Born Ruth Alston Weston on 30th January 1928 in Portsmouth, Virginia, she attended I. C. Norcom High School, a historically black high school. Brown's father was a dockhand who directed the local church choir, but the young Ruth showed more of an interest in singing at USO shows and nightclubs. She was inspired by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington. In 1945, Brown ran away from her home in Portsmouth along with a trumpeter, Jimmy Brown, whom she soon married, to sing in bars and clubs. She then spent a month with Lucky Millinder's orchestra, but was fired after she brought drinks to the band for free, and was left stranded in Washington, D.C.
Blanche Calloway, Cab Calloway's sister, also a bandleader, arranged a gig for Brown at a Washington nightclub called Crystal Caverns and soon became her manager. Willis Conover, a Voice of America disc jockey, caught her act and recommended her to Atlantic Records bosses, Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson. Brown was unable to audition as planned though, because of a serious car accident that resulted in a nine-month hospital stay. In 1948, however, Ertegün and Abramson drove to Washington from New York City to hear her sing in the club. Although her repertoire was mostly popular ballads, Ertegün convinced her to switch to rhythm and blues. His productions for her, however, retained her pop style, with clean, fresh arrangements and the singing spot on the beat with little of the usual blues singer's embroidery.
In her first audition, in 1949, she sang "So Long", which became a hit. This was followed by "Teardrops from My Eyes" in 1950; written by Rudy Toombs, it was the first upbeat major hit for Ruth Brown, establishing her as an important figure in R&B. Recorded for Atlantic Records in New York City in September 1950, and released in October, it was on Billboard's List of number-one R&B hits (United States) for eleven weeks. The huge hit earned her the nickname "Miss Rhythm", and within a few months Ruth Brown became the acknowledged queen of R&B.
She followed up this hit with "I'll Wait for You" (1951), "I Know" (1951), "5-10-15 Hours" (1953), "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" (1953), "Oh What a Dream" (1954), "Mambo Baby" (1954), and "Don't Deceive Me" (1960). She also became known as "Little Miss Rhythm" and "the girl with the teardrop in her voice". In all, she was on the R&B charts for 149 weeks from 1949 to 1955, with sixteen top-ten blues records including five number ones, and became Atlantic's most popular artist, earning Atlantic records the proper name of "The House that Ruth Built".
During the 1960s, Brown faded from public view to become a housewife and mother, and only returned to music in 1975 at the urging of Redd Foxx, followed by a series of comic acting gigs, including roles in the sitcom Hello, Larry and the John Waters film Hairspray as local DJ Motormouth Maybelle, as well as Broadway appearances in Amen Corner and Black and Blue, which earned her a Tony Award for her performance and a Grammy award for her album Blues on Broadway, featuring hits from the show.
Brown's fight for musicians' rights and royalties in 1987 led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. She was inducted as a Pioneer Award recipient in its first year, 1989. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as "The Queen Mother of the Blues".
She has become an iconic symbol to many black women for later generations, where she is also a favourite artist and inspiration for later blues artists such as Bonnie Raitt. Brown recorded and sang along with fellow rhythm and blues performer Charles Brown, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and toured with Raitt on Raitt's tour in the late 1990s, "Road Tested". Her 1995 autobiography, Miss Rhythm, won the Gleason Award for music journalism.
Brown died in a Las Vegas-area hospital on 17th November 2006, from complications following a heart attack and stroke she suffered after surgery in October 2006. A memorial concert for her was held on 22nd January 2007 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York.
I'm Beginning To See The Light
Ruth Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I never wink back at fireflies
But now that the stars are in your eyes
I'm beginning to see the light
I never went in for afterglow
Or candlelight on the mistletoe
But now when you turn the lamp down low
Used to ramble through the park
Shadowboxing in the dark
Then you came and caused a spark
That's a four-alarm fire now
I never made love by lantern-shine
I never saw rainbows in my wine
But now that your lips are burning mine
I'm beginning to see the light
The lyrics of Ruth Brown's "I'm Beginning To See The Light" are a beautiful expression of falling in love and experiencing the joys of a new relationship. The opening lines talk about how before the singer met the person they are singing to, they did not appreciate nature's beauty such as moonlit skies and fireflies, but now as they look into their lover's eyes, they are beginning to see things differently. The stars in their eyes are a metaphor for the attraction and admiration they feel for their partner.
The second verse speaks about how the singer did not care for romantic settings such as candlelight on the mistletoe or the afterglow of a sunset. However, now that they are with their partner, everything feels more romantic and appealing. The third verse is about the changes that the singer has undergone since meeting their partner. They used to wander aimlessly, but since meeting their partner, they have found direction and purpose. They also find themselves experiencing intense emotions that have ignited a fire in them.
The final verse uses metaphors to describe the new experiences and emotions that the singer has discovered through their relationship. They have never experienced love by lantern-shine or seen rainbows in their wine, but after their partner's kiss, they are starting to understand the beauty of these things. The singer is now beginning to see the light, which means they are starting to understand the fullness of life that comes with being in love.
Line by Line Meaning
I never cared much for moonlit skies
I never really appreciated the beauty of the night sky
I never wink back at fireflies
I never bothered to pay attention to the small, magical things around me
But now that the stars are in your eyes
But now that I can see the stars reflected in your eyes and feel your love, everything has changed for me
I'm beginning to see the light
I'm starting to understand and appreciate the beauty in life that I was previously blind to
I never went in for afterglow
I never cared for the romantic atmosphere after a nice evening
Or candlelight on the mistletoe
I never found any romantic significance in the mistletoe tradition
But now when you turn the lamp down low
But now, when you create a romantic atmosphere by dimming the lights, every moment feels special
I'm beginning to see the light
I'm starting to understand and appreciate the beauty in life that I was previously blind to
Used to ramble through the park
I used to walk aimlessly through the park
Shadowboxing in the dark
I was fighting an imaginary enemy, lost in my own thoughts
Then you came and caused a spark
But then you came into my life and ignited something within me
That's a four-alarm fire now
That spark you ignited has turned into a blazing fire, and my passion for you is intense
I never made love by lantern-shine
Making love in romantic lighting was never something I found meaningful
I never saw rainbows in my wine
I never really appreciated the beauty in the simple things, like seeing a rainbow reflected in a glass of wine
But now that your lips are burning mine
But now that we're passionately kissing, every little thing around us feels beautiful
I'm beginning to see the light
I'm starting to understand and appreciate the beauty in life that I was previously blind to
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Edward Kennedy Ellington, Don George, Harry James, Johnny Hodges
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind