Taylor was born as Cora Walton on a farm just outside Memphis, Tennessee. In 1954, Taylor left Memphis for Chicago with her husband, truck driver Robert "Pops" Taylor. In the late 1950s she began singing in Chicago blues clubs and was spotted by Willie Dixon in 1962, leading to wider performances and her first recording contract. In 1965, Taylor was signed by Chess Records, for which her single Wang Dang Doodle (written by Dixon, and a hit for Howlin' Wolf five years earlier) became a major hit, reaching number four on the R&B charts in 1966 and selling a million copies. Taylor recorded many versions of this Dixon-penned song over the past several decades and added more material, both original and covers, but never repeated that initial chart success.
National touring in the late 1960s and early 1970s improved her fan base, and she became accessible to a wider record-buying public when she signed with Alligator Records in 1975. Recording over a dozen albums for that label (many nominated for Grammy awards), she came to dominate the female blues singer ranks, winning 24 W. C. Handy Awards -- more than any other artist. After her recovery from a near-fatal car crash in 1989, the 1990s found Taylor in movies such as Blues Brothers 2000. She opened a blues club on Division St. in Chicago in 1994, but closed it in 1999. Taylor released a new album in 2007 called "Old School."
Koko Taylor influenced such musicians as Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, Janis Joplin, Shannon Curfman, and Susan Tedeschi.
Koko Taylor died on the afternoon of June 3rd 2009 (at the age of 80), while recovering from surgery to repair gastrointestinal bleeding. Koko Taylor is still referred to by fellow blues musicians and her fans as the "Queen of the Blues".
I'm A Little Mixed Up
Koko Taylor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Never say goodbye
But I know now, that just was a lie
I'm mixed up
Mixed up about you
Yeah, I'm just a little mixed up
And I don't know what to do
Yeah, you said you'd love me
Give me stars up above
I thought so, Daddy
I had all your love
I'm mixed up
Mixed up about you
Yeah, I'm just a little mixed up
And I don't know what to do
Yeah, you said you'd love me
Never say goodbye
But I know now, that just was a lie
I'm mixed up
Mixed up about you
Yeah, I'm just a little mixed up
And I don't know what to do
Yeah, I'm just a mixed up, mixed up, mixed up fool
Mixed up all because of you
I'm mixed up
Mixed up about you
Yeah, I'm just a little mixed up
And I don't know what to do
Yeah, now you said you'd love me
Never say goodbye
But I know now, that just was a lie
I'm mixed up
Mixed up about you
Yeah, I'm just a little mixed up
And I don't know what to do
Yeah, you said you'd love me
Give me stars up above
I thought so, Daddy
I had all your love
I'm mixed up
Mixed up about you
Yeah, I'm just a little mixed up
And I don't know what to do
Yeah, we used to walk and talk, darlin
Jump and swing
But I know now you don't mean them things
I'm mixed up
Mixed up about you
Yeah, I'm just a little mixed up
And I don't know what to do
The lyrics to Koko Taylor's song "I'm A Little Mixed Up" are about a woman who was told by her lover that he would always love her and never leave her, but she now realizes that it was all a lie. The repetition of the lines “you said you'd love me, never say goodbye, but I know now, that just was a lie” shows the singer's frustration and confusion about her lover’s actions. The phrase “I’m mixed up” is used throughout the song, which refers to the singer’s emotions being jumbled and confused. She thought she had all his love, but she is just a mixed up, mixed up fool because of him. The song ends with the realization that the relationship was never real and the singer doesn't know what to do.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah, you said you'd love me
The singer is talking about someone who promised to love them.
Never say goodbye
The promise included never leaving.
But I know now, that just was a lie
The promise was not kept and turned out to be a lie.
I'm mixed up
The person is feeling confused.
Mixed up about you
The confusion is specifically about the person who made the promise.
Yeah, I'm just a little mixed up
The confusion is not extreme, but noticeable.
And I don't know what to do
The person doesn't know how to resolve their confusion or feelings.
Give me stars up above
The person promised to give the artist special, wonderful things.
I thought so, Daddy
The artist trusted the person and believed in their promises.
I had all your love
The artist believed the person truly loved them.
Yeah, now you said you'd love me
The person has repeated their promise to love the singer.
Yeah, we used to walk and talk, darlin
The artist reminiscences about a past relationship.
Jump and swing
The past relationship was full of happy times and activities.
But I know now you don't mean them things
The singer realizes that the person didn't truly mean their promises and the past relationship wasn't genuine.
Yeah, I'm just a mixed up, mixed up, mixed up fool
The singer feels foolish for believing the person's promises and for being in this situation.
Writer(s): James Betty, Johnson Edward
Contributed by Mason J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.