up, give it all up)
I want you to give yourself completely to me
Carry on our day this way
Let's spend the whole day together like this
You're so good to me
You treat me so well
Don't try to understand, to much lack of this
Don't overthink it, there's no need to complicate things
I wanna be the man
I want to be the one you love
I know there is some risk
I understand that there are challenges we may face
Oh, sock it to me, sock it to me
Give it to me, I want it all
Don't wanna see selfishly, us broken-hearted
I don't want us to hurt each other by being selfish
Should always be you for me and you for me
We should always be there for each other
We too, loving through, hey baby
We will always love each other
(Sexy dancing minx), Sexy dancing minx, (Sexy dancing minx)
I love the way you move and dance
You're just what it takes (You're just what it takes)
You are exactly what I need
And I hope it's not too late (And I hope it's not too late)
I hope we can still make this work
Want you tenderly
I want to love you with all my heart
Lonely, lonely now
I would be lonely without you
I can never get over you (I can never, can never, can never)
I will always love you
No matter how I try
I cannot stop my feelings for you
Hung up for your love (Hung up for your love) (Hung up for your love)
I am obsessed with your love
Baby that's my life (Hung up for your love)
Loving you is my life
No on could satisfy
No one else can compare to you
I never craze at pace (Never get over, get over you)
My love for you will never fade away
Wanted you this way (Never get over, get over you)
I have always loved you
Love begin to race
My heart beats faster when I think of you
Whatever come what may
No matter what happens, I will always love you
You see, I could never get over you, get over you, get over you
I will always love you, no matter what
Cos you're so good to me
Because you treat me so well
Get down, get down all day
Let's keep dancing and enjoying our time together
Writer(s): Gilbert Alexander Askey, Curtis Mayfield
Contributed by Henry P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.