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

When Are You Coming Back?
Lisa Stansfield Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

[Chorus]
Tell me when you're coming back
When are you comin' back, when are you coming back
When are you comin' back, when are you coming back
(When are you comin' home, baby, baby)
When are you comin' back, when are you coming back
When are you comin' back, when are you coming back

You were in my arms yesterday, and now you're gone
I still feel your lips on mine, still feel your touch
Safe inside your arms is where I want to be, can't stand this space
Boy, I'm gettin' lonely, and out of place

Don't stray for too long
(Till the next time)
Go back to my arms
Don't stray for too long
(Till the next time)
Go back to my arms

[Chorus]

I sit here and wait patently for the telephone
Funny how I miss you, and I miss you so
When you're not at home

Don't stray for too long
(Till the next time)
Go back to my arms
Don't stray for too long
(Till the next time)
Go back to my arms

[Chorus x2]

Don't stray for too long
(Till the next time)
Go back to my arms
Don't stray for too long
(Till the next time)
Go back to my arms

[Chorus]

Overall Meaning

The song "When Are You Coming Back?" by Lisa Stansfield is a classic tale of longing and desperation for love. The chorus is a plea for the lover to come back, and the repetition intensifies the sense of urgency and despair felt by the singer. The verses describe the emptiness and loneliness she feels since her lover left, and how she still longs to be in his arms.

The line "you were in my arms yesterday, and now you're gone" encapsulates the suddenness and unpredictability of love and relationships. The singer is still holding onto the memories of the past, yearning for a return to that intimate connection. The lines "I still feel your lips on mine, still feel your touch" demonstrate how powerful those memories can be, and the depth of the feelings that have been stirred up by the separation.

The chorus is a clever use of repetition to emphasize the desperation of the plea. It is almost as if the singer is becoming more frantic with each repetition, as if the lover is slipping further and further away from her reach. The lines "when you're not at home" and "I sit here and wait patiently for the telephone" further emphasize the feeling of helplessness and waiting that characterizes the singer's experience.

Overall, "When Are You Coming Back?" is a poignant expression of the pain and longing that can result from being separated from someone you love. It is a relatable and emotional song that speaks to the universal experience of missing someone.

Line by Line Meaning

Tell me when you're coming back
The singer is asking for a specific timeline to when the person will be returning.

When are you comin' back, when are you coming back
The singer repeats her request for a timeline for when the person will be coming back.

When are you comin' back, when are you coming back
The singer again repeats her request for a timeline for when the person will be coming back.

(When are you comin' home, baby, baby)
The singer adds a term of endearment and affection to her request for a timeline for the person's return.

When are you comin' back, when are you coming back
The singer again repeats her request for a timeline for when the person will be coming back.

You were in my arms yesterday, and now you're gone
The singer recalls the last time she was physically close to the person and expresses her sadness over their current separation.

I still feel your lips on mine, still feel your touch
The singer is reminiscing about the physical intimacy she shared with the person and how it still lingers with her even though they are apart.

Safe inside your arms is where I want to be, can't stand this space
The singer longs to be held in the person's arms again and is having a hard time being alone.

Boy, I'm gettin' lonely, and out of place
The singer is feeling lonely and out of sorts because of the person's absence.

Don't stray for too long
The singer is urging the person not to stay away for an extended period of time.

(Till the next time)
The singer adds a hopeful sentiment that they will be reunited in the future.

Go back to my arms
The singer is expressing her desire for the person to come back to her and be physically close again.

I sit here and wait patiently for the telephone
The singer is waiting for the person to call her and is trying to be patient in the meantime.

Funny how I miss you, and I miss you so
The singer expresses that it's strange how much she misses the person and how intense her feelings of longing are.

When Are You Coming Back?Lisa Stansfield Lyrics

When Are You Coming Back?
Lisa Stansfield Lyrics