Stephanie Mills first came to fame as "the little girl with the big voice" as the star of the hit Broadway play, The Wiz, an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's classic book, The Wizard Of Oz. She had many R&B hits such as "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love," "I Feel Good All Over," "(You're Puttin') A Rush On Me," "Something in the Way (You Make Me Feel)" and "Home" along with one certified million selling single, "Never Knew Love Like This Before." In addition, she also had five gold albums: Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin', Sweet Sensation, Stephanie, If I Were Your Woman and Home.
Mills honed her rich vocals singing gospel music at Brooklyn's Cornerstone Baptist Church as a small child. At age 9, she began appearing in the Broadway play Maggie Flynn. She was presented with first prize after winning "The Amateur Hour" talent contest six weeks straight at New York's famed Apollo Theater when she was nine. That success led to her being chosen as the opening act for The Isley Brothers, eventually becoming good friends with lead singer Ronald Isley. Many years later, Isley would manage and later marry singer/songwriter Angela Winbush, who co-wrote one of her number one R&B hits. Mills' début album, Movin' In The Right Direction was recorded for ABC Records in 1974. A year later, she won the role of Dorothy in The Wiz. Her rendition of the beautiful ballad "Home" was a showstopper, mesmerizing audiences nightly for a number of years. The original cast recording of The Wiz was produced by Jerry Wexler and issued by Atlantic Records in spring 1975. Curiously, when The Wiz was made into a full length feature film by Motown Records' film division and Universal Pictures, Diana Ross played the role of Dorothy instead of Mills. The film ended up being a major flop.
Singer Jermaine Jackson referred Mills to Motown head Berry Gordy, who signed her to the label. Her Motown debut was For the First Time, written and produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, being issued in October 1976. For the First Time is a sweet affair with Mills convincingly covering Bacharach/David standards, most of which were originally recorded by Dionne Warwick. In 1978, she signed to 20th Century Records and was teamed with the hit production duo of James Mtume — later leader of Mtume, who had a gold single with "Juicy Fruit" — and Reggie Lucas. Her first LP for the label, Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin', went gold, going to number 12 R&B and number 22 pop on Billboard's charts in summer 1979 and spawned the singles, "Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin'" and "You Can Get Over." Her next LP, Sweet Sensation (#3 R&B, #16 Pop, spring 1980) yielded "Sweet Sensation," "Never Knew Love Like This Before," and the radio-aired LP track, "Try My Love." Around this time, she briefly married former Soul Train dancer Jeffrey Daniels of the group Shalamar. Next came the LP titled Stephanie in spring 1981, which also was a huge hit, peaking at #3 R&B and #30 Pop. The album included notable songs such as "Two Hearts" — a midtempo duet with Teddy Pendergrass — "Night Games" and the radio-aired LP cut, "Don't Stop Doin' What Cha Do."
In 1981, Mills switched to Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records. Her LPs for the label included Tantalizingly Hot, Merciless and I've Got The Cure. During 1983, she had her own NBC-TV daytime talk show and reprised on role in a Broadway revival of The Wiz. She also signed with MCA Records, where she released her Stephanie Mills album.
The first single from the Stephanie Mills album was "Stand Back," in late 1985, which also included the passionate ballad "I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love." "I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love" was initially written by Rene Moore and Angela Winbush — best known as the hit singing duo Rene & Angela — as a gospel song and originally was recorded by Alton McClain and Destiny on their self-titled 1978 Polydor LP. The original version is available on Polygram's Power of Love: Best of Soul Essentials Ballads. Because of its massive radio play as an album track, Mills' version of "I Have Learned To Respect The Power Of Love, — produced by Philly Soul keyboardist Ron Kersey — was reissued as an A side holding the #1 R&B spot for two weeks in spring 1986. Its follow-up, "Rising Desire" reached #11 R&B in summer 1986.
Her next LP's title cut was the Clay McMurray/Gloria Jones/Pam Sawyer song, "If I Were Your Woman," originally a 1971 #1 R&B, #9 Pop smash for Gladys Knight and the Pips. Philly-based producer Nick Martinelli gave Mills her second #1 R&B hit with "I Feel Good All Over," written by husband and wife songwriting duo, Gabriel Hardeman and Annette Hardeman. The song held the #1 R&B spot for three weeks in spring 1987. Originally submitted to Mills' fellow MCA labelmate Patti Labelle by the Hardemans, the track was included on Mills' LP If I Were Your Woman, issued June 1987 and peaked at #30 Pop in summer 1987. Paul Laurence produced and co-wrote with Timmy Allen the chugging '"(You're Putting) a Rush On Me" giving the singer her third #1 R&B hit in fall 1987. The single made it to #85 Pop and was followed by "Secret Lady," which landed at #7 R&B in late 1987. Her covers of "If I Were Your Woman" and "Where Is The Love" followed. All were included on her If I Were Your Woman album, which peaked at #1 R&B, #30 Pop in summer 1987. Following these hits, Mills contacted Ronald Isley about working with singer/songwriter/producer Angela Winbush who had hits as half of Rene and Angela and was forging a hit-filled career as a recording artist and producer for the group Body among others. The collaboration between Mills and Winbush resulted in another #1 R&B single, "Something In The Way You Make Me Feel," in summer 1989.
Having starred for five years in the smash Broadway show The Wiz and recorded the song "Home for the play's 1975 original cast soundtrack album, she wanted to record the song again as a posthumous tribute to the play's producer, Ken Harper, and the song's composer, Charlie Smalls. On her new version of "Home," Take 6 sung the background vocals. The song went to #1 R&B in late 1989 and was followed by "Comfort Of A Man" and "Real Love." The Home LP ended up peaking at #5 R&B, #82 Pop in summer 1989. She then recorded a charting single with J.T. Taylor titled "Heart To Heart" in late 1991. Her final MCA album, Something Real included the hit "All Day All Night" and "Never Do Wrong." Following this album, she recorded a gospel album, Personal Inspirations, for Interscope Records and recorded several tracks at Philadelphia International Records with Bunny Sigler among others in the late '90s.
After a hiatus from recording Mills returned with sixteenth album, "Born For This" in 2004. It includes the singles "Can't Let Him Go" and "Healing Time." Mills is currently working on her seventeenth album titled "Breathless." The lead single chosen is a song called, "Yesterday."
Rising Desire
Stephanie Mills Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Rising desire
Fire of the heart
Rising desire
Felt it from the start
Rising desire
Rising desire
Tears my life apart
Why do I feel this way
About you in my life
You weren't here for me
When I asked to have you near
Now things have turned around
You want to be with me
I'm tried to fight your love
But it so agrees with me
Rising desire
Fire of the heart
Rising desire
Felt it from the start
How can it be your eyes
So deep inside of me
Strange magnetism
In your personality
It's getting scary how
Your presence shakes my life
I lose all self-control
When I'm with you through the night
To hold you in my arms
Is more than I can bear
But looking in your eyes
I don't know if you care
Rising desire
Fire of the heart (Fire of the heart)
Rising desire
Felt it from the start (I felt it)
Rising desire
Fire of the heart (Fire of the heart)
Rising desire (Ooh... ooh...)
Tears my life apart
Yet still you haunt my dreams
As strange as it may seem
Love and desire
Burning deep within me
And you are the answer to my needs
But it seems like there's always something between us
And it tears me apart
More and more as the days go by
Ho... baby
Rising desire
(I'm rising, I'm rising)
Rising desire
Felt it from the start (Oh... baby)
Rising desire
(I can't stand it, don't want it)
Rising desire
Tears my life apart (Oh... oh... oh... baby)
Rising desire
(I can't stand it and I can't come back)
Rising desire
(Oh... oh... oh...)
Rising, mmm
Oh, I can't fight it
Ooh... ooh... ooh...
I don't wanna fight it
Oh... oh...
Rising, oh, baby
It's in your eyes
It's in your arms, ooh
It's in your walk, baby
Ey... hey... hoo...
It's in your eyes, yeah
It's in your walk, baby
It's in your arms, yeah
Ho... baby
Rising desire
Fire of the heart (Oh, oh, oh, baby)
Rising desire (Oh...)
Felt it from the start (It's in your eyes)
Rising desire
(It's in your walk, baby, it's in your arms)
Rising desire (Oh... oh... ho...)
Tears my life apart (It's in your walk, baby)
Rising desire
(It's in your arms, ooh, ooh)
Rising desire (Oh... oh... oh... oh... oh... oh... oh... oh...)
Felt it from the start (Baby)
Rising desire
The lyrics of Stephanie Mills's song "Rising Desire" depict a powerful emotional struggle between two people. The singer describes a passionate desire for someone who was not there for her when she needed them, and yet now wants to be with her. She expresses confusion, fear, and a loss of self-control when in the presence of this person. Despite the intensity of these feelings and her longing to be with this person, there is always something between them that tears her apart.
Through her lyrics, it becomes clear that the singer is wrestling with a deep desire for affection and love, but is struggling to trust the intentions of the person who is offering it to her. She recognizes the magnetic pull she feels towards this person, but is still unsure if they truly care for her. The lyrics convey her emotional state in a visceral way, with soulful vocals, and music that captures the essence of longing and passion.
Line by Line Meaning
Rising desire
A strong feeling of attraction and passion
Fire of the heart
The intense passion that is felt deep within the heart
Felt it from the start
The attraction has been felt from the beginning
Tears my life apart
The feelings of desire are causing emotional turmoil
Why do I feel this way
Wondering why the feelings of desire and passion are so strong
About you in my life
Directly related to the presence of the person in their life
You weren't here for me
The person was not present when needed
When I asked to have you near
The person requested the presence of the other
Now things have turned around
The situation has changed
You want to be with me
The other person now desires to be with them
I'm trying to fight your love
Attempting to resist the other person's love
But it so agrees with me
Despite attempting to resist, the love feels right
How can it be your eyes
The other person's eyes have a strong effect on them
So deep inside of me
The feelings go beyond surface level
Strange magnetism
The other person is strongly attractive in a mysterious way
In your personality
The attraction is tied to the other person's character
It's getting scary how
The situation is becoming overwhelming and potentially frightening
Your presence shakes my life
The other person's presence has a significant impact on their life
I lose all self-control
The feelings of passion are overpowering
When I'm with you through the night
The intensity of the feelings is heightened at night
To hold you in my arms
Wanting physical contact with the other person
Is more than I can bear
The desire is overwhelming
But looking in your eyes
The other person's eyes are captivating
I don't know if you care
Uncertainty about the other person's feelings
Yet still you haunt my dreams
The other person is on their mind even when dreaming
As strange as it may seem
The attraction may seem unlikely or unexpected
Love and desire
Strong feelings of both love and passion
Burning deep within me
The feelings are intense and consuming
And you are the answer to my needs
The other person fulfills their desires
But it seems like there's always something between us
Obstacles or barriers that prevent a relationship
And it tears me apart
The situation causes emotional pain
More and more as the days go by
The emotional pain increases with time
Oh, I can't fight it
Unable to resist the feelings of desire and passion
I don't wanna fight it
Choosing to embrace the feelings instead of resisting them
It's in your eyes
The depth of emotion is visible in the other person's eyes
It's in your arms
Physical contact with the other person intensifies the feelings
It's in your walk
The way the other person carries themselves is attractive
Contributed by Addison F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@markstraley2655
One of my favorites by Stephanie Mills!!!
@georgeking4730
MY GIRL MS. STEPHANIE MILLS...ALWAYS HITTING THOSE NOTES....LOVE YA
@danielburns987
this song went to #11 on the R&B charts in 1986!!!
@phelotone_solo
Very nice!
@ronaldelston6039
LOVE THE WHOLE ALBUM AND THIS CLASSIC HERE 2020 AND FOREVER🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
@KelliElaine
My, My, My.
I'm just going to sit back and N'Joy this ear candy. Taking it all in.
@d.j.foxxxyd.j.foxxxy1063
Kelli Elaine. I heard that.
@empressqueentywana1
NOTHING BUT GLORY❤✨❤✨❤IN HER VOICE! GLORY HALLELUJAH 🙌. AMEN 🙏
@carlrobinson6232
That voice was always rich & powerful,,, in other words Stephanie,,, always sang her songs & I still love her for her unique vocal abilities!!!
@victorantonio1
Thanx Carl!