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.
It Could Happen to You
Ruth Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lock your dreams at night,
It could happen to you.
Don't count stars
Or you might stumble,
Someone drops a sigh
And down you tumble,
Keep an eye on spring,
It could happen to you
All I did was wonder
How your arms would be
And it happened to me
In Ruth Brown’s song “It Could Happen to You,” the lyrics are a warning to listeners to be careful with their hearts and dreams, as falling in love can happen unexpectedly to anyone. The opening lines “Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night” suggest that it is important to keep your emotions guarded to avoid possible heartbreak. However, the refrain “It could happen to you,” reminds us that love is unpredictable and we can’t always control when and whom we fall in love with.
The lyrics also suggest that we should not get too caught up in our own desires and expectations, like “Don't count stars Or you might stumble.” Instead, we should be mindful of the people around us, because “Someone drops a sigh And down you tumble.” The line “Keep an eye on spring, Run when church bells ring” further emphasizes the idea that we need to be alert and ready for the unexpected.
Finally, the last two lines of the song “All I did was wonder How your arms would be And it happened to me” suggest that the singer herself fell in love unexpectedly just by imagining what it would be like to be with someone. The song is a reminder that love can happen to anyone and it is beyond our control.
Line by Line Meaning
Hide your heart from sight,
Don't be too vulnerable and don't reveal your true emotions to anyone.
Lock your dreams at night,
Keep your aspirations to yourself as you never know who might try to crush them.
It could happen to you.
Bad things can happen to anyone regardless of how much they try to stay safe or guarded.
Don't count stars
Don't be too focused on insignificant things and lose sight of what really matters in life.
Or you might stumble,
If you're not careful, you can easily make mistakes that can have long-lasting consequences.
Someone drops a sigh
Even the tiniest signals or changes in someone's behavior can indicate something much bigger and should not be ignored.
And down you tumble,
Even a small mistake or oversight can lead to disastrous outcomes.
Keep an eye on spring,
Be aware of the signs of change and be ready to adapt when unexpected opportunities arise.
Run when church bells ring.
Be cautious and alert when you hear warning signs or signs of danger.
It could happen to you
Bad things can happen to anyone and there's no guarantee that you'll always be safe from harm.
All I did was wonder
She was simply curious about something.
How your arms would be
She was only thinking about the touch of someone's arms without any intention.
And it happened to me
Despite her lack of intention, she still fell in love and ended up experiencing what she had only wondered about previously.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JAMES VAN HEUSEN, JOHNNY BURKE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind