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
Whenever You're Gone
Lisa Stansfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Only if you can take my hand and hold me in your arms
If you come and look into my eyes, I'II see it all more clearly
All of the tears you've seen my cry
You'll take them all away
If you come and open up my eyes and hold me
Take me away and ease my mind
Whenever you're gone it's lonely
Whenever you're gone I can't face the light of day
It's too many times I've been on my own
With a burning in my heart
Whenever you're gone
Look at the face you see before you, can't you be open to me
Can't you believe what we have, don't throw it away
Believe in me now don't criticize, it's only the beginning
Can't you believe these desperate eyes,
Believe in what we say
If you came and open up me eyes and hold me
Then I can open up my mind, and I will hold you tight
Whenever you're gone it's lonely
Whenever you're gone I can't face the light of day
It's too many times I've been on my own
With a burning in my heart
Whenever you're gone
I miss you so, and friends don't understand
When I don't want to speak
When you're gone I feel so alone
And I can't sleep for crying, and deep inside I feel like dying
Whenever you're gone it's lonely
Whenever you're gone I can't face the light of day
It's too many times I've been on my own
With a burning in my heart
Whenever you're gone
The lyrics of Whenever You're Gone by Lisa Stansfield express the pain and loneliness that the singer feels whenever her loved one is not around. She pleads for her lover's presence as she can no longer go any further. She yearns for her lover to take her hand and hold her, to look into her eyes and understand all the tears she's shed. She believes that her lover's presence will take away all of her sorrows.
The lines, "Whenever you're gone it's lonely, Whenever you're gone I can't face the light of day" summarize the main message of the song. The singer feels lost without her lover's companionship, it is too much for her to face the day without her partner. She tries to persuade her lover to see the importance of their relationship by pleading with him or her to look at the face before them and not throw their love away. The singer is hopeful that her lover will understand and come back to her.
Overall, the melancholic lyrics and tone of the song conveys a sense of longing and desperation for love and connection. It speaks of the human need for companionship and comfort to overcome hardship.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't go any further now, only if you come with me
I need you to be with me to move forward in life, I can't do it alone
Only if you can take my hand and hold me in your arms
I need your love and support, your touch comforts me
If you come and look into my eyes, I'II see it all more clearly
Your presence makes everything clearer and easier to understand
All of the tears you've seen my cry
You have been there for me during my tough times
You'll take them all away
Your love and care helps me heal from my pain and sadness
If you come and open up my eyes and hold me
I need you to guide me and be my support
Take me away and ease my mind
I need an escape from my worries and stress, and you can provide that
Just come and hold me tight
All I need is your embrace to feel safe and loved
Whenever you're gone it's lonely
I feel empty and alone when you are not with me
Whenever you're gone I can't face the light of day
My days are dark and hopeless without you by my side
It's too many times I've been on my own
I have gone through tough times without your support too often
With a burning in my heart
I long for your presence and love, it hurts me to be apart from you
Look at the face you see before you, can't you be open to me
I am showing you my true self, please accept me for who I am
Can't you believe what we have, don't throw it away
Our love is real and special, don't let it go to waste
Believe in me now don't criticize, it's only the beginning
Trust me and have faith in us, we have a long journey ahead
Can't you believe these desperate eyes
My eyes show my deep need for your love and support
Believe in what we say
Our words are true and honest, we both want the same things
Then I can open up my mind, and I will hold you tight
With your love, I can be my true self, and I will hold you close
I miss you so, and friends don't understand
I feel alone in my longing for you, my friends can't fill that void
When you're gone I feel so alone
Your absence makes me feel empty and incomplete
And I can't sleep for crying, and deep inside I feel like dying
My pain and sorrow are consuming me, and it feels unbearable
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ANDY MORRIS, IAN OWEN DEVANEY, LISA JANE STANSFIELD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind