Washington was born Ruth Jones in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. As she was growing up in Chicago, she played piano and directed her church choir. Later, she studied in Walter Dyett's renowned music program at DuSable High School. For a while, she split her time between performing in clubs as Dinah Washington while singing and playing piano in Salle Martin's gospel choir as Ruth Jones.
Washington began performing in 1942 and soon joined Lionel Hampton's band. In 1943, she began recording for Keynote Records and released "Evil Gal Blues", her first hit. By 1955, she had released numerous hit songs on the R&B charts, including "Baby, Get Lost", "Trouble in Mind", "You Don't Know What Love Is" (arranged by Quincy Jones), and a cover of "Cold, Cold Heart" by Hank Williams. In 1958 she made a well-received appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival.
With "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" 1959, Washington won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance; the song was her biggest hit, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The commercially driven album of the same name, with its heavily reliance on strings and wordless choruses, was slammed by jazz and blues critics as being far too commercial, not keeping with her blues roots. Despite this, the album was a huge success and Washington continued to favor more commercial, pop-oriented songs rather than traditional blues and jazz songs. She also dealt in torch songs; her rendition of The Platters' "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" was well-regarded.
She was married seven times, and divorced six times while having several lovers, including Quincy Jones, her young arranger. She was known to be imperious and demanding in real life, but audiences loved her. In London she once declared, "...there is only one heaven, one earth and one queen...Queen Elizabeth is an impostor", but the crowd loved it.
Dinah Washington died from an accidental overdose of diet pills and alcohol at the age of 39 in 1963.
Journey
Dinah Washington Lyrics
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I want to be loved starting tonight
Instead of merely holding conversation
Hold me tight
I want to be kissed until I tingle
I want to be kissed starting tonight
Embrace until our heartbeats intermingle
I feel like acting my age
I'm past the stage of merely turtledoving
(be careful, be careful what you do)
I'm in no mood to resist
And I insist the world owes me a loving
I want to be thrilled to desperation
I want to be thrilled starting tonight
(love me, love me, love me)
With every kind of wonderful sensation
I want to be loved
I feel like acting my age
I'm past the stage of merely turtledoving
I'm in no mood to resist
And I insist the world owes me a loving
I want to be thrilled to desperation
I want to be thrilled starting tonight
With every kind of wonderful sensation
I want to be loved
The song "Journey's End" by Dinah Washington is all about the desire for passionate love. Dinah sings about wanting to be loved with inspiration and not just through meaningless conversations. She wants to feel loved and desired, and this is the start of her journey for passionate love. She expresses her desire to be held tightly, kissed until she tingles, and embraced until their heartbeats become one. She is in no mood to resist and insists that the world owes her a loving.
The lyrics speak to the universal desire for love that we all feel at some point in our lives. Dinah's raw vocals capture the emotion and passion of her words perfectly, making the listener feel the same urgency for love that she does. The song encourages listeners to go after what they want and not to settle for mediocre love.
Overall, "Journey's End" is a powerful ode to love and the journey that we go on to find it. It tells us that it's ok to desire passionate love and that it's something worth fighting for.
Line by Line Meaning
I want to be loved with inspiration
I desire to be loved with passion and creativity.
I want to be loved starting tonight
I yearn for love to begin as of this moment.
Instead of merely holding conversation, hold me tight
I long for affectionate physical touch, rather than just talking.
I want to be kissed until I tingle
I crave to feel tingles from kisses.
I want to be kissed starting tonight
I want to engage in passionate kissing tonight.
Embrace until our heartbeats intermingle, wrong or right
Hold me tight until our hearts beat in sync, regardless of whether it's appropriate or not.
I feel like acting my age
I am eager to behave appropriately for my age.
I'm past the stage of merely turtledoving
I am over the stage of just cuddling and want more.
(be careful, be careful what you do)
Be cautious with how you act around me.
I'm in no mood to resist
I am not interested in resisting my desires.
And I insist the world owes me a loving
I demand that the world gives me love.
I want to be thrilled to desperation
I desire to become ecstatically happy and thrilled beyond measure.
I want to be thrilled starting tonight
I want to experience intense pleasure and excitement beginning tonight.
(love me, love me, love me)
I want to be loved deeply and seriously.
With every kind of wonderful sensation
I want to experience all sorts of intense, positive emotions and feelings.
I want to be loved
I crave love and affection from someone else.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JIMMY REED
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Cecil Shaw
My beautiful mother, first played this song for me , about the age of four. The sound of the woman's voice, lingered, buried in my soul , forgotten about , until I felt it again, in Dinah Washington 's ( Journeys End ) , then it reached it again in Laverne Baker 's ( Tomorrow Night ). I know now , that what I was witnessing, was , in fact, the sound, of someone's life, coming from their vocal instrument
Nelson Rasmussen
This is my favorite Dinah Washington tune.
Robert Walker
My mums last song...and now my favourite classic.
MSADRIEN AFOKOEVENTS
My funeral song........the words “, I guess I’ll run along to my journey’s end “ my joy will flow “