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 Cried My Last Tear Last Night
Lisa Stansfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mmm mmm
Yesterday thought my world was over
Yesterday when you said good bye
Thought I'd spend my whole life just crying
Hurting inside
Ohh but you know that
I decided to pull my heart together
And chase your face from my mind, ohh yea
From this day on all the hurt is gone
I'll be fine
I cried my last tear, last night baby
And I'm not gonna cry
Never never gonna cry
I'm not gonna cry no more
(I cried my last tear)
Ohh last night baby
(Ooo)
And one thing it true won't be crying over you, no no
Never again
I remember the pain you caused me
I remember the nights I cried
Now I'm gonna forget you bab'
Push you right out of my mind
Ohh don't you know that
I decided to find some better weather
And chase that rain right out of my sky
I'm off through being sad and blue
Tell you why
(I cried my)
I cried my last tear, last night baby
And I'm not gonna cry
Never never gonna cry
I'm not gonna cry no more
(I cried my last tear)
Ohh I cried it last night baby
(Ooo)
And one thing it true won't be crying over you
If you think I'll be broken hearted
Think it's time that you think again
'cause this time I won't sit here waiting
Waiting here for the tears to end
Baby I refuse to be blue one more minute over you
Ooo ooh
(I cried my last tear baby)
Yes I did
(Won't be crying over you)
No never no never no more
(I cried my last tear baby)
One thing is true, won't be crying over you
(I cried my last tear last night baby)
Ooo ooh ooh
And I'm not gonna cry
(And I'm not gonna cry)
Ohh no I am not gonna cry no more
(I am not gonna cry no more)
(I cried my last tear)
Ohh I cried it, last night baby
(Ooo)
One thing is true, won't be crying over you
(I cried my last tear, last night baby)
Ooo ooh
(And I'm, I'm never, I'm never cry, I'm never never gonna cry no more)
I'm not I'm not, never never gonna cry no more
(Cried my last tear last tear)
I cried it, last night baby
(Ooo)
One thing is true, won't be crying over you
I cried my last tear, last night baby
(Ooo ooh)
I'm not gonna cry
Never never gonna cry
I'm not gonna cry no more
(I cried my last tear),
Last night baby
(Ooo)
And one thing it true won't be crying over you
The lyrics to Lisa Stansfield's song I Cried My Last Tear Last Night are about overcoming heartbreak and choosing to move on from a toxic relationship. The song is about the moment when the singer decides to stop crying over someone who has hurt them deeply. The lyrics describe the painful experience of heartbreak as well as the journey towards healing and self-empowerment.
In the beginning of the song, the singer expresses their initial reaction to the breakup, which is to cry and feel like their world is over. However, as the song progresses, the singer finds the strength to pick themselves up and move on from the hurt. The chorus reveals the transformation: "I cried my last tear, last night baby / And I'm not gonna cry / Never never gonna cry / I'm not gonna cry no more." The singer declares that they won't let themselves be hurt anymore and that they are choosing to let go of the past.
Overall, the lyrics to I Cried My Last Tear Last Night offer a universal message of resilience and the power of self-love. The song encourages listeners to take charge of their own happiness and to let go of negative relationships that hold them back from moving forward.
Line by Line Meaning
Yesterday thought my world was over
When you left, I thought my world was ending
Yesterday when you said good bye
When you said goodbye to me yesterday
Thought I'd spend my whole life just crying
I believed I would spend the rest of my life crying about you
Hurting inside
Feeling pain within me
I decided to pull my heart together
I decided to gather myself and become stronger emotionally
And chase your face from my mind, ohh yea
I am going to rid my mind of thoughts of you
From this day on all the hurt is gone
Going forward, I will no longer feel hurt
I'll be fine
I will be okay
I cried my last tear, last night baby
I shed my last tear for you last night
And I'm not gonna cry
I will not cry anymore
Never never gonna cry
I will never ever cry again
I'm not gonna cry no more
I will not cry anymore
Ohh last night baby
It was my final moment of crying
And one thing it true won't be crying over you, no no
I will not cry over you ever again, that's for sure
I remember the pain you caused me
I remember how you hurt me
I remember the nights I cried
I remember the nights I spent crying
Now I'm gonna forget you bab'
I'm going to forget about you
Push you right out of my mind
I'm going to eliminate thoughts of you from my mind
I decided to find some better weather
I have decided to find happiness instead of sadness
And chase that rain right out of my sky
I will chase away the sadness and pain
I'm off through being sad and blue
I am done feeling sad and depressed
Tell you why
Let me explain why
If you think I'll be broken hearted
If you think I will be heartbroken
Think it's time that you think again
It's time for you to change your mind
'cause this time I won't sit here waiting
This time, I will not wait for you
Waiting here for the tears to end
I will not wait for the sadness to fade away
Baby I refuse to be blue one more minute over you
I refuse to be sad about you for one more minute
Yes I did
I did cry my last tear for you
No never no never no more
I will never cry again
One thing is true, won't be crying over you
I will not cry over you ever again
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Realsongs
Written by: DIANE EVE WARREN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind