Early life
David Archuleta was born to Jeff Archuleta and Lupe Marie, a salsa singer and dancer from Honduras. Archuleta has four siblings. Archuleta's family moved to the Salt Lake Valley, to the city of Sandy, Utah, when Archuleta was six. He was raised in Murray, Utah after moving there when he was 6 years old.
Archuleta started singing at age six, inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this," he said. He started performing publicly at age 10 when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation and won the Child Division.
Archuleta was inspired by watching both Tamyra Gray and Kelly Clarkson to "see what performing and really getting into a song was like" during the beginning weeks of the premiere season of American Idol. He later made his television debut, at eleven years old, singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" on a Jenny Jones show for future Latino stars alongside season one finalist A.J. Gil. Through A.J. Gil he was able to meet and sing for Gray who had sung the song on American Idol as well as Clarkson (that year's winner) and Justin Guarini (the runner up).
Musical influences
Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child was Latin-influenced including watching his mom sing at events with her sisters. She also "was big on dancing" according to Archuleta, and would "make" him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father's collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and "soulful music." In a later interview, he revealed that his father was a jazz musician. Archuleta also said he enjoys Broadway musicals.
On his American Idol "Fast Facts" page, Archuleta cites his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. When asked to list his top pop artists, he cited Natasha Bedingfield, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, Kirk Franklin, and Robbie Williams. Like Elliot Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.
Star Search
In 2003, at age 12, Archuleta sang on several episodes of the television show Star Search. He ended up as the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2. On one episode, he sang against then-11-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who also became a "top 20" semi-finalist on American Idol alongside Archuleta. Around the second year of being on Star Search he started focusing on the lyrics, "I didn't even pay attention to the lyrics when I was 12, 13".
Archuleta's competing on Star Search led to appearances on The Jenny Jones Show and CBS' The Early Show, and meeting the finalists from American Idol's first season, for whom he performed a spontaneous a cappella rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls, and received enthusiastic praise from Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson. The year after Star Search he found out he had partial vocal paralysis but declined risky surgery and has said he feels he is almost fully recovered. He limited his singing for specific occasions like Stadium of Fire, the Independence Day celebration at Brigham Young University Stadium.
American Idol
Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions (with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change") with the help of idol judge, Randy Jackson, who sang the background "waiting" in the song. (at the San Diego tryouts held at Qualcomm Stadium July 30 and July 31, 2007) He was 16 during the Hollywood auditions (where he sang Bryan Adams' "Heaven" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" to unanimous praise) and because he was not yet 18, had to attend school while a part of American Idol's seventh season. His parents were there because he was a minor. Archuleta also took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments when he accompanied himself on piano for his performances of "Another Day in Paradise" and "Angels."
A Los Angeles Times article speculated why Archuleta avoided singing the first verse of "Imagine": because "of his religion (Mormonism), he's unlikely to espouse the song's agnostic ideal . . . with the line about 'no religion too.'" Archuleta did, however, sing the entire song on Good Things Utah when he was 13. During his first performance of Imagine on American Idol, when asked by judge Randy Jackson why he didn't sing the first verse, Archuleta said the third verse was his favorite because it has "a great message."
In the finale he sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," "In This Moment" and "Imagine." Judge Simon Cowell declared that Archuleta won the evening and even David Cook, who ultimately won, thought Archuleta would win: "I have to concede it, the kid came out all three songs and nailed it," said Cook. In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes. During the finale show, both Archuleta and fellow finalist Cook appeared in separate but nearly identical commercials for the game franchise Guitar Hero, mimicking a Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business.
To Be With You
David Archuleta Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I've been waitin' for the stars to fall
I keep holdin' out for what I don't know
To be with you, just to be with you
So here I am staring at the moon tonight
Wondering how you look in this light
Maybe you're somewhere thinkin' about me too
And I can't imagine two worlds spinnin' apart
Come together eventually..
And when we finally meet, I'll know it's right
I'll be at the end of my restless road
But this journey, it was worth the fight
To be with you, just to be...
Holding you for the very first time, never letting go
What I wouldn't give to feel that way...
Ooohh...
Oh, to be with you...
Oh, and I can't imagine two worlds spinnin' apart
Come together eventually
And when you're standin' here in front of me
That's when I know that God does exist
'Cause He will have answered every single prayer
To be with you, just to be with you, yeah
You...
The lyrics of David Archuleta's song To Be With You captures the longing for love and companionship that everyone experiences at some point in their lives. The song speaks of the loneliness that comes with being alone, waiting for something or someone to fill the void. It expresses the desire to be with a particular person and the lengths one is willing to go to be with them.
The singer talks about holding out for someone he doesn't know, someone he has been waiting for. He stares at the moon, wondering how the person looks in its light. He ponders whether the person is also thinking about him. The chorus reinforces the desperation and willingness to do whatever it takes to be with the person in question. The singer cannot imagine two worlds coming apart but will eventually come together when they finally meet.
The bridge expresses the culmination of the singer's search for love. When he finally meets the person he has been longing for, he will know it is right, and it would have been worth the fight. Holding the person will be a dream come true, and he will never let go. The song ends with the singer recognizing that he has finally found someone he has searched for, and it is an answer to his prayer.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been alone so many nights now
I have spent many nights being all by myself
And I've been waitin' for the stars to fall
I have been waiting patiently for something extraordinary to happen
I keep holdin' out for what I don't know
I am staying hopeful, expecting something extraordinary to happen although I do not know what it is exactly
To be with you, just to be with you
All I desire is to be around you
So here I am staring at the moon tonight
Currently, I am gazing at the moon this night
Wondering how you look in this light
Whilst staring at the moon, I am contemplating on how you would look in this beautiful atmosphere
Maybe you're somewhere thinkin' about me too
It is possible that you could be thinking of me wherever you are
To be with you, there's nothing I wouldn't do
I am willing to go through any hurdles in order to be with you
And I can't imagine two worlds spinnin' apart
My mind cannot fathom the thought of us existing separately
Come together eventually..
I believe that one day we will both unite
And when we finally meet, I'll know it's right
Once we come together, I will feel certain we were meant to be
I'll be at the end of my restless road
My tiresome journey would come to a halt
But this journey, it was worth the fight
Despite everything, my struggles would be worth it
To be with you, just to be...
Again, all I desire is to be close to you
Holding you for the very first time, never letting go
I yearn to embrace you for eternity as if it were the first time I held you
What I wouldn't give to feel that way...
I would go to any length in order to have that feeling persist
Oh, to be with you...
I can not express how much it means to be next to you
And when you're standin' here in front of me
Once I finally witness you standing in front of me
That's when I know that God does exist
At that moment, I would know God does exist
'Cause He will have answered every single prayer
I would know God has answered my every prayer
To be with you, just to be with you, yeah
This would be the utmost relief, to just be with you
You...
My attention is geared towards only you
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Spirit Music Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: EMANUEL KIRIAKOU, KARA DIOGUARDI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind