Dakota Staton (June 3, 1930 – April 10, 2007) was an American jazz vocalist… Read Full Bio ↴Dakota Staton (June 3, 1930 – April 10, 2007) was an American jazz vocalist who found international acclaim with the 1957 No. 4 hit, "The Late, Late Show". She was also known by the Muslim name Aliyah Rabia for a period due to her conversion to Islam as interpreted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Born in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she attended George Westinghouse High School and studied music at the Filion School of Music in Pittsburgh. Later she performed regularly in the Hill District, a jazz hotspot, as a vocalist with the Joe Westray Orchestra, a popular Pittsburgh orchestra. She next spent several years in the nightclub circuit in such cities as Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland and St. Louis. While in New York, she was noticed singing at a Harlem nightclub called the Baby Grand by Dave Cavanaugh, a producer for Capitol Records. She was signed and released several singles, her success leading her to win Down Beat magazine's "Most Promising Newcomer" award in 1955. In 1958, Staton wed Talib Dawud, a black Antigua-born Ahmadi Muslim trumpeter and noted critic of Elijah Muhammad. She subsequently converted to Islam and used the name Aliyah Rabia for some time. The marriage ultimately ended in divorce.

She released several critically acclaimed albums in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including: The Late, Late Show (1957), whose title track was her biggest hit, In the Night (1957), a collaboration with pianist George Shearing, Dynamic! (1958) and Dakota at Storyville (1961), a live album recorded at the Storyville jazz club in Boston. In the mid-1960s Staton moved to England, where she recorded the album Dakota ′67. Returning to the US in the early 1970s, she continued to record semi-regularly, her recordings taking an increasingly strong gospel and blues influence. She suffered a stroke in 1999, after which her health deteriorated. Staton died in New York City aged 76 in 2007.

Crazy He Calls Me
Dakota Staton Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I say I'll move the mountains
And I'll move the mountains
If he wants them out of the way
Crazy, he calls me
Sure I'm crazy
Crazy in love, I'd say

I say I'll go through fire

And I'll go through fire
As he wants it, so it shall be
Crazy, he calls me
Sure I'm crazy
Crazy in love, you see

Like the wind that shakes the bough
He moves me with a smile
The difficult I'll do right now
The impossible will take a little while

I say I'll care forever
And I mean forever
If I have to hold up the sky
Crazy, he calls me

Sure I'm crazy
Crazy in love am I

Overall Meaning

"Crazy He Calls Me" by Dakota Staton is a song that celebrates love in its most passionate and sacrificial form. The song speaks about a woman's willingness to do anything to please and satisfy the man she is in love with. The woman declares that she is willing to move mountains or go through fire if her man asks her to. She recognizes that her love may seem "crazy" to others but it is driven by her deep affection for her partner.

The singer of the song is willing to go to great lengths to make her partner happy. She acknowledges that her love is not logical or typical, but she accepts it wholeheartedly. She describes how her man affects her like a force of nature as powerful as a gust of wind that shakes the boughs of trees. The woman embodies the spirit of unconditional love, and metaphorically she remarks that she will even hold up the sky without dropping it if that's what her love requires.

The song is a testament to the idea that love can make us do crazy things for the people we care about. The woman is fascinated with her lover and is ready to withstand any obstacles that come with their relationship. The song is a celebration of love's power to move us and bring about a life of passion and excitement.

Line by Line Meaning

I say I'll move the mountains
I tell him that I can do the impossible

And I'll move the mountains
I promise to remove any obstacles in our path

If he wants them out of the way
I'll do it just to please him

Crazy, he calls me
He thinks I'm insane

Sure I'm crazy
Maybe I am a little crazy

Crazy in love, I'd say
My love for him makes me do crazy things

I say I'll go through fire
I tell him that I'll face any danger for him

And I'll go through fire
I'm willing to take risks for him

As he wants it, so it shall be
I'll do anything he desires

Crazy, he calls me
He thinks I'm out of my mind

Sure I'm crazy
I admit that I might be crazy