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.
Soul Searchin'
Solomon Burke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I told a lie
I did you wrong
I made you cry
So now I'm walking all alone
Down the darkest street in town
Standing in the rain
While my tears keep falling down
How could I say goodbye to you?
I'm soul searching
I made you cry
How could I leave
Somebody like you
How could I do all the silly things
That I do
Wht makes me try the way I do
Act a fool the way I do
I need you so bad baby
Won't you come back to me?
I'm soul searching
But nobody like my baby
I keep soul searching
It's driving me crazy
Why
Did I ever say goodbye
I must be outta my mind
I keep walking and looking for a sign
I gotta be crazy baby
To ever let you go
I keep looking for a sign
Oh why
Do I get all the bad breaks
How could I make
Such stupid mistakes
But the truth won't come to me
No matter how I wreck my brain
The rain keeps falling down
And I keep calling out your name
I'm soul searching
In this song by Solomon Burke, the singer is walking alone down the dark streets of the town, feeling the weight of his mistakes. He admits to having been foolish and dishonest, causing pain to his loved one by leaving her alone and crying. As he stands in the rain, tears falling down his face, he realizes that he needs his loved one and asks her to come back to him. He is soul-searching, trying to understand why he acted the way he did, why he said goodbye to someone like her, and why he repeatedly makes silly mistakes.
The song portrays a universal experience of making mistakes and feeling regret. The act of soul-searching is an attempt to understand oneself, one’s actions, and one’s motives. The singer seems to realize that he has hurt someone he loved and that he needs to acknowledge his wrongdoing in order to move forward. The song ends with a feeling of uncertainty, as he keeps looking for a sign without knowing whether his loved one will come back to him.
Line by Line Meaning
I was a fool
I made a mistake
I told a lie
I was dishonest
I did you wrong
I hurt you
I made you cry
I caused you to be unhappy
So now I'm walking all alone
I'm alone and regretful
Down the darkest street in town
I'm in a dark place
Standing in the rain
I'm sad and hopeless
While my tears keep falling down
I'm crying because of my regret
I'm soul searching
I'm introspective and trying to figure things out
How could I say goodbye to you?
I regret leaving you
I made you cry
I caused you to be unhappy
How could I leave somebody like you
I regret leaving someone as good as you
How could I do all the silly things that I do
I regret my irresponsible behavior
What makes me try the way I do
I don't know why I act the way I do
Act a fool the way I do
I behave foolishly
I need you so bad baby, won't you come back to me?
I want you to return to me
I'm soul searching, but nobody like my baby
I'm trying to discover myself, but nobody is like my baby
I keep soul searching, it's driving me crazy
I keep searching for answers and it's making me feel insane
Why did I ever say goodbye?
I regret my decision to leave
I must be outta my mind
I think I made a crazy decision
I keep walking and looking for a sign
I keep searching for guidance
I gotta be crazy baby, to ever let you go
I realize how crazy I was to let you go
I keep looking for a sign
I'm searching for a signal or an answer
Oh why, do I get all the bad breaks
I feel like I always get bad luck
How could I make such stupid mistakes
I can't believe I made such foolish choices
But the truth won't come to me no matter how I wreck my brain
I can't figure out the truth no matter how hard I try to think
The rain keeps falling down and I keep calling out your name
I can't stop thinking about you and feeling regretful
I'm soul searching
I'm introspective and trying to figure things out
Contributed by Jackson A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.