Lisa Jane Stansfield (born April 11, 1966 in Heywood, Lancashire, England) … Read Full Bio ↴Lisa Jane Stansfield (born April 11, 1966 in Heywood, Lancashire, England) is a Grammy Award-nominated and BRIT Award-winning English R&B, Soul, House, and Pop singer-songwriter and actress. Lisa has sold an estimated 20 million records worldwide.
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

I’m Leavin’
Lisa Stansfield Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I come home from work and have a glass of wine
Kick off my shoes and wait on you
Well it's way past dawn and your still gone
Where in the world is my boo?

See I was fallin' asleep and you were creeping in
I never would have noticed until when
Until I smelt perfume, the kind I do not wear

My baby's been messin' around again

[Chorus]
You shouldn't have done me babe
Now watch what I do to you
Baby I'm leavin' I'm leavin' I'm leavin'
Leavin' you
You shouldn't have done me babe
Now watch what I do to you
Baby I'm leavin' I'm leavin' I'm leavin'
Leavin' you

How could I be so dumb? I thought I loved a man
But more and more you proved to be a boy
and now I understand
But I can't baby sit no more, it? not what I loved you for
I'd rather be alone bye-bye cos' I'm really leavin' this time

[Chorus]

Look at you now begging down on your knees
Thinking I'm coming back, Oh child please
I said I was leavin' I mean whet I say
There's no turning around I'm Ieavin' today

[Chorus]

No I can't baby sit no more, it's not what I loved you for
I'd rather be alone bye-bye cos' I'm really leavin' this time

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Lisa Stansfield's song "I'm Leavin'" express the singer's heartbreak and disappointment over her partner's infidelity. The song starts by describing a typical day where the singer comes home, waiting for her partner who has been out for a long time. As she starts to fall asleep, she realizes something is wrong, and she can smell a different perfume on her partner. This is when she finds out that he has been cheating on her. The chorus then emphasizes that she is leaving him due to his infidelity and warns him that he will regret it. The song concludes with the singer rejecting her partner's pleas for forgiveness and reiterating her decision to leave.

Through the lyrics, the singer expresses her disappointment, heartbreak, and anger over her partner's behavior. She thought she loved a man, but he turned out to be a boy who can't be trusted. The lyrics show that the singer has had enough of her partner's cheating and wants to leave him, regardless of his pleading. She also emphasizes that she is leaving for good and will not turn back, underlining the significance of the situation.

Line by Line Meaning

I come home from work and have a glass of wine
After a long day of work, I come home and unwind with a glass of wine

Kick off my shoes and wait on you
I take off my shoes and wait for you to come home, hoping for some company

Well it's way past dawn and your still gone
It's morning and you're still not home, despite the fact that I waited up for you

Where in the world is my boo?
I wonder where you are and when you'll come back, hoping that you're still my boo

See I was fallin' asleep and you were creeping in
I was getting ready to fall asleep and you were sneaking in, likely trying not to be detected

I never would have noticed until when
I wouldn't have noticed your late return until I realized something was amiss

Until I smelt perfume, the kind I do not wear
When I noticed the smell of perfume - not my own - I knew that something was wrong

My baby's been messin' around again
It dawned on me that you've been unfaithful once more

You shouldn't have done me babe
You made a big mistake by cheating on me

Now watch what I do to you
You're about to witness the consequences of your actions

Baby I'm leavin' I'm leavin' I'm leavin'
I'm done with this relationship and I'm leaving you

Leavin' you
This emphasizes the finality of the decision to leave

How could I be so dumb? I thought I loved a man
I feel foolish for thinking that I loved a mature, responsible man

But more and more you proved to be a boy
You revealed yourself to be immature and irresponsible, more like a boy than a man

And now I understand
I finally comprehend that you're not the person I thought you were

But I can't baby sit no more, it's not what I loved you for
I refuse to take care of you like a child any longer, it's not what I originally admired about you

I'd rather be alone bye-bye cos' I'm really leavin' this time
I'd rather be by myself and end this relationship for good

Look at you now begging down on your knees
You're begging now, but it's too little too late

Thinking I'm coming back, Oh child please
You're hopeful that I'll come back, but I won't be swayed this time

I said I was leavin' I mean whet I say
When I said that I was leaving, I really meant it and won't change my mind

There's no turning around I'm Ieavin' today
I'm not looking back and my decision to leave is final

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: CRAYGE W. LINDESAY, TAURA LATRICE STINSON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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