Luther Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer,… Read Full Bio ↴Luther Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in-demand background vocalist for several different artists including Todd Rundgren, Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Ben E. King, and Donna Summer. He later became a lead singer of the group Change, which released its gold-certified debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner/RFC Records. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much, in 1981.

His hit songs include "Never Too Much", "Here and Now", "Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power", "I Can Make It Better" and "For You to Love". Many of his songs were covers of original music by other artists such as "If This World Were Mine" (duet with Cheryl Lynn), "Since I Lost My Baby", "Superstar" and "Always and Forever". Duets such as "The Closer I Get to You" with Beyoncé, "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey and "The Best Things in Life Are Free" with Janet Jackson were all hit songs in his career.

During his career, Vandross sold over 35 million records worldwide, and received eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times. He won a total of four Grammy Awards in 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for a song recorded not long before his death, "Dance with My Father".

Possessing a tenor vocal range, Vandross was commonly referred to as "The Velvet Voice" in reference to his exceptional vocal talent, and was sometimes called "The Best Voice of a Generation". He was also regarded as the "Pavarotti of Pop" by many critics.

In 2008, Vandross was ranked No. 54 on Rolling Stone Magazine's List of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Mariah Carey stated several times in interviews that standing next to Vandross while recording their duet "Endless Love" was intimidating.

By popular vote, Vandross was inducted into The SoulMusic Hall of Fame at SoulMusic.com in December 2012.

The Closer I Get to You
Luther Vandross Lyrics

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The closer I get to you
The more you make me see
By giving me all you've got, ooh yeah (tell me more)
Your love has captured me

Over and over again
I try to tell myself that we
Could never be more than friends

When all the while inside
I knew it was real (ooh)
The way you make me feel, hey, hey (ooh yeah)
And ooh (oh)

Lyin' here next to you, oh
Time just seems to fly, yeah
Needin' you more and more (more and more)
Let's give love a try (let's give love a try)
I wanna try love

Sweeter and sweeter love grows
And heaven's there for those
Who fool the tricks of time
With hearts of love will find
True love in a special way (love, ooh)

The closer I get to you, baby (the closer I get to you, baby)
The more you make me see (the more you make me see)
By givin' me what you've got (oh, yeah)
Your love captured me

Ooh over and over again
I try to tell myself that we
Could never be more than friends
When all the while inside
I knew this was real, got to be real (got to be real)
The way you make me feel (you know, you know, you know)
My baby, my baby, my baby, my love, my love, my love, my love, ooh
Yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah)

(Come closer love) come a little closer so that we can see into the eyes of love
I wanna see into those eyes of love
(Come closer love) just a little a closer, let me speak to you
I wanna softly tell you something
Here I am and here's my love, I just want you to come closer, yeah
Come a little closer, let me whisper in your ear
'Cause I wanna tell you something
I wanna whisper in your ear so soft, so come closer love

Move on in real close so we can celebrate the way we feel about each other's lovin'
Wanna tell you words, words of love, words that make you wanna

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Closer I Get To You by Luther Vandross tells a story of a person who has fallen deeply in love with someone who started out as their friend. They express how their love keeps growing the closer they get to the person, and despite trying to convince themselves that they could only be friends, they knew that their love was real. The song talks about the beauty of love and the way it makes a person feel. It expresses the desire to be closer to the one they love and to share their feelings with them.

Line by Line Meaning

The closer I get to you
The more I spend time with you

The more you make me see
The more I realize how important you are to me

I wanna whisper in your ear so soft, so come closer love
I want to tell you something in a gentle whisper, so come closer to me

Wanna tell you words, words of love, words that make you wanna
I want to express my love for you in a way that makes you feel happy and loved.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: James Mtume, Reggie Lucas

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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