Born in Los Angeles, California on 15th March 1947, Cooder first attracted attention in the 1960s, playing with Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band, after having worked with Taj Mahal in The Rising Sons.
He was a session guitarist on various recording sessions with the Rolling Stones in 1968 and 1969; Cooder's contributions most notably appear on the Stones' Beggars Banquet where he shares a prominent credit with pianist, Nicky Hopkins on the back cover. He continued to appear on the succeeding albums, Let It Bleed, and Sticky Fingers, on which he contributed the haunting slide guitar solo to "Sister Morphine". Cooder is reputed to have taught Keith Richards to play in open-G tuning, now a Richards hallmark, as well as to have written the open-G signature riff of "Honky Tonk Women". He was briefly considered to fill the departed Brian Jones' place in the Rolling Stones, but reportedly Cooder and Keith Richards did not get along very well. For some time after the sessions, Cooder accused Keith Richards of "ripping him off" musically, but now refuses to talk about his experiences with the Stones. Cooder played slide guitar for the 1970 film Performance, which contained Mick Jagger's first solo single, "Memo from Turner" on which Cooder played guitar.
Throughout the 1970s Cooder released a series of Warner Brothers albums that showcased his guitar work, to some degree. In this respect, Cooder's guitar work on these records is not unlike the guitar playing of Robbie Robertson on the Band's albums: Both virtuosos emphasized song over solo. Cooder's 1970s albums spotlight, more than anything, a wide-ranging taste in music. Cooder has been seen as almost a musicologist, exploring bygone musical genres with personalized and sensitive, updated reworkings of revered originals. Cooder's 1970s albums (with the exception of Jazz) cannot be neatly pigeonholed by genre, But - to generalise broadly - it might be fair to call Cooder's first album blues; Into the Purple Valley, Boomer's Story, and Paradise and Lunch, folk + blues; Chicken Skin Music and Showtime, a unique melange of Tex-Mex and Hawaiian; Jazz, 1920s jazz; Bop till You Drop 1950s R&B and blues; and Borderline an eclectic mix of Tex-Mex with blues, R&B, and country and Get Rhythm, with more rock-based excursions.
Cooder has worked as a studio musician and has also scored many film soundtracks, of which perhaps the best known is that for the 1984 Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas. Ry Cooder based this soundtrack, and the haunting title song "Paris, Texas" on Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)", which he described as "The most soulful, transcendent piece in all music from the US." His other film work includes Walter Hill's The Long Riders (1980) and Southern Comfort (1981).
In recent years, Cooder has played a role in the increased appreciation of traditional Cuban music, due to his collaboration as producer in the Buena Vista Social Club (1997) recording, which was a worldwide hit. Wim Wenders directed a documentary film of the musicians involved, Buena Vista Social Club (1999) which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000. Cooder worked with Tuvan throat singers for the score to the 1993 film Geronimo: An American Legend.
Cooder's solo work has been an eclectic mix, taking in dust bowl folk, blues, Tex-Mex, soul, gospel, rock, and almost everything else. He has collaborated with many important musicians, including the Rolling Stones, Little Feat, the Chieftains, John Lee Hooker, Gabby Pahinui, and Ali Farka Toure. He formed the Little Village supergroup with Nick Lowe, John Hiatt, and Jim Keltner.
Cooder's 1979 album Bop till You Drop was the first popular music album to be recorded digitally. It yielded his biggest hit, a disco/R&B cover of Elvis Presley's 1960s recording "Little Sister".
Gypsy Woman
Ry Cooder Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Came a lovely woman in motion with hair as dark as night
Her eyes were like those of a cat in the dark
And she hypnotized me with love
She was a gypsy woman
She danced around and 'round to guitar melody
From the fire her face was all aglow
How I'd love to hold her near
And kiss and forever whisper in her ear
I love you gypsy woman
I want you gypsy woman
I need you gypsy woman
Just got to have a gypsy woman
All through the caravan, she was dancing with all the men
Waiting for the rising sun, everyone was having fun
I hate to see the lady go, knowing she'll never know
That i love her, i love her
I love you gypsy woman
I want you gypsy woman
I need you gypsy woman
Just got to have a gypsy woman
The lyrics to Ry Cooder's song Gypsy Woman describe the singer's encounter with a beautiful woman of a different culture - a gypsy woman. The first verse describes how she arrives in a caravan and catches the singer's attention with her dark hair and cat-like eyes. She then dances around the campfire to the sound of a guitar, enchanting everyone around her, including the singer. The chorus repeats the singer's desire for this woman, conveying a sense of urgency and need to have her. The final verse talks about how the gypsy woman continues to dance with other men in the caravan and how the singer hates to see her go, knowing that she will never know how he feels about her.
The song is a classic example of a love song that communicates the universal feeling of desire and infatuation with someone you may never have a chance with. The lyrics are simple yet effective, conveying the singer's longing and admiration for this mysterious and alluring woman. The use of imagery, such as the caravan and the campfire, add to the exotic nature of the song and contribute to the sense of otherness surrounding the gypsy woman.
Line by Line Meaning
From out of nowhere, through a caravan, around the campfire light
A mysterious woman appeared from the nomadic caravan and danced around the firelight.
Came a lovely woman in motion with hair as dark as night
The woman was beautiful in motion, with dark hair that shone like the night sky.
Her eyes were like those of a cat in the dark
Her eyes seemed to glow like a cat's in the dark.
And she hypnotized me with love
Her love captured him and he felt hypnotized by her.
She was a gypsy woman
The woman was a gypsy by heritage.
She danced around and 'round to guitar melody
She danced to the melody of the guitar, twirling around and around.
From the fire her face was all aglow
In the firelight, her face shone brilliantly.
How she enchanted me
He was enchanted by the woman's beauty and movement.
How I'd love to hold her near
He desired to hold the woman close to him.
And kiss and forever whisper in her ear
He imagined kissing her and whispering sweet nothings in her ear for eternity.
I love you gypsy woman
He loved her, the gypsy woman.
I want you gypsy woman
He wanted her, the gypsy woman.
I need you gypsy woman
He felt a deep need for the gypsy woman.
Just got to have a gypsy woman
He couldn't bear the thought of not having her, the gypsy woman.
All through the caravan, she was dancing with all the men
She danced with all the men in the caravan.
Waiting for the rising sun, everyone was having fun
They waited for the sun to rise and continued to enjoy themselves.
I hate to see the lady go, knowing she'll never know
He was saddened to see her leave, knowing that she would never know his true feelings.
That i love her, i love her
He loved her deeply but was never able to tell her.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Curtis L Mayfield
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind