Diane Ernestine Earle Ross (born March 26, 1944), better known as Diana Ros… Read Full Bio ↴Diane Ernestine Earle Ross (born March 26, 1944), better known as Diana Ross, is an American soul, R&B and pop singer and actress born in Detroit, Michigan. Ross is one of the most successful female artists of her era, both due to her solo work and her role as lead singer of The Supremes during the 1960s.

In 1959, Ross was brought to the attention of Milton Jenkins, the manager of the local doo-wop group The Primes, by Mary Wilson. Primes member Paul Williams convinced Jenkins to enlist Ross in the sister group The Primettes, which included Wilson, Florence Ballard and Betty McGlown.

In 1976, Billboard magazine named her the female entertainer of the century. In 1993, The Guinness Book Of World Records listed her as the most successful female artist ever (the title is now attributed to Madonna), partly due to her combined total of eighteen number-one singles, six of them recorded solo and the remaining dozen from her work with the Supremes.

Ross was also one of the few pop singers to find modest success in the acting world winning an Academy Award nomination for her role as Billie Holiday in the 1972 film, "Lady Sings the Blues" as well as having hits with other film roles such as "Mahogany", "Out of Darkness" and "Double Platinum", not to mention her role in "The Wiz".

Ross has been awarded many lifetime achievement accolades from many organizations and media outlets: she has been featured on BET, Soul Train, and awarded multiple times at the NAACP Image Awards, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007 and given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement in 2011.

Ross' professional vocal collaborators have included the following during her career: Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Julio Iglesias, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Smokey Robinson, among many others.

Stranger In Paradise
Diana Ross Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Take my hand
I'm a stranger in paradise
All lost in a wonderland
A stranger in paradise

If I stand starry-eyed
That's a danger in paradise
For mortals who stand beside

I'm an angel like you

I saw your face
And I ascended
Out of the commonplace
Into the rare

Somewhere in space
I hang suspended
Until I know
There's a chance that you care

Won't you answer that fervent prayer
Of a stranger in paradise
Don't send me in dark despair
From all that I hunger for

But open your angel arms
To a stranger in paradise

And tell her that she need be
A stranger no more

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Diana Ross and the Supremes's song Paradise describe the feelings of a person who is enchanted by someone they have just met. The singer is a "stranger in paradise," lost in a world of wonder and mesmerized by the person they have just seen. They are standing "starry-eyed," and know that this is dangerous for mortals who are next to them, but they feel like an angel, just like the person they are gazing at.

Next, the singer describes the moment when they saw the person's face, and everything changed. They moved away from the ordinary and entered into something rare, something that left them suspended in space. But, the question remains if the person they are admiring feels anything for them. The singer pleads with them to answer their fervent prayer, not to leave them in dark despair. Instead, they want the person to open their angel arms and accept them so that they will no longer be a stranger in paradise.

Line by Line Meaning

Take my hand
Please come with me

I'm a stranger in paradise
I'm not from around here, everything is new and exciting

All lost in a wonderland
I'm a bit disoriented, but enjoying everything around me

A stranger in paradise
I'm still getting used to this place, but I like it here

If I stand starry-eyed
If I look at everything in wonder and amazement

That's a danger in paradise
It's not good to be too mesmerized, it can be dangerous

For mortals who stand beside
For humans who are with me

I'm an angel like you
I'm just like you, even though I'm not from here

I saw your face
I noticed you

And I ascended
I felt uplifted

Out of the commonplace
Out of the ordinary