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
Someday
Lisa Stansfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Before you call me and tell me to come home
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before I'm home, home and in your arms
What did I do, my darling, tat made you send me running
Told you to cast me down and throw me out?
What can I tell you, honey, if I don't know what I've done?
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before you call me and tell me to come home
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't take long
Before I'm home, home and in your arms
Even in stormy weather, we always stuck together
You always kept me near, we're so sincere
So why so sudden the change of heart?
Why do I feel like I've done wrong
When all that I want is that you ask me to come back home?
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before you call me and tell me to come home
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before I'm home, home and in your arms
Someday, someway (I never wanted anyone so much)
Someday, someway
Someday, someway
So why so sudden the change of heart?
Why do I feel like I've done wrong
When all that I want is that you ask me to come back home?
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before you call me and beg me to come home
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before I'm home, home and in your arms
In your arms (someday, someway)
(Someday, someway) ooh, call me, baby
(Someday, someway)
The lyrics to Lisa Stansfield's song "Someday" tell the story of a person who has left their partner and is now hoping to return home. The singer of the song is remorseful about something they did, but they don't know what it was that caused their partner to send them running. They express their desire to be back home, in the comfort of their partner's arms, but they're waiting for the moment when their partner will call and invite them back.
The chorus "Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long before you call me and tell me to come home" repeats twice and reinforces the idea that the singer is hoping and waiting for their partner to take them back, to forgive them and ask them to come home. The lines "So why so sudden the change of heart? Why do I feel like I've done wrong?" suggest that perhaps the singer didn't see their partner's reaction coming, and they are now unsure of what exactly they did.
Overall, the lyrics convey the sadness and longing of someone who has made a mistake and is now hoping for a second chance. They also showcase the power dynamic of relationships and how sometimes we must rely on our loved ones' forgiveness to heal and move forward.
Line by Line Meaning
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
The singer promises to return soon
Before you call me and tell me to come home
The singer expects the listener to call and invite them home
Before I'm home, home and in your arms
The singer longs to be reunited with the listener
What did I do, my darling, tat made you send me running
The singer is confused about why they were asked to leave
Told you to cast me down and throw me out?
The singer is questioning if they were directly told to leave
What can I tell you, honey, if I don't know what I've done?
The singer doesn't know what they have done wrong
All I can hope is that you ask me to come back home
The singer hopes for an invitation to come back
Even in stormy weather, we always stuck together
The relationship has always been strong
You always kept me near, we're so sincere
The relationship has been genuine and honest
So why so sudden the change of heart?
The singer is wondering why the relationship has changed so suddenly
Why do I feel like I've done wrong
The singer is questioning their own actions
When all that I want is that you ask me to come back home?
The singer wants nothing more than to be invited back
Before you call me and beg me to come home
The singer hopes for a pleading invitation
(Someday, someway) ooh, call me, baby
The singer pleads for a call from the listener
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Ian Owen Devaney, Andy Morris, Lisa Jane Stansfield
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
I Provide Lyrics
[Chorus]
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before you call me and tell me to come home
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before I'm home, home and in your arms
[Verse 1]
What did I do, my darling, that made you send me running
Told you to cast me down and throw me out
What can I tell you, honey, If I don't know what I've done
All I can hope is that you ask me to come back home
[Chorus]
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before you call me and tell me to come home
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't take long
Before I'm home, home and in your arms
[Verse 2]
Even in stormy weather, we always stuck together
You always kept me near, were so sincere
So why so sudden the change of heart
Why do I feel like I've done wrong
When all that I want is that you ask me to come back home
[Chorus]
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before I'm home, home and in your arms
[Bridge]
(Someday, someway)
I never wanted anyone so much, mmm, oh oh
(Someday, someway)
Oh baby baby
(Someday, someway)
So why so sudden the change of heart
Why do I feel like I've done wrong
When all that I want is that you ask me to come back home
[Chorus]
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before you call me and tell me to come home
Someday I'm coming back, and it won't be long
Before I'm home, home and in your arms
In your arms
[Outro]
Someday, someway
Someday, someway
(Ooh, call me, baby, oh oh oh)
Someday, someway
werewolf71
I can't explain it, but all of her songs put off the most unique vibe! It's like they remind you of great times from the past and cause you to drift off in a warm memory!
Kim Christiansen
It's called soul.. She has it in spades :)
Mortis xx
I totally understand what you mean, but to me, it's a more melancholic feeling. She's indeed a unique artist.
Martyna Ba
Tak, mam dokładnie takie odczucie.❤
Pork dread
💯
Sam Rose
It’s the housey elements of her songs that evoke those 90s memories for me
Aramanth
Love the bit of saxophone.. It blends with
Lisa's soulful voice. An overlooked gem.
💎
kiely 456
I know she was really big back in the day, but I still can’t help but think she’s very underrated for how talented she was
patrick leonard
I was literally just thinking same thing that how under rated she was
Pasqualino Bruno
Agreed