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.

Solitude
Dakota Staton Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

In my solitude
You haunt me
With dreadful ease
Of days gone by

In my solitude
You taunt me
With memories

That never die

I sit in my chair
And filled with despair
There's no one could be so sad
With gloom everywhere
I sit and I stare
I know that I'll soon go mad

In my solitude
I'm afraid
Dear Lord above
Send back my love
I sit in my chair

Filled with despair
There's no one, no one
No onecould be so sad
With gloom everywhere
I sit and I stare
I know that I'll soon go mad

In my solitude
I'm afraid

Dear Lord above
Send back my love

Overall Meaning

The song Solitude by Dakota Staton speaks of the pain and anguish of being alone after losing someone you love. The opening two lines of "In my solitude, you haunt me" creates an image of someone who is all by themselves, yet the memories of their loved one are still alive and present, haunting them every step of the way. The line "with dreadful ease of days gone by" reinforces the fact that the memories of the past are so vivid that they feel like they happened just yesterday.

The second verse speaks of the torment that comes with being alone; the memories never die, and they are always taunting the person, leaving them filled with despair. The line "there's no one could be so sad, with gloom everywhere" reinforces the isolation and emotional pain that the person is going through. The repetition of the line "I sit and I stare; I know that I'll soon go mad" emphasizes the person's mental state and how it's constantly deteriorating.

The last verse speaks of the person reaching out to whoever is listening, be it a friend or a higher power, to bring their loved one back to them. The line "dear lord above, send back my love" is a plea to fill the void in their heart, and to help them to overcome the loneliness and despair that comes with solitude.

Overall, Solitude is a heartbreaking song that speaks to the pain and anguish of losing someone you love.

Line by Line Meaning

In my solitude
Being alone by myself

You haunt me
You disturb me in my thoughts

With dreadful ease
In a way that is easily fearful

Of days gone by
Of the past times that are already over

You taunt me
You challenge me in my mind

With memories
With thoughts of things that happened before

That never die
That never get forgotten

I sit in my chair
I remain seated in my place

And filled with despair
Feeling hopeless and unhappy

There's no one could be so sad
No one else is feeling as miserable as I am