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've Got the World on a String
Ruth Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm sitting on a rainbow
Got the string around my finger
What a world, what a life, I'm in love
I've got a song that I sing
I can make the rain go
Any time I move my finger
Life's a wonderful thing
As long as I hold the string
I'd be a silly so-and-so
If I should ever let her go
The lyrics to Ruth Brown's song "I've Got the World on a String" exude a deep sense of happiness and contentment with life. The opening line "I've got the world on a string" suggests that the singer is in a position of power or control; they have the ability to manipulate situations to their advantage. Sitting on a rainbow further conveys this sense of gaiety and wonderment. The singer is enjoying their life to the fullest.
The line "Got the string around my finger" suggests that the singer is in control of their destiny. They are able to manipulate the circumstances around them to their advantage. The singer feels lucky to be in love, and this is emphasized in the next line, "what a world, what a life, I'm in love." This line highlights the sense of completeness that the singer feels, as if they have everything they need in the world.
The chorus of the song further emphasizes this sense of happiness, suggesting that the singer has a song that they sing, which can make the rain go away. The phrase "Any time I move my finger" underlines the sense of control that the singer has over their life. The song concludes by underscoring the importance of holding onto the things that make one happy. Life is a wonderful thing, as long as one holds onto the "string" that makes everything right.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got the world on a string
I have everything I could possibly want and my life is going great.
I'm sitting on a rainbow
I am happy and content with my life.
Got the string around my finger
I am in control and have everything I want at my fingertips.
What a world, what a life, I'm in love
My life is amazing and I am in love with everything around me.
I've got a song that I sing
I am so happy that I sing and everything around me seems to follow my tune.
I can make the rain go
I have the power to control the environment around me.
Any time I move my finger
I am able to control everything in my life with ease.
Lucky me, can't you see, I'm in love
I am so lucky to be in love with everything around me and can't help feeling grateful.
Life's a wonderful thing
Life is amazing, and I have nothing to complain about.
As long as I hold the string
As long as I have control of everything in my life, I am content and happy.
I'd be a silly so-and-so
I would be foolish to let go of everything I have in my life right now.
If I should ever let her go
If I lose control of all the amazing things in my life, I would regret it forever.
Lyrics © S.A. MUSIC
Written by: Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@SurfCityVideo
She absolutely steals every scene.
@pianoman551000
In a very strange way Ruthie steals every the way that actress Maggie Smith stole every scene in Downton Abbey, which are Worlds and a century apart!
@tomr6866
Not really...
@tomr6866
Lol ok whatever she's mostly annoying in this
@SurfCityVideo
@Tom Rabovsky That's why she won an Emmy for her work..
@CR-ce5lf
Surf City Video everyyyyyyy scene!!!!
@ariyarodriguez5052
she actually won a golden globe for this character and beat all the game of throne actresses. Awesome !
@marike1100
Even better, it was an Emmy, and well deserved. 👍
@JudyinAL
Joe Rodriguez so well deserved.
@bethechangeyouwanttoseeint1050
She’s awesome! I loved her in this!