Eva Cassidy was the third of four children born to Hugh and Barbara Cassidy. From an early age, she displayed artistic and musical talent. When she was nine years old, her father taught her to play the guitar, and she began to play and sing at family gatherings.
While a student at Bowie High School, she did sing with a local band, called Stonehenge, and received considerable praise.
At the age of eighteen, Cassidy began her professional career, singing and playing guitar in a Washington, D.C., area band, called Easy Street. This band performed in a variety of styles, at weddings, corporate parties, and pubs.
During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar, six days per week, at Wild World, in Maryland. Her brother Dan was also a member of this working band.
Throughout the 1980s, Cassidy worked with a number of other bands, including the soul and Motown-oriented band The Honeybees, and the techno-pop band Characters Without Names, later called Method Actor.
During this period, Cassidy also worked as a propagator at a plant nursery and as a furniture painter in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1986, she met (bassist and recording engineer) Chris Biondo, who encouraged her and helped her find work as a backup singer for various acts. In 1990, Biondo and Cassidy hired the so-called "Eva Cassidy Band", composed of Chris Biondo, Lenny Williams, Keith Grimes and Raice McLeod, and she began to perform frequently in the Washington area.
In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown. Best known as the "Godfather of Go-go", Brown is also a jazz and blues vocalist. This led to the first commercial recording of Cassidy, the duet album with Chuck Brown, The Other Side; which featured performances of classic songs such as "Fever", Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" and Cassidy's signature tune "Over the Rainbow". The album was released and distributed by Liaison Records, the label that also released Brown's Go-go albums. The duet CD attracted the attention of various record companies, but the offers all required Cassidy to pigeonhole herself within a single style (e.g., pop or jazz), something she adamantly refused to do.[citation needed]
In 1993 Eva Cassidy was first honored by the Washington area music community when she was awarded two Wammie awards for "Female Vocalist Roots/Traditional R&B" and "Vocalist Jazz/Traditional." The next year she was chosen to perform for the awards ceremony.
In January 1996, Cassidy recorded the album Live at Blues Alley, about which The Washington Post later commented that "she could sing anything and make it sound like the only music that mattered". [1] Cassidy was unhappy with her singing on the album, because she had a bad cold on the night of the recording; she began recording a studio album which was eventually released as Eva by Heart posthumously in 1997.
During a promotional event for the Live at Blues Alley CD in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals. The pain persisted, and, a few weeks later, Cassidy was diagnosed with melanoma. By the time of her diagnosis, the cancer had spread throughout her body. Cassidy's health rapidly deteriorated, and her final performance was in September 1996. At the performance, she had used a walker to reach the stage, sang "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of friends, and was subsequently admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital.[citation needed]
Eva Cassidy died on November 2, 1996, at the age of 33. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association.
You Take My Breath Away
Eva Cassidy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How strong the power of love can be
Sometimes you just take my breath away
You watch my love grow like a child
Sometimes gentle and sometimes wild
Sometimes you just take my breath away
And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there just to use
I'm gonna stand up on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away
Sometimes it amazes me
How strong the power of love can be
Sometimes you just take my breath away
Your beauty is there in all I see
And when I feel your eyes on me
Oh don't you know you just take my breath away
And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there just to use
I'm gonna stand up on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away
And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there just to use
I'm gonna stand up on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away
Oh yes you take my breath away
The lyrics of Eva Cassidy's song, "You Take My Breath Away," express a deep admiration and love for a special someone in the singer's life. The power of love is highlighted through the opening lines that acknowledge how amazing it is that love can be so strong. The singer then addresses the subject of the song, noting that this person is able to take their breath away. This might refer to the feeling of being overwhelmed by love or the effect that this person has on the singer, leaving them momentarily breathless.
The second verse continues to describe the impact of the person's beauty and gaze on the singer. The chorus is repeated, with the lines "too good to slip by, too good to lose" underscoring the importance of this love in the singer's life. The declaration of intention to announce this love to the world from a mountain top adds a touch of grandeur to the song's sentiment.
Line by Line Meaning
Sometimes it amazes me
The singer is often amazed by the power of love.
How strong the power of love can be
Love has the ability to be incredibly powerful and impactful.
Sometimes you just take my breath away
The singer is often left breathless in admiration of their loved one.
You watch my love grow like a child
The singer's partner observes and nurtures the growth and development of their love.
Sometimes gentle and sometimes wild
The love between the two individuals can be both tender and intense.
And it's too good to slip by
The love they share is too precious to let it slip away unnoticed.
Too good to lose
They can't afford to lose what they have, they must cherish it.
Too good to be there just to use
Their love is not something to be taken for granted or used for selfish purposes.
I'm gonna stand up on a mountain top
The singer will go to great lengths to share their love and admiration for their partner.
And tell the news
They will share the news of their love with the world.
That you take my breath away
The singer is deeply enamored of their lover and is constantly awestruck by their beauty and presence.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: CLAIRE HAMILL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dearly Beloved
Sometimes it amazes me
How strong the power of love can be
Sometimes you just take my breath away
You watch my love grow like a child
Sometimes gentle and sometimes wild
Sometimes you just take my breath away
And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there
Just to use
I'm gonna stand on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away
Sometimes it amazes me
How strong the power of love can be
Sometimes you just take my breath away
Your beauty is there in all I see
And when I feel your eyes on me
Oh don't you know you just take my breath away
And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there
Just to use
I'm gonna stand up on a mountain top
And tell the news
That You take my breath away.
And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there
Just to use
I'm gonna stand up on a mountain top
And tell the news
That You take my breath away.
Oh yes, you take my breath away ... ♥
Jan Boomkamp
I have no words to describe Eva or what her music does to me... She's not singing the song, she ís the song, she's every word... It comes directly from the heart, and is so pure that it silences you....❤
rick reigers
For not describing her, you did a pretty good job...she calms the soul...
D Mix
I couldn’t agree more! Her musical skills are a true gift.
e mcbride
"she is the song" ... love that.
Sean Deal
I can’t believe I’ve lived 59 years and just discovered this amazing angel... after reading of her sad passing I’m even more astonished.. love her music more than I can even begin to say...
Laura Romeo
TIMELESS VOICE - THIS SONG WILL BE BEAUTIFUL 100 YEARS FROM NOW. EVA IS SINGING IN HEAVEN NOW TO THE LORD AND ALL OF THOSE WHO HAVE AN OLD FASHIONED HEART.
Debbi Gurbutt
This was our song, I played it at my husband's funeral.
We both loved spending cosy evenings with a glass of wine, candles and Eva.
Matti Innanen
💜
e mcbride
so sorry for the losses, but someday . . .
Lesley Targett
It was played at my husband's funeral too 5 years ago.