Mario Mendell Winans (born August 29, 1974 in Orangeburg, SC) is an America… Read Full Bio ↴Mario Mendell Winans (born August 29, 1974 in Orangeburg, SC) is an American R&B producer, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist best known for his 2004 song "I Don't Wanna Know", which reached number 2 in the United States and number 1 in the United Kingdom. Winans also won a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance for co-writing CeCe Winans's song "Pray".

Early career:
Mario Winans was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina but grew up in Detroit. He is a member of gospel music's most notable family, the Winans, being the son of Marvin Winans and Vickie Winans. He is also the nephew of gospel singers BeBe Winans and CeCe Winans.

Winans started out learning music in school learning piano, keyboards, and drums. His mother Vicki Winans bought him a roomful of recording equipment, and he learnt the function of every piece of equipment. He started producing gospel groups straight out of high school and soon accumulated credits for Fred Hammond, The Anointed, and the Clark Sisters as well as various Winans family member albums.

In the mid-1990's, he signed a production deal with Dallas Austin's Rowdy Records. His breakthrough came with credits on the tracks "I Can't Sleep Baby" and "You Remind Me Of Something" on R. Kelly's R. Kelly album in 1995. Work with Pebbles and 98 Degrees soon followed.

Winans released his debut album Story of my Heart on Motown in 1997. While the song "Don't Know" reached the U.S. R&B top 50, the album failed to chart.

Soon after, Winans teamed up with P. Diddy and his Bad Boy roster. His first work with Bad Boy was playing drums on "Come With Me" in 1998 by Diddy and Jimmy Page, based on the classic Led Zeppelin song "Kashmir" from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti.

Over the past few years, Winans has racked a sizeable list of production credits for Bad Boy artists including Diddy, The Notorious B.I.G., Lil' Kim, Faith Evans, Loon, Black Rob, and 112. He has also worked with notable artists outside Bad Boy including Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Tamia, and Brian McKnight.

Winans co-wrote the 2-part song "I Need a Girl" with P. Diddy and appeared on the "Pt. 2" version with Loon, Ginuwine, and Diddy, which became a hit recording in 2002. He also produced the Bad Boy remix compilation We Invented The Remix in 2002.

Solo Success:

Winans recorded his second album Hurt No More in 2001, 2002, and 2003 in between his busy schedule working with other artists. The album is based on stories of love and betrayal.

The first single "I Don't Wanna Know" was based on a sample of the Fugees' 1996 hit single "Ready Or Not", which itself was based on a slowed-down sample of the instrumental track "Boadicea" by Enya from her 1987 self-titled album. Enya and her representatives became annoyed since Winans did not seek her approval for the sample, as he was unaware that the Fugees sample he had used had itself been a sample. So, a compromise was reached to credit the single as "Mario Winans featuring P. Diddy and Enya". [1]. The song features a rap by P. Diddy and radio programmers and club DJs started playing the track when it started appearing on mixtapes. The song was released as the single in early 2004 and became a worldwide hit going to #1 in Germany and on the rhythmic top 40 radio chart in the United States; to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, on the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart, and on the world internet download charts; and to #3 on a composite world R&B chart (based on the R&B charts in the U.S., UK, Germany, France, and Australia) and on both the Australian and Norwegian singles charts. It also reached the top ten on a composite European singles chart.

Hurt No More was released on April 20, 2004 in the U.S. and, by early June 2004, had reached #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, #2 on the Billboard 200, and #3 on the UK's album chart.

The album's second single, "Never Really Was", used a sample of the orchestrated beginning of Madonna's 1986 hit, "Papa Don't Preach", as its background music. However, the song failed to chart in America.

Stay With Me
Mario Winans Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

My sweet lady
I don't want to be alone tonight baby

Sitting alone, lookin' out my window
Wondering how could I ever make it
Without you here I find myself drying tears
I wish I could have you here
I don't want to be without you baby

Cause girl you know
That you should never left me alone
I'm a man and I want my woman home
Now I'm all alone
And that's never the way I need to be
We should be spendin' more time together
All I want to know is

How can I make it through the night
When I'm all alone my baby
When I need your love
Right here by my side

How can I make it through the night
When I'm all alone my honey
Won't you please stay with me tonight

I like to run my hands right through your hair
And show you how much I care my sweet lady
And when you're out here
There's no need for me to fear
Baby I'm so sincere
I don't want to be without you baby
Cause girl you know
That you should never left me alone
Now I'm a man and I want my woman home
Now I'm all alone
And that's never the way I need to be
We should be spendin' more time together
All I want to know is

How can I make it through the night
When I'm all alone my baby
When I need your love
Right here by my side

How can I make it through the night

When I'm all alone my honey
Won't you please stay with me tonight

Overall Meaning

In Mario Winans's song 'Stay With Me', he expresses his desire for his significant other to be with him, and not to leave him feeling lonely. In the first verse, he paints the picture of himself sitting alone and looking out of the window, wondering how he could survive being without her. He expresses his vulnerability, admitting that he's even shed tears because of her absence. He then goes ahead to request that she never leaves him alone, reiterating that he's a man who needs his woman with him always.

Mario's plea for companionship continues in the chorus where he asks the question, "How can I make it through the night when I'm all alone?" He acknowledges the importance of her love in his life, urging her to stay with him. He speaks of wanting to run his hands through her hair and show her how much he cares, indicating that he cherishes their relationship. He emphasizes that they should spend more time together and not be apart, revealing that he finds solace in her presence. The song is a poignant expression of the loneliness that one can feel without the person they love, and the deep desire to have that person close.

Line by Line Meaning

My sweet lady
Addressing his significant other with a term of endearment.

I don't want to be alone tonight baby
Expressing his desire to be with his loved one for the night.

Sitting alone, lookin' out my window
Describing his current state of being and what he is doing.

Wondering how could I ever make it
Expressing his uncertainty about being able to cope without his significant other.

Without you here I find myself drying tears
Admitting that he has been crying and that his loved one is the reason why he's upset.

I wish I could have you here
Expressing his wish for her to be present with him.

I don't want to be without you baby
Vocalizing his dependence on his significant other and his desire to keep her close by.

Cause girl you know
Addressing his significant other with another term of endearment.

That you should never left me alone
Blaming her for leaving him alone and feeling abandoned.

I'm a man and I want my woman home
Asserting himself as the male in the relationship and expressing his desire for her to be physically present with him.

Now I'm all alone
Stating his current state of being and how it is affecting him.

And that's never the way I need to be
Highlighting how being alone is not a desirable state for him to be in.

We should be spendin' more time together
Expressing that he feels that they need to spend more time with each other.

All I want to know is
Expressing his need for clarity and certainty from his significant other.

How can I make it through the night
Expressing his struggle with being alone through a rhetorical question.

When I'm all alone my baby
Acknowledging his loneliness and expressing desire to be with his significant other.

When I need your love
Highlighting his dependency on her love.

Right here by my side
Expressing his desire for her to be present with him in a romantic way.

Won't you please stay with me tonight
Making a direct and straightforward request to his significant other to stay with him for the night.

I like to run my hands right through your hair
Expressing romantic feelings towards his significant other through a physical description.

And show you how much I care my sweet lady
Expressing his love for his significant other through a term of endearment and showcasing the intensity of his feelings.

And when you're out here
Describing his current state when his significant other is not with him.

There's no need for me to fear
Stating that his significant other makes him feel safe and without her, he is more vulnerable.

Baby I'm so sincere
Expressing his authenticity and honesty towards his significant other.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: KACI BROWN, TOMMY LEE JAMES

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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