Doris Troy (January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American Rhythm & B… Read Full Bio ↴Doris Troy (January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American Rhythm & Blues singer, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul".

She was born as Doris Elaine Higginsen, in The Bronx, the daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister. She later took her grandmother's name and grew up as Doris Payne. Her parents disapproved of "subversive" forms of music like rhythm & blues, so she cut her teeth singing in her father's choir. She was working as an usherette at the Apollo where she was discovered by James Brown.
Troy worked with Solomon Burke, The Drifters, Cissy Houston, and Dionne Warwick, before she co-wrote and recorded "Just One Look", which hit #10 in the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. The song has been covered by The Hollies, Linda Ronstadt, Bryan Ferry, Anne Murray, Klaus Nomi, and Harry Nilsson. Her only foray into the UK Singles Chart, "Whatcha Gonna Do About It", peaked at #37 in December 1964.
As her solo career peaked, she sang back-up for the Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, Kevin Ayers, Pink Floyd (on their album The Dark Side of the Moon), George Harrison, Johnny Hallyday, Vivian Stanshall, Dusty Springfield, Nick Drake, Junior Campbell and Carly Simon.
She was signed by The Beatles to their Apple Records label in 1969, and released the Doris Troy album the following year, co-produced by Troy and George Harrison. Troy worked in the UK throughout the 1970s, appearing at Ronnie Scott's Club and recording a live album, The Rainbow Testament. Her People Records album, Stretching Out, was not a big seller.
Mama, I Want To Sing is a stage musical based on her life, and was co-written with her sister, Vy, a popular New York radio personality. It ran for 1,500 performances at the Heckscher Theatre in Harlem. Troy played her own mother, Geraldine. Chaka Khan played her aunt in the London production, as did Deniece Williams. The musical has been reinterpreted as an upcoming motion picture, starring Ciara, Patti Labelle and Hill Harper.
Troy died from emphysema at her home in Las Vegas, Nevada, aged 67.

Just One Look
Doris Troy Lyrics

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Just one look and I fell so hard
In love with you, oh oh, oh oh
I found out how good it feels
To have your love, oh oh, oh oh

Say you will, will be mine
Forever and always, oh oh, oh oh
Just one look and I knew

That you were my only one
Oh oh oh oh!

I thought I was dreamin'
But I was wrong, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, but-a, I'm gonna keep on schemin'
Till I can a-make you, make you my own!

So you see, I really care
Without you I'm nothin', oh oh, oh oh
Just one look and I know
I'll get you someday, oh oh, oh oh

Just one look, that's all it took

Just one look, that's all it took
Just one look, that's all it took

Overall Meaning

The song "Just One Look" by Doris Troy is an upbeat love song that expresses the feeling of falling in love at first sight. The opening line, "Just one look and I fell so hard in love with you," exemplifies that love can be instantaneous and inexplicable. The singer of the song is empowered by the intensity of her feelings for her object of desire. She has discovered how good it feels to have his love and begs him to reciprocate.

In the second verse, the chorus repeats the line "just one look, and I knew that you were my only one" after the singer marvels at how her love interest reciprocates her feelings, encouraging him to be hers forever. The next verse shows her determination to make him her own, even though she realizes that her love for him seemed like a dream. Her love is persistent, and she vows not to give up until she makes him hers.

The chorus repeats three times at the end, "Just one look, that's all it took," proving that the singer understands that love is unpredictable and can happen at any time, and just one look is all it takes to ignite that fiery passion.

Just One LookDoris Troy Lyrics

Just One Look
Doris Troy Lyrics