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
Don't Cry For Me
Lisa Stansfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They always sounded happy before
But now there's something missing
'Cause they don't see me kissing you no more
My sky has fallen down through the floor
I go to sleep with no-one to hold
In bed when you were near me
[Chorus]
I'm picking up the pieces now
Know I'm gonna get through somehow so
Don't cry for me
I've gotta make it on my own
Learn to be alone
Ooh baby
Don't cry for me
I feel like there's a hole in my heart
I've gotta fill it up and make a new start
I can't sit here forever
Although it seems I'll never ever get that far
I'm gonna get outside and make some new friends
And put me back together again
It's no use feeling lonely
When I know I'm not the only one who feels like this
[Chorus]
It's hard baby it's hard
But I'm trying
Trying my best to make it through
I know deep in my heart when I'm crying
I'm trying to forgive you
The birds don't sing the same any more
They always sounded happy before
But now there's something missing
'Cause they don't see me kissing you no more
[Chorus]
The lyrics of Lisa Stansfield’s “Don’t Cry For Me” express the feelings of the singer after a heartbreak. She describes how her world has lost its charm since she lost her lover; she can’t hear the birds chirping the same way she used to when they were still together. The singer has trouble sleeping alone and feels the cold of the night. She reflects on the void left in her heart and how she plans to move on from the breakup. She acknowledges the difficulty of the process but sets her resolve to fill the hole in her heart and make a fresh start. She decides to go out and make new friends and tries her best to forgive her ex.
The chorus of the song is particularly uplifting, encouraging the singer and the listener to move on from the heartbreak and learn to be okay on their own. The lyrics show the power of determination and how it can push a person to pick up the pieces and move on despite the emotional pain and distress.
Line by Line Meaning
The birds don't sing the same any more
The world doesn't seem as beautiful now that my relationship with you is over
They always sounded happy before
My perception of the world changed when I was with you because I was happy then
But now there's something missing
After our breakup, I feel like something is missing from my life
'Cause they don't see me kissing you no more
The birds no longer see me with you, and neither does anyone else, which is a painful reminder of what I lost
My sky has fallen down through the floor
Life seems hopeless and difficult now that you're gone
I go to sleep with no-one to hold
I miss the comfort of being held by you and feeling loved
In bed when you were near me
Being near you made me feel warm and safe in bed
I didn't really feel the cold at all
Because I had your love to keep me warm, I didn't actually feel the cold temperature in bed
I'm picking up the pieces now
I'm trying to move on and put myself back together
Know I'm gonna get through somehow so
I have hope that I'll get through this difficult time, no matter how challenging it may be
Don't cry for me
I know it's sad, but please don't feel sorry for me
I've gotta make it on my own
I need to learn to stand on my own and be independent without relying on our relationship
Learn to be alone
I'm learning how to cope with being alone and finding happiness within myself
Ooh baby
An expression of sadness and longing for what we once had
I feel like there's a hole in my heart
The pain of our breakup has left a void in my heart that needs to be filled
I've gotta fill it up and make a new start
I need to heal my heart and start anew
I can't sit here forever
I can't keep living in the past and fixating on our relationship
Although it seems I'll never ever get that far
Sometimes it feels like I'll never truly move on, but I have to keep trying
I'm gonna get outside and make some new friends
I'm actively taking steps to move on and socialize with new people
And put me back together again
I'm trying to rebuild myself and feel whole again
It's no use feeling lonely
Being alone and feeling sorry for myself won't solve anything
When I know I'm not the only one who feels like this
I know that others have gone through heartbreak and that I'm not alone in this experience
It's hard baby it's hard
This is a difficult, emotional time for me
But I'm trying
Despite how challenging this is, I'm still putting in effort to move on
Trying my best to make it through
I'm doing everything I can to get through this tough time
I know deep in my heart when I'm crying
Even though I'm sad now, I know I'll eventually be able to look back on this experience and feel grateful for the lessons learned
I'm trying to forgive you
I'm trying to let go of any resentment and forgive you for the pain caused by our breakup
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: IAN OWEN DEVANEY, MARK MORALES, MARK ROONEY, LISA JANE STANSFIELD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind