In 1991, at the age of eleven, Monica was discovered by music producer Dallas Austin at the Center Stage auditorium in Atlanta performing Whitney Houston 1986's Greatest Love of All. Amazed by her voice, Dallas offered her a record deal with his Arista Records-distributed label Rowdy Records and consulted rapper Queen Latifah to work as Monica's first manager. Shortly afterwards Dallas and then staff producers Tim & Bob entered the studio with Monica to start writing and producing her debut Miss Thang which was eventually released in July 1995 and scored number thirty-six on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number seven on the Top R&B Albums chart. It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA for more than three million store-shipped copies and produced three top ten singles, including debut single Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days) and Before You Walk out of My Life both of which made Monica the youngest artist ever to have two consecutive chart-topping hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart. Miss Thang subsequently won Monica a Billboard Music Award and garnered her an American Music Award nomination in the Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist category.
After a label change to Clive Davis's Arista Records, Monica mainstream success was boosted, when Diane Warren-written For You I Will, from the Space Jam soundtrack, became her next top ten pop hit. The following year she was asked to team up with singer Brandy and producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins to record The Boy Is Mine, the first single from both of their second albums. Released in May 1998, surrounding highly publicized rumors about a real-life catfight between both singers, the duet became both the biggest hit of the summer and the biggest hit of 1998 in general in America, spending record-breaking thirteen weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It earned the pair a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and garnered multi-platinum sales (to date, it remains as one of the top twenty most successful American singles in history based on Billboard chart success).
Jermaine Dupri, David Foster and Austin consulted on the album The Boy Is Mine, which was released later that year and eventually became Monica’s biggest-selling album, becoming certified triple platinum by the RIAA for more than three million store-shipped copies. It yielded another two U.S. number-one hits with The First Night and Angel of Mine, a cover of Eternal's 1997 single, as well as a remake of Richard Marx' Right Here Waiting. Rolling Stone Magazine proclaimed it as "closer to soul's source... hearking back past hip-hop songbirds like Mary J. Blige and adult-contemporary sirens like Toni Braxton," while Allmusic called the album an "irresistible sounding [and] immaculately crafted musical backdrop [...] as good as mainstream urban R&B gets in 1998."
In 2000, Monica contributed chorus vocals for I've Got to Have It, a collaboration with Jermaine Dupri and rapper Nas. Released as the Big Momma's House theme song, the song saw minor success in the United States only. The following year, she released the Ric Wake production track Just Another Girl, recorded for the Down to Earth soundtrack, as a single.
A year later, Arnold channeled much of her heavily media-discussed experiences into the production of her third studio album, All Eyez on Me, her first release on mentor Clive Davis newly-founded J Records label. "I just wanted to give the people back something that had personal passion, instead of just, 'Oh, let's dance to this record'," she said about the issues worked into the tracks. The first single All Eyez on Me a Rodney Jerkins-produced R&B-dance track, saw minor to moderate success on the international charts but failed to enter the higher half of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. A follow-up song, Too Hood, also got a lukewarm response and as a result, the album's tentative release was pushed back several times. "I don't think people wanted to hear a big fun record from me, after knowing all the things that I had personally experienced," Monica second-guessed her new material which saw both early and heavy bootlegging via internet at that time.
After the Japan-wide release of All Eyez on Me Monica was asked to substantially reconstruct the record with a host of new producers, and as a result the singer re-entered recording studios to start work with songwriters Kanye West, Jazze Pha, Andre "mrDEYO" Deyo, Bam & Ryan and Dupri-replacing executive producer Missy Elliott. Finally released in June 2003, After the Storm debuted at number one on Billboard`s Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and on top of the official Billboard 200, with sales of 186,000 copies emerging as Monica's first and only number-one album to date. It eventually received a gold certification, and has sold over one million copies domestically. Media reception of the CD was generally enthusiastic, with the Allmusic saying the album "has all the assuredness and smart developments that should keep Monica's younger longtime followers behind her — all the while holding the ability to appeal to a wider spectrum of R&B and hip-hop fans." The album's lead single, Elliott-penned So Gone, was one of Monica's biggest commercial successes in years, becoming her first top ten single since 1999's Angel of Mine. In addition, it reached the top position of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks and Hot Dance Club Play charts. Subsequently, After the Storm spawned another three singles, with final single U Should've Known Better reaching number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
In 2005, Monica appeared on the Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman soundtrack. The track was one of Monica's last production by Dallas Austin.
Returning from yet another musical hiatus, Arnold's fourth studio album The Makings of Me was released in October 2006. Titled after Curtis Mayfield's 1970 recording The Makings of You, the album saw her particularly reuniting with producers Elliott, Dupri, and Bryan Michael Cox, all of whom had previously contributed to After the Storm (2003). The Makings of Me received a positive reception from most professional music critics, with Allmusic calling it a "concise and mostly sweet set of songs," and Entertainment Weekly declaring it "a solid addition" to Monica's discography. While it debuted at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and at number eight on the official Billboard 200, it received a domestic sales total of 328,000 copies, it widely failed to revive the success of its predecessors and became the singer's lowest-selling effort to date. Singles such as snap-influenced Everytime Tha Beat Drop featuring Atlanta hip hop group Dem Franchize Boyz and Elliott-produced A Dozen Roses (You Remind Me) failed to reach the top forty of the regular pop charts.
In 2009, Arnold lent her voice to the ballad Trust a duet with Keyshia Cole, that peaked in the top five on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The recording of Arnold's sixth studio album Still Standing was chronicled by her BET reality series of the same name. Featuring production by Stargate, Ne-Yo, and Polow da Don, it was released in March 2010 and garnered a generally positive response by critics, who perceived its sound as "a return to the mid-'1990s heyday" of contemporary R&B, The album debuted atop on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, and number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 with opening week sales of 184,000 copies, becoming the singer's second highest-charting debut since 2003's After the Storm. The leading single Everything to Me scored Monica her biggest chart success since 2003's So Gone, reaching the top position of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks charts for seven weeks. The album was certified gold by the RIAA with domestic shipments of 500,000 copies within a single month. With it success, the album and Everything to Me was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, presented at the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011. In August 2010, Arnold joined Trey Songz on his Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour, her first North American concert tour in ten years.
The New Life (Intro) Songfacts reports that New Life was Monica's debut release with RCA, following the disbandment of her former label, J Records in October 2011. The album was dropped on April 10, 2012 in the US. She explained the meaning of its title on Twitter: "A good word goes a long way. Life is hard enough. Me and my followers believe in God, love, strength, family, unity and growth [...] Don't be afraid of new things, new people, new opportunities or new love. It just may give you a New Life."
Breaks My Heart
Monica Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hey, yeah
Oh oh oh oh
Oh, yeah
Oh oh
When I think of what I've done all the pain that I've brought
Baby, you should have walked out on me
And when I've turned away from you whenever there were hard times
How could you still be with me
And if it was no mistake when I hurt you that day
And went out with somebody new
But still you forgave me like it was so easy
I should have been better to you
Baby, it breaks my heart
To think that lovin' me is not so easy to do
And I don't mean to make it hard
Sorry for all the changes I put you through
And it's hard to believe after everything
That you're still here right beside me
Wouldn't trade you for this whole world
Thankful just bein' your girl
Never gave you my heart 'cause I never thought
You deserved any of me
I never told you how I felt when deep inside I knew that
You're really what I need
And I always gave you up whenever I saw
Something better come along
And right when I come back you're waitin' for me
And you welcome me home
Baby, it breaks my heart
To think that lovin' me is not so easy to do
And I don't mean to make it hard
Sorry for all the changes I put you through
And it's hard to believe after everything
You're still here right beside me
Wouldn't trade you for this whole world
Thankful just bein' your girl
And if it takes my whole life I'll make it up to you
'Cause I've been so cruel
And you've given your love to me in spite of everything
I-I don't deserve you
From this day forward I'm truly yours
But it took me a while to see
That we were meant for one another
Thank you for loving me
Baby, it breaks my heart
To think that lovin' me is not so easy to do
And I don't mean to make it hard
Sorry for all the changes I put you through
And it's hard to believe after everything
You're still here right beside me
Wouldn't trade you for this whole world
Thankful just bein' your girl
Baby, it breaks my heart
To think that lovin' me is not so easy to do
And I don't mean to make it hard
Sorry for all the changes I put you through
And it's hard to believe after everything
You're still here right beside me
Wouldn't trade you for this whole world
Thankful just bein' your girl
Da-da-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da-da
Oh, I I I
Da-da-da
Da-da-da-da-da
Monica's song "Breaks My Heart" is a heartfelt plea to her partner to forgive her for past mistakes and to reassure him that she recognizes and regrets the hurt she has caused. The song starts with the singer admitting to herself the pain she has put her partner through and recognizing that he should have walked out on her. Monica acknowledges that she has turned away from him in their difficult times and wonders how he could still be with her. Even when she hurt him by going out with someone else, he forgave her, and she regrets not being better for him.
In the second verse, Monica takes the blame for not giving her partner her heart and not expressing how she felt about him. She admits she always gave him up whenever she saw someone better, but he welcomed her back when she returned. Monica regrets treating her partner poorly and not recognizing how much he means to her. In the chorus, Monica pleads with her partner not to leave her because loving her is not easy to do. She promises to make it up to him, even if it takes her whole life, and thanks him for loving her despite all her flaws.
Line by Line Meaning
When I think of what I've done all the pain that I've brought
Whenever I reflect on my past mistakes and the hurt I've caused you
Baby, you should have walked out on me
I can't believe you're still with me despite everything
And when I've turned away from you whenever there were hard times
I pushed you away during difficult moments
How could you still be with me
I can't fathom how you could continue loving me after all that's happened
And if it was no mistake when I hurt you that day
I'm not making excuses for when I hurt you intentionally
And went out with somebody new
I cheated on you
But still you forgave me like it was so easy
You forgave me even though it wasn't easy
I should have been better to you
I regret not treating you better
Never gave you my heart 'cause I never thought
I didn't give you my heart because I didn't believe you deserved it
You deserved any of me
I didn't think highly enough of myself to believe you deserved me
I never told you how I felt when deep inside I knew that
I kept my true feelings hidden from you even though I knew I loved you
You're really what I need
You're the one I need in my life
And I always gave you up whenever I saw
I always let you go when something seemingly better came along
Something better come along
I betrayed your love by falling for others
And right when I come back you're waitin' for me
You were always waiting for me to come back to you
And you welcome me home
You always welcomed me back home with open arms
And if it takes my whole life I'll make it up to you
I'm willing to spend my entire life making it up to you
'Cause I've been so cruel
I've been incredibly cruel to you in the past
And you've given your love to me in spite of everything
Even after all the bad things I've done, you still love me
I-I don't deserve you
I don't deserve your love and loyalty
From this day forward I'm truly yours
I promise to be yours forever
But it took me a while to see
It took me a while to realize how much I love you
That we were meant for one another
We're meant to be together
Thank you for loving me
I'm grateful for your love and devotion
Baby, it breaks my heart
It hurts me deeply
To think that lovin' me is not so easy to do
I know it's not easy to love me because of my past actions
And I don't mean to make it hard
I don't intend to make our relationship difficult
Sorry for all the changes I put you through
I apologize for all the heartbreak and difficulties I've caused you
And it's hard to believe after everything
It's amazing that despite everything that's happened
You're still here right beside me
You're still here by my side
Wouldn't trade you for this whole world
I wouldn't want to lose you for anything in this world
Thankful just bein' your girl
I'm grateful for being your girlfriend
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CARSTEN SCHACK, CARSTEN SHACK, KENNETH KARLIN, SHAMORA CRAWFORD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind