Lou Rawls, who learned of gospel music through his grandmother in Chicago, became a successful singer, primarily from the 1950s through the 1980s. He was a high school classmate of music giant Sam Cooke, and they sang together in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, a '50s gospel group.
After graduating from Chicago's Dunbar Vocational High School, he sang briefly with Cooke in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, a local gospel group, and then with the Holy Wonders. In 1951, Rawls replaced Cooke in the Highway QC's after Cooke departed to join The Soul Stirrers in Los Angeles. Rawls was soon recruited by the Chosen Gospel Singers and himself moved to Los Angeles, where he subsequently joined the Pilgrim Travelers
After graduating from Chicago's Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, Rawls enlisted in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. He left the "All-Americans" three years later as a sergeant, and hooked up with The Pilgrim Travelers as he traveled to Los Angeles. In 1958, while touring the South with the Travelers and Sam Cooke, Rawls was in a serious car crash. Rawls was pronounced dead before arriving at the hospital, where he stayed in a coma for five and a half days. It took him months to regain his memory, and a year to fully recuperate. Rawls considered the event to be life-changing.
Alongside Dick Clark as master of ceremonies, Rawls was recovered enough by 1959 to be able to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. He was signed to Capitol Records in 1962, the same year he sang the soulful background vocals on the Sam Cooke recording of "Bring it on Home to Me." Rawls himself charted with a cover of the song in 1970 (with the title shortened to "Bring It On Home").
Rawls' first Capitol solo release was Stormy Monday (a.k.a. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water), a jazz album. On August 21, 1966, he opened for The Beatles at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.
Though his 1966 album Live! went gold, Rawls would not have a star-making hit until he made a proper soul album, appropriately named Soulin', later that same year. The album contained his first R&B #1 single, "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing". In 1967 Rawls won his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, for the single "Dead End Street."
In 1969, the singer was co-host of NBC's summer replacement series for the Dean Martin Show along with Martin's daughter, singer Gail Martin.
After leaving Capitol in 1971, Rawls joined MGM, at which juncture he released his Grammy-winning single "Natural Man." He had a brief stint with Bell Records in 1974, where he recorded a cover of Hall & Oates' "She's Gone." In 1976, Rawls signed with Philadelphia International Records, where he had his greatest album success with the million-selling All Things in Time. The album produced his most successful single, "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine", which topped the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts and went to number two on the pop side, becoming Rawls' only certified million-selling single in the process.
Subsequent albums, such as 1977's When You've Heard Lou, You've Heard It All yielded such hit singles as "Lady Love". Other releases in the 1970s included the classic album Sit Down And Talk To Me.
In 1982, Rawls received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On the night of September 29, 1977, Rawls performed the national anthem of the United States prior to the Earnie Shavers-Muhammad Ali title fight at Madison Square Garden. He would be requested to sing the anthem many times over the next 28 years, and his final performance of it came on October 23, 2005. The crowd at that performance may not have known that Rawls was extremely ill with cancer, but he reportedly delivered an electrifying performance to kick off Game Two of the 2005 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros.
In 1980, Rawls began the "Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon" which benefits the United Negro College Fund. The annual event, known since 1998 as "An Evening of Stars: A Celebration of Educational Excellence", consists of stories of successful African-American students who have benefited from and/or graduated from one of the many historically black colleges and universities who receive support from the UNCF, along with musical performances from various recording artists in support of the UNCF's and Rawls' efforts. The event has raised over US$200 million in 27 shows for the fund through 2006.
In January 2004, Rawls was honored by the United Negro College Fund for his more than 25 years of charity work with the organization. Instead of hosting and performing as he usually did, Rawls was given the seat of honor and celebrated by his performing colleagues, including Stevie Wonder, The O'Jays, Gerald Levert, Ashanti, and many others. His final television performance occurred during the 2005-2006 edition of the telethon, honoring Stevie Wonder in September 2005, just months before entering the hospital and after having been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year. This program, aired in January, 2006, contains his final public television performance, where he performed two classics, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," and a final ode to Frank Sinatra with, "It Was A Very Good Year."
At the time of Rawls' death, news and UNCF figures noted the significance of Rawls' final performance, "It Was a Very Good Year." The song is a retrospective of one's life and its lyrics include, "When I was seventeen, it was a very good year. It was a very good year for small town girls and soft summer nights...And now those days grow short, it is the autumn of years, and now I think about life as vintage wine from fine old kegs, from the brim to the dregs, it pours sweet and clear, it was a very good year."
Rawls appeared in a segment of the first season of Sesame Street, to sing the alphabet. He dismissed the concept of using cue cards for the performance, but reversed such decision when he forgot the order of the letters.
Throughout Rawls' singing career, he had the opportunity to appear in many films, television shows, and commercials. He can be seen in such films as Leaving Las Vegas, Blues Brothers 2000, and Angel, Angel, Down We Go. He had a supporting role in the Baywatch spin-off, Baywatch Nights. He also appeared in the western television series, Big Valley, (starring legend Barbara Stanwyck, along with Lee Majors and Linda Evans) where he played a hired hand. Here, he delivered the memorial line: "Ain't a horse that can't be rode; ain't a man that can't be throwed".
Rawls lent his rich baritone voice to many cartoons, including Hey Arnold! as the voice of Harvey The Mailman, Garfield, and The Proud Family. For many of the Film Roman Garfield specials, Rawls would often compose songs for them, which he would then sing usually doing a duet with Desiree Goyette. He also was famously in American sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
For many years, he was a spokesperson for the Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company. He was also a spokesman for Budweiser, helping promote the brand on radio and TV to African-American markets much as Ed McMahon did for the white audience. Budweiser was a key sponsor for the Rawls telethon and UNCF.
Rawls was also a regular guest host on "Jazz Central", a program aired on the BET Jazz cable channel.
He appears as "Dr. Rawls" in a dream on an episode My Wife and Kids, where he breaks into a parody version of "You'll Never Find", which a frightened Damon Wayans is afraid of having a colonoscopy the following day. Rawls uses the scope as a microphone in the scene. Rawls appears as a commentator in the second half of the unrated commentary of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
Rawls was also a guest star during the second season of The Muppet Show. He also made a brief appearance on the series finale of Martin. (The show's character Tommy is excited to see Lou Rawls at Nipsey's and mentioned that his favorite song is "Natural Man." Lou replied that he received a letter from a female claiming that she and her boyfriend broke up because of the song. This eludes to the episode where Tommy and Pam decide to move in together, but winded up fighting and ultimately breaking up because Tommy played the song "Natural Man" so much that it drove Pam crazy.)
The following is a list of Lou Rawls singles that made the top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. His first Hot 100 entry was "Three O'Clock in the Morning" in 1965, and his final was "Wind Beneath My Wings" in 1983. In addition to those two, nine other singles peaked at positions below the top 50 on the Hot 100, and additional singles reached the R&B, Adult Contemporary and Bubbling Under charts.
* "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing" - 1966, #13 (also #1 R&B)
* "Dead End Street" - 1967, #29
* "Show Business" - 1967, #45
* "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)" - 1969, #18
* "A Natural Man" - 1971, #17
* "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" - 1976, #2 (also #1 R&B and #1 Adult Contemporary); certified Gold for sales of one million copies
* "Lady Love" - 1978, #24
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Lou Rawls Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sometimes I feel a little mad
But don't you know that no one alive can always be an angel
When things go wrong I feel real bad.
I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
With a joy that's hard to hide
And sometimes it seems that, all I have to do is worry
And then you're bound to see my other side
I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
If I seem edgy, I want you to know,
That I never mean to take it out on you
Life has its problems, and I get my share,
And that's one thing I never mean to do
'Cause I love you,
Oh,
Oh, oh, oh, baby - don't you know I'm human
I have thoughts like any other one
Sometimes I find myself, Lord, regretting
Some foolish thing, some little simple thing I've done
I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Lou Rawls is a soulful ballad about the complexity of human nature, and the singer's plea for understanding and forgiveness. The song explores the dualities of being human, and the range of emotions that come with it. The first verse speaks about the singer's anger and sadness when things go wrong, but also acknowledges that no one can be perfect all the time. The lyrics "no one alive can always be an angel" suggest that everyone has flaws and makes mistakes.
The chorus of the song expresses the singer's fear of being misunderstood. He asks the Lord to help him to be understood and not to be judged based on an imperfect moment or behavior. The verse "If I seem edgy, I want you to know, That I never mean to take it out on you" suggests that the singer might have some emotional baggage or past experiences that make him behave in certain ways. He is asking his partner to understand this and not to take it personally.
The song ends with the singer's plea for acceptance and understanding. He reminds his partner that he is just human and makes mistakes like everyone else, but his intentions are always good. Overall, the song is a beautiful example of soulful music that delves deeper into the raw emotions and complexities of human nature.
Line by Line Meaning
Baby, do you understand me now?
Do you comprehend what I'm trying to convey?
Sometimes I feel a little mad
Occasionally I experience intense feelings of anger or frustration.
But don't you know that no one alive can always be an angel
It's impossible for anyone to be perfect or always have a good demeanor.
When things go wrong I feel real bad.
I experience strong regret and sadness when things do not go well.
I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
I'm a person with good intentions, despite being flawed like everyone else.
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
I implore the Almighty to ensure people understand my actions and words correctly.
Baby, sometimes I'm so carefree
I frequently experience feelings of joy and lack of concern.
With a joy that's hard to hide
My happiness is so high that it's difficult to conceal it.
And sometimes it seems that, all I have to do is worry
At times, it feels like everything in life requires me to be concerned and uncomfortable.
And then you're bound to see my other side
This causes me to exhibit traits that are not typical of my usual disposition.
If I seem edgy, I want you to know,
If I show anxiety, I'd like you to be aware
That I never mean to take it out on you
I never want to direct it at you or harm you in any way.
Life has its problems, and I get my share,
Everyone experiences difficulties in life, and I'm no different.
And that's one thing I never mean to do
I always try never to let my problems influence my treatment of others.
'Cause I love you,
I care deeply for you
Oh,
Oh, oh, oh, baby - don't you know I'm human
I'm human, and I'm not perfect, regardless of how composed or competent I might appear.
I have thoughts like any other one
I undergo similar thought processes to everyone else.
Sometimes I find myself, Lord, regretting
On some occasions, I feel remorseful about certain things.
Some foolish thing, some little simple thing I've done
It could be something trivial, something insignificant that I regret having done.
Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Again, I want to emphasize that I'm a good-natured person at heart, despite being fallible.
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
I repeat my request to God to ensure that others don't misconstrue my actions and motives.
Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
Lyrics © WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC FRANCE
Written by: Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell, Sol Marcus
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mookiemu
My favorite version of this song and I love all the versions!
@mikevallen999
Lou Rawls recording of "Don't Let Me Misunderstood " shows Lou at his extraordinary best .
@annamariamarques3606
Esta é a melhor versão de Dont Let ... e Lou e sua maravilhosa voz, calor humano, classe ... vivem sempre.
@bennyjazzful
WOW Wonderful version of this great song. Amazing sounds & so,so good.
@jmccall94
I've been in love with this album and Lou Rawls ever since I was a baby... He has so much soul and feeling in his voice which makes him a great singer. Now at 17, I still reminisce on when people would call me "old-spirited" for loving music like this. #ALEGEND !
@ParkinsonProduction
Like most people of my generation, I first heard the Animals’ version. Later on I was blown away by Nina Simone’s earlier rendition. Last summer (2021) Elvis Costello performed a powerful version of this song in Kansas City. This one however is a sleeper. I love it.
@MruuMruu
this is the best for me version of this song!!
@MojoRebel
THanks for posting this- I never knew it exsited - Ive been a soul fan for over 40 yrs - never to late to find something old thats new to me- thanks this gave me goospimps
@SomethinElse23
best version in my opinion
@Thulcandro
a song not be unsung and to be interpreted by the best performers… specially on the voice of Thelma Houston, Neil Diamond or maybe ...why not Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes Featuring Teddy Pendergrass