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.
You And Me
Solomon Burke Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I swear to keep it a secret
You and me, we can be alone
Walking through a world of our own
I don't care what they say but
I don't want to hear their opinions
You and me, we can be alone
Walking through a world of our own
Don't think, it's only silly
If I go, you're gonna miss me
You and me, we can be alone
Walking through a world of our own
Walking through a world of our own
The lyrics of Solomon Burke's "You And Me" are quite explicit about the desire between two individuals to keep their relationship a secret from others. The song opens with the lines "I won't tell anybody / I swear to keep it a secret," where the individual is expressing their willingness to keep their romantic relationship private and hidden from the rest of the world. The secretive nature of the relationship is further emphasized in the lines "I don't care what they say but/ I don't want to hear their opinions." The singer doesn't care about the opinions of others and is happy to keep their love a secret.
The song's central theme revolves around the idea of being able to escape the world and find companionship in each other. The chorus "You and me, we can be alone /Walking through a world of our own" is a romantic metaphor for the desire of two people to find their own private space where they can be together without the prying eyes of the world. The line "Don't think, it's only silly /If I go, you're gonna miss me" reinforces how important this relationship is to the individuals involved, and even though the rest of the world doesn't take it seriously, it holds great meaning for them.
Overall, "You and Me" is a romantic song that celebrates the beauty of being able to find someone to share a private world with, away from the opinions and judgments of others.
Line by Line Meaning
I won't tell anybody
I swear to keep it a secret
You and me, we can be alone
Walking through a world of our own
We can have our own private space in this world, away from everyone else
I don't care what they say but
I don't want to hear their opinions
I am not bothered by their words, but their thoughts do not interest me
Don't think, it's only silly
If I go, you're gonna miss me
Do not disregard my actions as mere foolishness, as you will feel my absence when I am not around
You and me, we can be alone
Walking through a world of our own
Walking through a world of our own
We can create our own little universe, free from the rest of the world, and walk through it together
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: PATRICK B. METHENY, CARVIN HAGGINS, ANDRE HARRIS, TAALIB JOHNSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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You and Me Lyrics
I won't tell anybody
I swear to keep it a secret
You and me, we can be alone
Walking through a world of our own
I don't care what they say but
I don't want to hear their opinions
You and me, we can be alone
Walking through a world of our own
Don't think, it's only silly
If I go, you're gonna miss me
You and me, we can be alone
Walking through a world of our own
Walking through a world of our own