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.
Take my Breath away
Mario Winans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I would do anything just to be with you
I can see you feel it too, showin' that you care
And there's nothin' you won't do, oh baby
Everyday I find myself holdin' on
In every way I feel that nothin' can go wrong
Now that I know that you here to stay
Baby, you take my breath away
And I want you more than anything
In the whole wide world
I will do whatever it takes
Just to have you with me
'Cause you take my breath away
Even now I don't regret
Ever having love for you 'cause you never fail me, yeah
All I have is just you
I can't imagine myself ever bein' without you
Everyday I find myself holdin' on
In every way I feel that nothin' can go wrong
Now that I know that you here to stay
Girl, you know I love you more and more each day
Baby, you take my breath away
And I want you more than anything
In the whole wide world
I will do whatever it takes
Just to have you with me
'Cause you take my breath away
Baby, you take my breath away
And I want you more than anything
In the whole wide world
I will do whatever it takes
Just to have you with me
'Cause you take my breath away
Baby, you
I like it when I play for you, oh baby
Girl, you take my breath away
Baby, you take my breath away
And I want you more than anything
In the whole wide world
I will do whatever it takes
Just to have you with me
'Cause you take my breath away
Baby, you
The lyrics of Mario Winans's song Take My Breath Away are a declaration of love from the singer to his partner. The song's first stanza begins with the admission that his partner has had his heart from the beginning, and he would do anything to be with her. The second verse of the song sees Mario expressing his unwavering love for his partner, stating that he finds himself holding on to her every day, and nothing can go wrong now that he knows she's here to stay. He professes that he loves her more and more each day. The chorus of this song, "Baby, you take my breath away, And I want you more than anything In the whole wide world," carries with it an intense feeling of love, adoration, and longing.
In the final verse of Take My Breath Away, Mario assures his partner that she never fails him, and he has no regrets about loving her. He goes on to say that he can't imagine himself ever being without her. The chorus repeats, emphasizing the depth of the singer's emotions and how much she means to him.
Overall, the song Take My Breath Away is a beautiful and timeless love song. It expresses the desire and longing for another person and how much they can take our breath away. The song showcases Mario's vocals, which are given the perfect platform to shine alongside the delicate instrumentation of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
From day one you had my heart
From the very beginning of our relationship, my heart has belonged to you
And I would do anything just to be with you
I am willing to do anything to be by your side
I can see you feel it too, showin' that you care
I can tell that you have feelings for me too and you show it by caring about me
And there's nothin' you won't do, oh baby
I know that you are willing to do anything for me as well, my love
Everyday I find myself holdin' on
Each day, I find myself holding onto our love for each other
In every way I feel that nothin' can go wrong
I believe that our love is so strong that nothing can come between us
Now that I know that you here to stay
Now that I know that you plan to stay by my side, my love for you is growing more and more each day
Girl, you know I love you more and more each day
My love for you grows stronger with each passing day, and I want you to know how much I love you
Baby, you take my breath away
You are so amazing that you take my breath away, my love
And I want you more than anything
There is nothing in the world that I want more than you
I will do whatever it takes
I am willing to do anything to be with you and make our love last
Just to have you with me
I just want to be with you and nothing else matters
'Cause you take my breath away
It is because you are so special that you take my breath away, my love
Even now I don't regret
Even now, I don't regret loving you, my love
Ever having love for you 'cause you never fail me, yeah
I will always love you because you never disappoint me, my love
All I have is just you
You are everything to me and I can't imagine my life without you, my love
I can't imagine myself ever bein' without you
I can't picture my life without you in it, my love
I like it when I play for you, oh baby
I enjoy making music for you, my love
Girl, you take my breath away
You are so amazing that you leave me breathless, my love
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: KENNETH L. HICKSON, MARIO MENDELL WINANS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind