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
You Don't Exist No More
Percy Mayfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Now when I look at you all I see is clear.
And nothing else in this world matters to me
Just as long as I have you near.
I step right off the highest mountain
Thinking I could walk the sky
Tell me and I would believe.
But this would be the last time you made me cry.
A ghost, your nothing but a ghost to me.
A ghost and you don′t exist no more
Nothing but a ghost to me
A ghost and you don't exist no more.
See you use to be my dream now,
All you do is told me go, go, go
Aye aye aye aye
I use to think Heaven when I look at you
Because you were an angel to me
But now all this hell that you took me through
Maybe you lost your wings
I use to feel like I was on top of the world
With you I would go anywhere
But then I woke up at the bottom of the surf,
And saw you both laying there.
A ghost, your nothing but a ghost to me.
A ghost and you don′t exist no more
Nothing but a ghost to me
A ghost and you don't exist no more.
See you use to be my dream now,
All you do is told me go, go, go
Aye, aye, aye, aye
You use to love me and now slowly
I see you drifting
Ever since you broke my heart in two
I don't want to have nothing to do with you.
Even though I still wont go nowhere
I got to walk away from this all.
I hold my strengh,
Yes I can do this
Scratch your name off my list
A ghost, your nothing but a ghost to me.
A ghost and you don′t exist no more
Nothing but a ghost to me
A ghost and you don′t exist no more.
See you use to be my dream now,
All you do is told me go, go, go
Aye aye aye aye
The song "You Don't Exist No More" by Percy Mayfield tells the story of a person who used to view their lover as a dream come true, but they now see them as nothing but a ghost. The imagery of colors fading to clear and the person becoming a smoke screen signify the loss of the vividness and substance of the relationship. The singer expresses how much the person meant to them, even to the point of believing they could walk on sky-high mountains, yet the lover's betrayal and heartbreak proves too much to bear. The chorus emphasizes the idea that the person is now a ghost that no longer exists in the singer's life.
The second verse suggests that the lover might have been an angel in the singer's eyes, but now they have fallen and have caused the singer to hit rock bottom. They once thought that they were on top of the world, but now they realize that their love was nothing but an illusion. The lover's betrayal and lost wings have led to the singer's realization that they deserve better and the courage to walk away. The repeated "go, go, go" emphasizes the singer's determination to move on.
Overall, the song is a powerful expression of heartbreak and moving on. The comparison of the lover to a ghost emphasizes the separation and loss of the relationship, but also the chance for new beginnings.
Line by Line Meaning
You use to be so many colors to me
You were once vibrant and multifaceted to my eyes
Now when I look at you all I see is clear.
Now you are transparent and one-dimensional to me
And nothing else in this world matters to me
As long as I have you, nothing else has any value to me
Just as long as I have you near.
As long as you are present, I am content
I step right off the highest mountain
I took a great risk for you
Thinking I could walk the sky
Believing that you would be there to support me
Tell me and I would believe.
I was completely devoted to you and trusted you implicitly
But this would be the last time you made me cry.
I have reached my limit with your hurtful actions
Cause I can see you nothing but a smoke screen.
I now realize that you were never really there for me
A ghost, your nothing but a ghost to me.
You are now an intangible and insignificant memory
A ghost and you don't exist no more.
You no longer have a place in my life
See you use to be my dream now,
You were once the embodiment of my hopes and aspirations
All you do is told me go, go, go
Now all you do is encourage me to leave
You use to think Heaven when I look at you
Your presence used to bring me great happiness
Because you were an angel to me
You were once a symbol of purity and goodness to me
But now all this hell that you took me through
But now you have caused me nothing but pain and suffering
Maybe you lost your wings
Perhaps you are no longer the person you once were
I use to feel like I was on top of the world
I used to have great confidence and happiness with you
With you I would go anywhere
I was willing to follow you anywhere
But then I woke up at the bottom of the surf,
But then I realized that you had let me down
And saw you both laying there.
And saw that you were not the person I thought you were
You use to love me and now slowly
You were once deeply in love with me, but now
I see you drifting
I see you pulling away from me
Ever since you broke my heart in two
Ever since you hurt me deeply
I don't want to have nothing to do with you.
I no longer want to have a relationship with you
Even though I still wont go nowhere
Even though I will not physically leave
I got to walk away from this all.
I need to emotionally detach myself from you
I hold my strengh,
I am strong enough to move on
Yes I can do this
I have the ability to let go
Scratch your name off my list
Remove you from my life
Writer(s): Percy Mayfield
Contributed by Asher M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Ezra Dickey
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