James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles, California, on 25th January 1938, to an unmarried fourteen-year-old mother, Dorothy Hawkins. According to Etta, her mother claimed that her father was the white Rudolph "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, and that they received financial support from him on the condition that they keep his paternity a secret. This seems unlikely, though it has not been definitively disproved. Etta was born in Los Angeles in 1938. At the time, Wanderone was known to be managing a pool hall in Washington, D.C. and had not yet become known to be the cross-country traveller he later became.
She received her first professional vocal training at five years old from James Earle Hines, musical director of the Echoes of Eden choir at St Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Her family moved to San Francisco in 1950, and she teamed up with two other girls to form a doo-wop singing group. When the girls were fourteen, band leader Johnny Otis had them audition. They sang an answer to Hank Ballard's "Work with Me, Annie" called "Roll Wwth Me Henry". Otis particularly liked the song, and against her mother's wishes, James and the trio went to Los Angeles to record the song in 1954. The song was recorded on the label Modern Records. By this time, the trio renamed the song "The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)" and released it in 1955. James named her vocal group The Peaches. Richard Berry, a Los Angeles doo-wop luminary, is featured on some of their records.
"The Wallflower" reached number two on the rhythm and blues charts in February 1955, but was undercut in the wider market by a rushed-out cover version by Georgia Gibbs on Mercury Records; in fact, the very first time Gibbs was recorded in studio, they used the first take recorded and it became number one on the top 100 songs nationally. The song's royalties were divided between Hank Ballard, Etta James, and Johnny Otis, and its huge success attracted the attention of the R&B world, resulting in James going on tour with Little Richard. On the tour, though, according to James, she witnessed and experienced situations to which minors are not usually privy, and she allegedly acquired a drug habit.
Soon after the success of "Wallflower", The Peaches and James parted company, but this did not halt her career. Shecontinued to record and release albums throughout much of the decade, and enjoyed more success. Her follow-up, "Good Rockin' Daddy", became another fifties hit. Other songs however, such as "Tough Lover" and "W-O-M-A-N" failed to gain any significant success. James toured with Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Otis Redding in the fifties, and has cited Watson as the most significant influence on her style..
In 1960, James signed a recording contract with Chess Records. She went on to have the biggest success of her career from this label, recording her biggest and most memorable hits. Chess went into high gear with James, releasing many duets with her then boyfriend, the married Harvey Fuqua, who was the lead singer of the Moonglows. One of her duets with Fuqua, "If I Can't Have You", became a hit on the R&B charts in 1960. As a solo artist however, she had more enduring success. One of her first singles released by Chess in 1960 was called "All I Could Do Was Cry"; this blues number became a big hit on the R&B charts in 1960. Leonard Chess, one of the founders of Chess Records, helped James along the way. He saw the potential for her to go in a more pop-oriented direction, and she started recording more pop tunes for the label.
The year 1961 became a year of great change for James. In 1961 came the release of one of her first pop-oriented tunes called "At Last". The song became a big hit in 1961, reaching number two on the R&B charts. The song even went as far as twenty-two on the pop charts that year. It became her signature song. Other songs, such as "Trust in Me", also became hits, and the 1962 tune "Something's Got a Hold On Me" showed more of James' gospel side, a genre she had sung since childhood.
She had other big hits in the 1960s, but mainly on the R&B charts: the song "Pushover" in 1963 and "Stop the Wedding", "Fool That I Am", and "Don't Cry Baby", were hits for her between 1961 and 1963. Her 1963 album Etta James Rocks the House, recorded at Nashville's "New Era" club, also gave her career a boost. James then became one of the most successful R&B artists of the 1960s, having many more top ten and top twenty hit singles. Performing in Memphis, Tennessee helped make her into a blues icon.
In 1967, James released her next hit single, "Tell Mama", and it became a top ten hit on the R&B charts. After a dry period of no hits for almost four years, the song once more made James a household name. The follow-up, "Security", was also a success, and proved that James had staying power on the charts again. Whilst less success came for James after this hit, she was still on the charts regularly and, despite the death of Leonard Chess, stayed with the Chess label into 1975. Towards the end of the Chess years though, she went into more rock-based songs. She recorded for many other labels, and continued to release albums, such as 1978's Deep In the Night on Atlantic Records.
Despite a dry period during the early to mid 1980s, James got back on track and began to record music again. She received accolades for her 1981 rendition of Randy Newman's "God's Song". Her 1988 album Seven Year Itch proved this comeback capability; the album showed more of her soul side. In 1989, she recorded the song "Avenue D" with David A. Stewart of Eurythmics. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the Robert Wise film Rooftops. She also performed with the Grateful Dead for two shows in 1982. In the 1990s she continued to record and perform. Her albums widely varied in styles and genres. Her 1992 album, The Right Time, was another soul album that was released by Elektra Records. She also began to record more jazz, which became the style for many of her 1990s albums.
Drug-related and romantic problems interfered with her career, but James managed to maintain a career throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. Later in life, she struggled with obesity, experiencing mobility and knee problems. In 2003, she underwent gastric bypass surgery.
In 2011, a vocal sample from Etta's "Something's Got a Hold on Me" was used in "Levels" by Avicii. "Levels" became a monster EDM hit, making Etta's "sometimes I get a good feeling" one of the most recognizable samples in 21st century music.
She died on 20th January 2012.
The Masquerade Is Over
Etta James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And my dreams are drifting away
Your eyes don't shine like they used to shine
And the thrill is gone when your lips meet mine
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
And so is love, and so is love
They were once inspired, now they're just routine
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
And so is love, and so is love
I guess I'll have to play Pagliacci
And get myself a clown's disguise
And learn to laugh like Pagliacci
With tears in my eyes
You look the same, you're a lot the same
But my heart says "no, no, you're not the same"
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
And so is love, and so is love
I guess I'll have to play Pagliacci
And get myself a clown's disguise
And learn to laugh like Pagliacci
With tears in my eyes
You look the same, you're a lot the same
But my heart says "No, no, you're not the same"
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
And so is love, and so is love
"The Masquerade Is Over" by Etta James is a song about realizing the end of a relationship. The lyrics paint a picture of something that was once beautiful, but is now fading. The singer's blue horizon is turning grey, and their dreams are drifting away. The person they're speaking to no longer has the same shine in their eyes or the same thrill in their kisses. Their words are now routine where they once inspired. The singer knows that the masquerade is over and that love is over too. They feel like they have to put on a clown's disguise to hide their true feelings, but they can't help feeling the sadness that comes with the end of a relationship.
The lyrics are both poetic and heartbreaking. They speak to the universal experience of realizing that love has come to an end. The singer's sense of loss is palpable, and the image of a clown with tears in their eyes is a powerful one. The song can be interpreted as a call to move on from a relationship that is no longer working, even though it's painful.
Line by Line Meaning
My blue horizon is turning grey
My optimistic view of the future is becoming less hopeful
And my dreams are drifting away
The things I hoped for in life are slowly disappearing
Your eyes don't shine like they used to shine
I don't see the same passion or love in your eyes as before
And the thrill is gone when your lips meet mine
Our kisses don't give me the same excitement or joy they used to
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
I realize that our relationship was built on falsehood or pretense
And so is love, and so is love
Our love has ended as a result of this realization
Your words don't mean what they used to mean
Your words no longer have the same value or significance as they did in the past
They were once inspired, now they're just routine
Your words used to be meaningful and original, but now they are clichéd and predictable
I guess I'll have to play Pagliacci
I will have to pretend to be happy and act like a clown to hide my pain
And get myself a clown's disguise
I will change my appearance to match my new persona
And learn to laugh like Pagliacci
I will need to fake laughter to mask my emotions
With tears in my eyes
Despite my forced laughter, I am still very sad
You look the same, you're a lot the same
You physically appear the same, but emotionally, you've changed a lot
But my heart says 'no, no, you're not the same'
My intuition tells me that you are different, and that something has changed between us
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
I realize that our mask or façade is no longer effective or believable
And so is love, and so is love
As a result of this realization, our love has also ended
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Allie Wrubel, Herbert Magidson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
then again
This is such a great cover it makes me want to dream about it
Paul Sweeney
Beautiful choice. This whole album is terrific
Patricia A Peoples
She was a hellava a female voice ! Thank goodness we live in an era of "history-revisited " !
gregory hector
This woman speaks to my very being and touches me so clearly on so many levels that its an experience that's not very common for me.
onehart99
Miss James , Miss James ! My heart bleeds. This one hurts. The voice , tickling of the piano keys, and the mornful sound of the horn. Hurtful but beautiful.
Lucas27
Damn. Rips your heart out.
hyperman1010
oh my etta, love you 4ever.
maidoodesu
Thanks for nice tune !
Wendy Marietta
Stop being a masquerade people. Step up to the plate already. Do the right thing. VOTE
Anna
GOT 2 tell you the Truth Miss Wendy, Votes dont count..They are Selected NOT Elected..