Shaw's first musical influences were her uncle and grandmother, who loved to sing and play gospel music on the family’s hi-fi record player. As a young girl, Shaw was also involved with numerous gospel singing groups. Her first experience singing before a large audience was with her uncle, who played trumpet and exposed her to the music of jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie. At only 10 years old, Shaw performed with her uncle at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and they were asked to return for the next week's show. As she recalls, her uncle got booked elsewhere on the same night, and a young Shaw had to take the stage solo at the Apollo for the second show.
Shaw's professional aspirations were rejuvenated after she was married and living on an Air Force base near Springfield, Massachusetts. Encouraged by friends, she auditioned and got gigs near the base, then made a demo tape in the garage of Charlie Parent, a local drummer. The tape eventually landed her a regular gig at the Concord, a resort hotel in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York.
Shaw's big break was an invitation to sing with the Count Basie Orchestra. Basie’s accountant heard her at the New York Playboy club. Basie was sent a copy of one of her records, while Shaw met with Basie alumnus and trumpeter Frank Foster to arrange charts of some of her numbers. The next thing she knew, she was flown out to meet the whole band at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.
She met with representatives of the Chess Records music label, and soon signed with them. She released her first two albums on their subsidiary Cadet Records. A 1969 album track "California Soul", a funk-soul tune written by Ashford & Simpson and originally issued as a single by American pop quintet The 5th Dimension, later became a staple of the UK rare groove scene. This song has appeared in television commercials for Dockers, KFC[3] and Dodge Ram trucks. Unable to find her own style at Chess, she moved to the jazz-oriented Blue Note Records in 1972.
In 1977 she released an LP Sweet Beginnings on Columbia that contained: "Yu Ma / Go Away Little Boy", a medley containing the old Goffin and Carole King standard, originally recorded by Nancy Wilson. The album also contained the track Look at Me, Look at You, popular on the U.K. rare groove scene. She sings the theme song "Don't Ask to Stay Until Tomorrow" from the 1977 film Looking for Mr. Goodbar that's also found on its soundtrack. She also recorded one of the disco era's biggest hits, a remake of "Touch Me in the Morning", also on Columbia Records.
In 1982 Shaw recorded the Gary Taylor ballad called "Without You in My Life" from the LP Let Me in Your Life that was jointly produced by Johnny Bristol and Webster Lewis on South Bay records. This had moderate chart success in the USA. In 1983 she recorded the vocals for "Could It Be You", a track by Phil Upchurch on his Name of the Game album.
Shaw continued to perform and record. In 1999, 2001 and again in 2007, Shaw was one of the performers at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands.
So Far Away
Marlena Shaw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Doesn't anybody stay in one place any more?
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
And it doesn't help to know you're just time away
Long ago I reached for you and there you stood
Holding you again would only do me good
Oh how I wish I could but you're so far away
I can't say much of anything that's new
But if I could only work this life out my way
I'd rather spend it being close to you
But you're so far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place any more?
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
And it doesn't help to know you're so far away
So far away, yeah, you're so far away
Traveling around sure gets me down and lonely
Nothing else to do but close my mind
And I sure hope the road don't get to own me
There's so many dreams that I've yet to find
But you're so far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place any more?
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
And it doesn't help to know you're so far away
So far away, yeah, you're so far away
Marlena Shaw's song "So Far Away" begins by asking the question, "Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore?" The first stanza sets a pensive mood, as the singer remarks that she wishes the person she misses could be right there with her. She then acknowledges that it is not helpful to know that this person is only "time away." In this context, "time away" indicates distance, whether physical or emotional, between two people.
In the second stanza, the singer again reflects on her longing for someone who is far away. She compares herself to others who are on the move, saying that she can't say what's new because her life feels stagnant without this person. She wishes that she could work her life out in a way that would allow her to be near them.
The final stanza underscores the singer's loneliness as she travels around. She describes closing her mind when she has nothing else to do. However, she still holds out hope for the future, saying that there are "so many dreams that [she's] yet to find." Ultimately, the song is a melancholic lament about the pain of being separated from someone important. It speaks to a universal human experience of feeling adrift and lonely when we're far away from those we care about.
Line by Line Meaning
So far away
Expressing the distance between the singer and the person they are addressing
Doesn't anybody stay in one place any more?
Wondering if people still have a sense of home and stability
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
Yearning to be reunited with the person they miss
And it doesn't help to know you're just time away
Feeling helpless and hopeless despite knowing how long it will take to see that person again
Long ago I reached for you and there you stood
Recalling a past where the artist and the person they miss were together
Holding you again would only do me good
Believing that being with that person again would bring happiness
Oh how I wish I could but you're so far away
Expressing the pain of not being able to physically be with that person
One more song about moving along the highway
Acknowledging the repetition of songs and experiences related to travel
I can't say much of anything that's new
Realizing that nothing new can be said about the experience of travel
But if I could only work this life out my way
Wishing to have control over their life and the distance between them and the person they miss
I'd rather spend it being close to you
Desiring to prioritize spending time with the person they miss
Traveling around sure gets me down and lonely
Feeling negative emotions related to frequent travel and distance from loved ones
Nothing else to do but close my mind
Having no other choice but to shut down emotionally
And I sure hope the road don't get to own me
Expressing a fear of being consumed or lost by the experience of travel
There's so many dreams that I've yet to find
Recognizing that there is still so much the singer wants to experience in life, despite the pain of distance
So far away, yeah, you're so far away
Repeating the opening line to emphasize the physical and emotional distance between the artist and the person they miss
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CAROLE KING
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Hey Y'all From Florida!!
Keep the music 🎶 coming 🎙️Love it ♥️
David Babafemi Aka
Extremely Soothing Voice....💞
lost world
One of my favourite singers.. ♥
Soul Muzic Lover
Love this version 💕🎵
Dorajean Bear
" LONG AGO I REACHED FOR YOU AND THERE YOU STOOD
HOLDING YOU AGAIN WOULD ONLY DO ME GOOD
OH HOW I WISH I COULD BUT YOU'RE SO FAR AWAY"
LOVE LOVE THIS SONG BEAT LOVE IT
Zoe Allen
❤️
Luiz Antonio
Beutiful Song💗(BRAZIL)
Oh they have a cave troll
'Without you in my life"
Marlena.
Barry Green
I like this song 👏🏿👍🏾
Aldo Wellichan
By Carole King. Woderfull!!!