He began his adult life as a young preacher in Philadelphia, where he hosted a gospel radio show. In the 1960s, he signed with Atlantic Records and began moving towards more secular music. His first hit was Just Out Of Reach Of My Open Arms, a cover of a country song. Though well-received by both peers and critics, and attaining a few moderate pop and several major R&B hits, Burke never could quite break through into the mainstream as did his contemporaries like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin.
Nevertheless, his emotive delivery, polished production, as well as the touches of country and pop sensibility in his music won him admirers and imitators. In 1964 he wrote and recorded Everybody Needs Somebody To Love his most prominent bid for an enduring soul standard. Covered by the Rolling Stones the same year, other well-known versions include one by Wilson Pickett and another a decade and a half later in the 1980 feature film by The Blues Brothers. Burke's biggest hit was a 1969 cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Proud Mary.
His career was to some degree revived in 2002, with the release of the album Don't Give Up On Me, produced by Joe Henry, where he sang songs written specifically for the album by a roster of top-rank artists, including Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits and Joe Henry himself.
He is featured in the 2004 movie Lightning in a Bottle singing Turn on Your Love Light and Down in the Valley.
As of October 2002 Burke was the father of 14 daughters and 7 sons with 64 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. Several of his children and grandchildren have had successful careers in various facets of the music industry, though none as much so as their patriarch.
Burke died, arriving at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam where he was supposed to perform with Dutch band De Dijk with whom he recorded an album, entitled Hold on Tight.
Rock icon Mick Jagger performed a tribute to Burke at the 2011 Grammy Awards, laying down Burke's classic hit "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love".
A cover of Everybody Needs Somebody To Love received huge exposure as the music for Amazon's 2019 Christmas commercial.
Home in Your Heart
Solomon Burke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Right now in your heart
I'll travel over miles and down the highways, babe
Through the valleys every byway
Just to find me a home right now in your heart
I'll bring you to the music, refueling
Everything you need babe
Just to have me a home right now in your heart
Baby I'll travel for you over miles and
Through the valley babe
Down all the highways
Through the valleys honey
Just to find me a home right now in your heart
I gotta, gotta, gotta have it baby
Gotta find me a home
I've got to have a big beautiful home
Somewhere in your heart
Solomon Burke’s 1962 hit “Home in Your Heart” is a passionate declaration of intense love. It describes a quest for love and a longing for the warmth and security of a home in the heart of the person he loves. Burke’s lyrics express a yearning that goes beyond finding just any home or shelter, but instead finding refuge and belonging in the heart of a lover.
The opening lines of the song, “Don't you know I got to find me a home / Right now in your heart,” reveal the depth of the singer’s desire for love and a relationship. The lyrics evoke a powerful image of the lengths that the singer is willing to travel, the risks he is willing to take to find a home in the heart of his lover. He describes going over miles and down highways, through valleys and byways, all with the singular goal of finding a home. The repeated refrain of “I’ll travel for you over miles and through the valley babe / Down all the highways through the valleys honey / Just to find me a home right now in your heart” reinforces this image of a restless, relentless search for a place of belonging.
The final lines of the song – “I gotta, gotta, gotta have it baby / Gotta find me a home / I’ve got to have a big beautiful home / Somewhere in your heart” – serve as a powerful climax to the song’s emotional intensity. The singer not only desires love, but he needs it in order to truly feel at home. Burke’s song is a testament to the enduring power of love as a source of comfort and stability in a sometimes unpredictable world.
Interesting Facts:
Line by Line Meaning
Don't you know I got to find me a home
I need to find a place where I belong and feel loved
Right now in your heart
I need to find that place within your love and affection
I'll travel over miles and down the highways, babe
I'll go to great lengths and endure challenges to find my place with you
Through the valleys every byway
I will face the hardships and obstacles that come my way
Just to find me a home right now in your heart
I am willing to do whatever it takes to make your love my home
I'll bring you to the music, refueling
I want to share my passion and love with you, replenishing your soul
Everything you want to
I will give you everything that you desire
Everything you need babe
I will fulfill all your needs, darling
Baby I'll travel for you over miles and
My journey to find my home with you is for you, my love
Through the valley babe
I will face adversity gladly if it means being with you
Down all the highways
I will go wherever you lead me, no matter the distance
Through the valleys honey
I will be steadfast in my journey to be with you
Just to find me a home right now in your heart
My ultimate goal is to be with you and find a home in your heart
I gotta, gotta, gotta have it baby
I am eager and desperate to find my place of belonging with you
Gotta find me a home
I need to find a place of love and security
I've got to have a big beautiful home
I desire a large and magnificent love where I can fully thrive
Somewhere in your heart
I hope to find my home and my love within your heart
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: OTIS BLACKWELL, WINFIELD SCOTT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jerome Pudwill
One of the most perfect singles I've ever heard. Incredible vocal, great lyrics, killer back-up band, knock out back-up singers, brilliant arrangement. It just doesn't get much better than this!
Jerome Pudwill
Yeah, I sincerely doubt if they had any charts. The movie The Wrecking Crew gives a pretty good ideas of how sessions worked on the West Coast.
And the documentary movie Muscle Shoals, about a group Wexler worked with, reinforces that same impression.
And from some of the clips I've seen about the Brill Building and Phil Spector, I didn't get the feeling they worked with a whole helluva lotta charts. Just conjecture on my part, but that's what it looked like – even though I can't imagine the Wall Of Sound orchestra functioning without them.
Also, as depicted in the movie Ray, it looks like Atlantic seemed to run quite a bit on improvisation . . . but then again, that was just a movie.
Harold Fethe
I've read interviews with Wexler talking about his hands on style of running recording sessions. He would have been my first guess. the impression I had was that he was more of a producer with a great ear. did the band have charts? maybe not. R&B bands often work out arrangements by ear. thanks!
Jerome Pudwill
Funny you should ask! I also tried tracking this info down and could not find anything that was absolutely definitive. But everything I came up with pointed to Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Wexler
To learn more about him, see the movies Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built, Muscle Shoals and Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story. And if you like those, also be sure to check out Tom Dowd And The Language of Music - Dowd worked closely with Wexler at Atlantic and produced tons of great hits and albums.
Harold Fethe
Travis Bickle -Do you know the arranger? I haven't been able to nail it down.
Samoht
I can't get over how much this vocal delivery amazes me
Freddy Sanchez
I won't even lie. That movie, Red, brought me here and I'm grateful for it.
Emanuel Hmingropui
I was looking for this song for many years
no ididnt
Ditto.
jurassicpunk
Wow, I hadn't noticed all of these comments about the film "Red" before. Believe it or not I've never actually seen that film. Is it good? Well, if it has this song in the soundtrack then that's definitely a plus.