Once the frontwoman of UK band Blue Zone, which saw modest success with their single "Jackie", she became a major international star beginning with her guest vocal stint on Coldcut's record People Hold On.
Stansfield is probably best known for her first UK #1 single, All Around the World (1989), which also peaked at #3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 the following year. Other worldwide hits from her debut solo album Affection include This is the Right Time (featuring a house music-styled production by Coldcut with Mark Saunders), Live Together, What Did I Do To You? and You Can't Deny It. "All Around the World" was the second song by a white female soloist to hit #1 on the Billboard R&B chart (the first being "Ooo La La La" by Teena Marie in 1988). "You Can't Deny It" also topped that chart. Affection went platinum in the U.S., and sold a total of five million copies worldwide.
In 1990, Stansfield was among a handful of high-profile artists to participate in the Red Hot + Blue charity album, which honored the songwriting career of Cole Porter, and benefitted AIDS research at a time when funding from government agencies was insufficient for those in need. She was given the chance to show her swing and jazz chops on the song "Down in the Depths" (video), which was one of a few throwback renditions to appear on the album. This likely won her the female lead in the independent film Swing (1999), for which soundtrack she also performed most of the songs. Thus began an illustrious and respected tradition of Stansfield offering jazz and torch songs to outside projects (she also sang I've Got the World on a String in the original movie soundtrack of 2003's Mona Lisa Smile).
In 1992, Stansfield won a BRIT Award as best British female solo artist. Her second album Real Love did not quite live up to the success of Affection, despite selling very well. However, it did spawn four Top 40 singles on the European charts: Change, All Woman, Time to Make You Mine and Set Your Loving Free. "Change" has since become one of her signature classics, and still receives regular air-play to this day. "All Woman" became Stansfield's third #1 single on the Billboard R&B chart, and due to the success of that song, the album went gold in the U.S. Filled with pathos and emotion, it is "kitchen sink soul", from the viewpoint of a woman taken for granted. Like "All Around the World", many critics initially believed that it had been performed by a black singer.
Stansfield continued recording disco-influenced soul throughout the 1990s. Her third album So Natural (1993) spawned three Top 40 European singles including the title track So Natural, In All the Right Places and Little Bit of Heaven, but the album was never released in the U.S. She had continued success throughout Europe, but her popularity in America had diminished.
sidenote: "In All The Right Places" was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Indecent Proposal (1993), for which Stansfield was shortlisted as the lead that eventually went to Demi Moore. You can catch her talking about it in this YouTube interview clip (@ 1:30).
Her self-titled fourth album Lisa Stansfield (1997) was a hit in Europe with two Top Ten singles - People Hold On (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Mix) (a re-released dance mix by The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and The Real Thing, and the Top 40 track Never, Never Gonna Give You Up (a remake of the late Barry White's 1973 hit). Upon being released in the U.S., the album scored some mainstream attention, but fared much better in the dance clubs where remixes were very successful; an astonishing four singles - "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up", Never Gonna Fall, I'm Leavin', and "People Hold On" reached #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. It charted modestly, peaking at #30 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #55 on the Billboard 200. Subsequently, The Remix Album was released due to revived interest in Stansfield within the dance community. The music video for "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (video) was an eye-catcher featuring her strolling nude down a city street, acquiring a few items of clothing along the way. VH1 featured the clip and even gave it the Pop-Up Video treatment. During the promotion for the single, Stansfield appeared on the RuPaul Show, but inexplicably, did not sing the song (or any others, for that matter).
Her 2001 album Face Up was less successful, barely charting through a lack of publicity, but featured the singles Let's Just Call It Love and 8-3-1, which found her experimenting with newer styles of R&B such as 2-step while continuing with her established sound. Stansfield's husband, Ian Devaney, delivered an arrangement for the ballad How Could You?, which displayed his love of Burt Bacharach's legacy. Only one single was officially released in the UK.
Following the release of Face Up, a 2-CD greatest hits collection titled Biography: The Greatest Hits was released in 2003, which sold well in the UK and Europe. Stansfield then parted ways with Arista/BMG, ending an 18-year association with the label.
Stansfield signed with ZTT Records from the UK, and her 2004 release The Moment was produced by Trevor Horn, well-known for his work with Seal, Grace Jones, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, among others. The album was distributed in Europe by Edel, featuring the singles Treat Me Like a Woman (released as a double A-side with Easier) and If I Hadn't Got You, a song written by Chris Braide with ex-Squeeze songwriter Chris Difford. The album found her exploring more pop-oriented material, and focusing on lush ballads.
Despite this, as with her previous release, the album and supporting singles were not a success. At the time of the project's release, ZTT was directing large amounts of its resources into re-marketing its back catalogue, and producing the Trevor Horn concert for The Prince's Trust and its accompanying double CD Produced by Trevor Horn. The release of "Treat Me Like a Woman" was twice delayed, and the label eventually paired it with "Easier". While ZTT did erect a billboard to advertise the album in Stansfield's home area of Greater Manchester, print advertising and in-store displays were reportedly absent. Later that year ZTT dropped her from their label.
Stansfield's talents also extended into acting; she starred in the 1999 film Swing with actor Hugo Speer, and recorded covers of swing classics and a few original songs written in the style for the soundtrack. She later appeared on a London stage in The Vagina Monologues. In 2006, she guest-starred in the series Goldplated. In 2007, she starred in an episode of Marple: Ordeal by Innocence, and later joined the cast of The Edge of Love.
On June 2012, Lisa told the UK newspaper, The Sunday Mirror that she's working on her seventh studio album, her first in nine years, and that it is going to be released in spring 2013. Lisa announced in November 2012 that the album will be titled 'Seven'.
Official website: http://www.lisa-stansfield.com
All Around The World
Lisa Stansfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I'll find him, somewhere, somehow
I've got to let him know how much I care
I'll never give up looking for my baby
Been around the world and I, I, I
I can't find my baby
I don't know when, I don't know why
And I don't know where he can be, my baby
But I'm gonna find him
We had a quarrel and I let myself go
I said so many things, things he didn't know
And I was oh oh so bad
And I don't think he's comin' back, mm mm
He gave the reason, the reasons he should go
And he said things he hasn't said before
And he was oh oh so mad
And I don't think he's comin' back, comin' back
I did too much lyin', wasted too much time
Now I'm here a'cryin', I, I, I
Been around the world and I, I, I
I can't find my baby
I don't know when, I don't know why
Why he's gone away
And I don't know where he can be, my baby
But I'm gonna find him
So open hearted, he never did me wrong
I was the one, the weakest one of all
And now I'm oh oh so sad
And I don't think he's comin' back, comin' back
I did too much lyin', wasted too much time
Now I'm here a'cryin', I, I, I
Been around the world and I, I, I
I can't find my baby
I don't know when, I don't know why
Why he's gone away
And I don't know where he can be, my baby
But I'm gonna find him
Been around the world and I, I, I
I can't find my baby
I don't know when, I don't know why
Why he's gone away
And I don't know where he can be, my baby
But I'm gonna find him
I'm going to find him, my b-b-baby
I did too much lyin', wasted too much time
Now I'm here a'cryin', I, I, I
Been around the world and I, I, I
I can't find my baby
I don't know when, I don't know why
Why he's gone away
And I don't know where he can be, my baby
But I'm gonna find him
I've been around the world, lookin' for my baby
Been around the world, and I'm gonna
I'm gonna find him
Been around the world and I, I, I
I can't find my baby
I don't know when, I don't know why
Why he's gone away
And I don't know where he can be, my baby
But I'm gonna find him
The song “All Around the World” by Lisa Stansfield is a heartfelt lament of a woman who has lost her partner due to a fight they had. The verses speak of her determination to find him, no matter where he is or how long it takes, and how much she still cares for him. The chorus insists on the fact that she can't find her partner and doesn’t know why he is gone. However, despite the pain of the situation, the woman still holds onto a glimmer of hope that she will find him.
The song speaks of the endless search for someone who has completely vanished from one’s life. Lisa Stansfield captures the pain, sadness, and desperation of a person desperately searching for their beloved. The song is an anthem for unrequited love and determination against all odds. It reminds us that true love never dies, and nothing can truly separate two people who are meant to be together.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't know where my baby is
I am not aware of the location of my lover
But I'll find him, somewhere, somehow
I am determined to search and locate him, through any means necessary
I've got to let him know how much I care
I need to communicate and express my affection for him
I'll never give up looking for my baby
I will persistently continue to search for my lover
Been around the world and I, I, I
I have traveled extensively
I can't find my baby
I have not been successful in locating my lover
I don't know when, I don't know why
I am uncertain when or why he departed
Why he's gone away
I am perplexed regarding the cause of his departure
And I don't know where he can be, my baby
I am unaware of his current location
But I'm gonna find him
Despite this uncertainty, I will persist in my search and locate him
We had a quarrel and I let myself go
We had a disagreement and I lost control of myself
I said so many things, things he didn't know
I made numerous statements that he was unaware of
And I was oh oh so bad
My behavior was unacceptable and negative
And I don't think he's comin' back, mm mm
I do not believe he will return to me
He gave the reason, the reasons he should go
He provided justification for his departure
And he said things he hasn't said before
He expressed views and opinions that were new to me
And he was oh oh so mad
He was incredibly angry
I did too much lyin', wasted too much time
I lied excessively and squandered valuable time
Now I'm here a'cryin', I, I, I
I am now experiencing intense emotions and crying
So open hearted, he never did me wrong
He always treated me with an open and trusting heart, and never harmed me
I was the one, the weakest one of all
I was the vulnerable and helpless one in the relationship
And now I'm oh oh so sad
I am now immensely sorrowful
I'm going to find him, my b-b-baby
I will locate, find and reunite with my lover
Been around the world, lookin' for my baby
I have searched throughout the world for my lover
I'm gonna find him
I am confident that I will locate and reunite with my lover
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Andy Morris, Ian Owen Devaney, Lisa Jane Stansfield
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@BrunoAlbouze
Voice of happiness on earth
@karlbensley58
Bit over the top
@tzoannamarilou5221
❤️❤️
@kengeneral2977
This is the 🎸
@ginetteramos2744
Yesss memories good old days
@tinfoilhatter
i was 24! it's close enough! if we could just re-set time, back to the spring of 1990, well then that would definitely buy us some time! this song always sounded good, always i would turn it up, yes, let's go back, back, back -- how great would that be, if we could just wake up there, in late may of 1990, yes, -but knowing what we've learnt since then, how many songs could we steal, for instance, songs that weren't written or recorded yet!
@LuvGokunut
Someone needs to bring this kind of music back. I loved the orchestral pop of this era. So many of the best songs used strings and pianos and woodwinds. It was an incredible period for music.
@stephenmcguire7801
So much of that "sound" diminished with the loss of orchestration, esp. strings.
@emello4you
It was '89-'94. A lot of songs with that type of melody. It was amazing. I wish it had lasted forever but it didn't. I'll never forget in '89 I first heard it off of Soul to Soul. Their smash hit "back to life". I'll never forget how modern it sounded when I first heard it. And still to this day I get that sensation like no other. An amazing time. Maxi Priest "Close to You" was another one.
@tom47235
il try!