By the late 1960s Austin was a prolific session musician and commercial jingle singer. By the 1980s she was signed to Jones's Qwest Records and she began having hits. She charted twenty R&B songs between 1969 and 1991 and had success on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, where she hit number one in 1981 with "Do You Love Me?" / "The Genie."
The album containing that hit, Every Home Should Have One, also produced her biggest mainstream hit. "Baby, Come To Me," a duet with James Ingram, peaked at number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1982. After being featured as the love theme in a prominent storyline on the soap opera General Hospital, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October and went to number one in early 1983.
Next Austin released her third album in three years entitled "Gettin' Away With Murder". In addition to the title track, she had two more hit singles, "Honey For The Bees" (#24 R&B and #6 Dance) and "The Heat of Heat". Produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, noted for their later work with Janet Jackson, the latter track returned Austin to the top 15 of the R&B charts for what would be the last time to date. It would also be her last Hot 100 charting to date, peaking at number 55, although she would score a top-5 dance hit with the single Reach that appeared originally on her 1994 CD That Secret Place (GRP Records). "Gettin' Away With Murder" used producers Russ Titelman, Tommy LiPuma, Monte Moir (of "The Time"), and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Billy Joel (Austin sang background on his "Just The Way You Are"), Dan Hartman, friends Luther Vandross and Jocelyn Brown, along with Chaka Khan were among the background vocalists on the project, with successful songwriters, Randy Goodrum, Michael Bolton, Jam & Lewis plus several other big name writers offering up their best compositions on what was likely a big budget affair. She next appeared with Jeff Bridges and Joan Allen in Francis Ford Coppola's critically acclaimed period piece Tucker: The Man and his Dream (1988). That year, Austin released The Real Me, a collection of standards which garnered her the first of several Top 10 showings on the Jazz Albums chart. "The Real Me" was chiefly produced by David Pack who had been a part of the Pop group Ambrosia. Austin served as a co-producer and as Executive Producer on the project. Austin sang "It's the Falling in Love" with Michael Jackson on his album Off The Wall. Other duet partners include George Benson ("Moody's Mood for Love" and "Keep Your Dreams Alive"), and Luther Vandross ("I'm Gonna Miss You In The Morning"). Earlier she'd recorded featured duets with Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons on "Our Day Will Come" and "Swearin' To God" with little billing. Austin also sang lead and background vocals on many contemporary Jazz instrumentalists' records in the 1970s. In 1985 she sang lead vocals on a collaboration with her producer, Narada Michael Walden, and the single, "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme", went top 40 on the R&B charts. In 1991, she recorded the duet "You Who Brought Me Love" with music legend Johnny Mathis, which was received with critical acclaim. That same year she was invited to be a guest on a Johnny Mathis television special that was broadcast across North America.
Austin led a new group of Raelettes for the 2006 album Ray Charles + Count Basie Orchestra = Genius². That group also featured veteran session singer Valerie Pinkston and members of the group Perry.
During a 2007 interview promoting her latest recording, Austin reflected how as a teenager she reluctantly attended one of Judy Garland's last concerts and the experience helped focus her career, stating "She (Judy Garland) ripped my heart out. I wanted to interpret a lyric like that, to present who I was at the moment through the lyric."
In 2007 Patti Austin participated in the Avo Session Basel with a program dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald.
In 2008, fifty-three years after getting her first record contract, Patti Austin was awarded her first Grammy Award, winning Best Jazz Vocal Album for "Avant Gershwin" at the 50th annual Grammy Awards. The award came for her ninth nomination in that category.
Austin is co-producer and one of over 70 artists singing on "We Are the World: 25 for Haiti", a charity single in aid of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
In 2011 Austin released a mostly covers album project titled "Sound Advice" which contained re-works of Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody", Brenda Russell's "A Little Bit Of Love", a lesser known Jacksons tune, "Give It Up," her tribute to late friend/collaborator, Michael Jackson, a cover of Bill Withers, "Lean On Me" which she first sang at a milestone birthday for her Godfather Quincy Jones. Also on "Sound Advice" standout performances of Don McLean's "Vincent" (aka Starry Starry Night) and a deeply female take on "My Way." Austin wrote the anthemic "The Grace Of God" after watching an episode of the old "Oprah Winfrey Show" which featured a facially scarred woman ... Keeping relevant, Austin offered the bouncy slice of Pop/Rock/RandB "Round And Round" including the latest trendy vocal effects, though Austin remains one singer who clearly needs no such production techniques to cover a crystal clear, flexible, and knowing voice imitated by many, duplicated by none. Austin co-wrote and sings in the star-studded L.O.V.E. - Let One Voice Emerge, encouraging especially younger Americans to get out there and exercise their right to vote.[citation needed]
Austin appears in the Academy Award-winning documentary film 20 Feet from Stardom (2013), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on 21 June 2013. She is working on an upcoming, as yet untitled duets album project with James Ingram.
Don't Go Away
Patti Austin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I just don't get it
I must be out of my mind
You got a way of holding me
And it's so dramatic
Sometimes I just want to cry
'cause it scares me, boy, when you get so close
No I never wanted to show I care
So I lied to you, I lied to you
(chorus)
Don't go away and break my heart
And leave me all alone
Don't go away and take my heart,
What can I do, I'm losing you
Don't go away
I've never really known what's best
And it keeps me running
Away from what's in my heart
I've always put you to the test
Now it seems I've done it
The love you felt from the start, baby,
Maybe you could give me another chance
Let me show you the love you're leaving
It's not fair to live through my past romance
So I'm pleading, I'm pleading
(chorus)
I'm losing you
No I never wanted to show I care
So I'm pleading, I'm pleading
(chorus)
(chorus)
Patti Austin's song "Don't Go Away" is a heart-wrenching ballad that takes the listener on a journey of mixed emotions. In the verses, the singer sings about her confusion and fear regarding her partner's intense love for her. She feels overwhelmed by the depth of his feelings and is hesitant to show her own vulnerability in return. The chorus is a plea for her partner to stay and not break her heart, indicating that she is aware of the risk she is taking but is still terrified of losing him.
The lyrics paint a picture of someone who has been hurt in the past and is struggling to trust and love again. The singer admits to testing her partner in the past, perhaps as a defense mechanism to protect herself from being hurt again. However, as her partner begins to distance himself, she recognizes the love that she has been hiding and begs for another chance to make things right.
Overall, "Don't Go Away" is a powerful song about the complexities of love and the fear of losing someone. It captures the raw, vulnerable emotions that come with being in a relationship and expresses them in a way that is both relatable and heart-wrenching.
Line by Line Meaning
You got a way of loving me
Your love is unique and special to me
But I just don't get it
But sometimes I find it difficult to understand your love
I must be out of my mind
I feel like I'm going crazy because of how much I care for you
You got a way of holding me
Your embrace is powerful and intense
And it's so dramatic
It feels overwhelming and dramatic to me
Sometimes I just want to cry
Sometimes your love brings me to tears
'cause it scares me, boy, when you get so close
I get scared when you get too close to me
And I'm feeling too many feelings
I am overwhelmed with emotions
No I never wanted to show I care
I never wanted to let on how much I cared for you
So I lied to you, I lied to you
So I told you lies to hide my true feelings
Don't go away and break my heart
Please don't leave me and cause me heartbreak
And leave me all alone
I don't want to be left alone without you
Don't go away and take my heart,
Please don't take my heart with you when you leave
What can I do, I'm losing you
I feel helpless because I'm losing you
I've never really known what's best
I am not sure what the best decision is
And it keeps me running
This uncertainty causes me to keep avoiding the situation
Away from what's in my heart
Away from what I truly feel in my heart
I've always put you to the test
I've always tested your love for me
Now it seems I've done it
Now I realize I have pushed you away
The love you felt from the start, baby,
The love you had for me from the beginning, my dear,
Maybe you could give me another chance
Perhaps you could forgive me and give me another chance
Let me show you the love you're leaving
Let me show you the love you will miss if you leave
It's not fair to live through my past romance
It's not fair to judge me based on my past experiences
So I'm pleading, I'm pleading
So I'm begging you to stay
I'm losing you
I am losing you and it hurts me deeply
Contributed by Gianna V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.