Mayfield was born in Minden, Louisiana. As a youth, he showed a talent for poetry, so he thought he would try songwriting and singing. He began his performing career in Texas and had moved to Los Angeles by 1942.
He auditioned his song "Two Years of Torture" to Supreme Records (a Los Angeles-area record label) because he thought it would be a good song for Jimmy Witherspoon. The label liked his performance and asked him to record it in 1947. Although his vocal style was influenced by such stylists as Charles Brown, Mayfield did not focus on the white market as did many West Coast bluesmen. Rather, he sang blues ballads, mostly his own songs, in a gentle vocal style.
In 1950, he signed with Specialty Records and released several well-received R&B records. His most famous performance: "Please Send Me Someone to Love" was a number one R&B hit in 1950. His career continued to blossom with songs like "Strange Things Happening", "Lost Love," "What a Fool I Was," "Prayin' for Your Return," "Cry Baby," and "Big Question." A 1953 auto accident left him seriously injured, including a facial disfigurement that limited his performing.
Mayfield's songs tend to be downbeat and his lyrics tend to be heartbreaking, but his vulnerability and emotional sensitivity prevent songs like "Life Is Suicide" and "The River's Invitation" from being maudlin.
Mayfield continued to write and record for Specialty until 1954 and then recorded for Chess Records and the Imperial label. In the early 1960s, he became one of Ray Charles's favorite songwriters, writing classic songs such as "Hit the Road Jack", "At the Club", and "Danger Zone" (which has the same melody of "Please Send Me Someone to Love". Charles signed Mayfield to his Tangerine logo in 1962.
When Mayfield died of a heart attack in 1984, at the age of 63, he had fallen back into obscurity.
Mayfield hit his creative peak in the years before his music became a mainstream sound. Thus it was always a struggle to gain recognition that he was due. But available examples of his music demonstrate his writing and performing talent and his enormous influence on other performers
Lost Love
Percy Mayfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Baby please come back to me
Baby please
Please come back to me
Because I am a prisoner
I need your love to set me free
I got up early one mornin' before the night was gone
I looked in the bed beside me and guess what...
I cried please please come back to me
Because I am a prisoner
I need your love to set me free
I know my tears are wasted and I know I cry in vain
I know I've lost my baby but I love her just the same
Baby please
Baby please come back to me
Because I am a prisoner
I need your love to set me free
Oh how I need your love
The lyrics to Percy Mayfield's "Lost Love (Baby, Please)" convey the singer's sense of desperation and longing for a lost lover. The repeated plea for his partner to come back to him is a constant motif throughout the song. The singer describes himself as a "prisoner," emphasizing the fact that he is trapped in his grief and needs his lover's love to set him free. He seems to be in a state of despair, crying out for his lover even though he knows it may be futile. He also acknowledges that his tears are wasted and that he has lost his lover, yet he still loves her and wants her back.
The use of repetition in the song's lyrics ("Baby please," "Please come back to me," "I am a prisoner," "I need your love to set me free") serves to convey the singer's sense of urgency and desperation. The repetition also underscores the idea of imprisonment, suggesting that the singer is stuck in a cycle of heartbreak and can't escape without his lover's help. The use of first-person perspective in the lyrics ("I cried please please come back to me," "I know I've lost my baby") creates a sense of intimacy and personal connection between the singer and the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
Baby please
The singer is pleading with his lost love to return
Baby please come back to me
The singer is asking his lost love to come back to him
Baby please
The singer repeats his plea for his lost love to return
Please come back to me
The singer is making a direct request for his lost love to return to him
Because I am a prisoner
The singer feels trapped without the love of his lost love
I need your love to set me free
The singer believes that the return of his lost love will give him the freedom he desires
I got up early one mornin' before the night was gone
The singer woke up early in the morning
I looked in the bed beside me and guess what...
The singer checked to see if his lost love returned during the night, but she did not
I was all alone
The singer was alone in bed
I cried please please come back to me
The singer pleaded with his lost love to return and cried about her absence
Because I am a prisoner
The singer feels trapped without the love of his lost love
I need your love to set me free
The singer believes that the return of his lost love will give him the freedom he desires
I know my tears are wasted and I know I cry in vain
The singer understands that his tears and pleas for his lost love may be pointless
I know I've lost my baby but I love her just the same
The singer recognizes that his lost love may not return, but he still loves her
Baby please
The singer repeats his plea for his lost love to return
Baby please come back to me
The singer pleads with his lost love to return to him
Because I am a prisoner
The singer feels trapped without the love of his lost love
I need your love to set me free
The singer believes that the return of his lost love will give him the freedom he desires
Oh how I need your love
The singer expresses how much he needs the love of his lost love
Writer(s): Percy Mayfield
Contributed by Samantha F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.