Houston began singing at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, as a child and became a background vocalist while in high school. She was one of the first black women to appear on the cover of Seventeen after becoming a teen model in 1981. With the guidance of Arista Records chairman Clive Davis, Houston signed to the label at age 19. Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), both peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and are among the best-selling albums of all time. Hit singles from the albums, including "How Will I Know", "Greatest Love of All" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", established her as a catalyst in the acceptance of black female artists on MTV. Her third studio album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), yielded two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, the title track and "All the Man That I Need". Houston's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV in 1991 received widespread media coverage.
Houston made her acting debut with the romantic thriller film The Bodyguard (1992), which despite its mixed reviews became the tenth highest-grossing film to that date. Its soundtrack won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and remains the bestselling soundtrack album of all time. It generated multiple hit singles, including "I Have Nothing", "I'm Every Woman" and "I Will Always Love You"; the latter won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, spent a then-record 14 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. Subsequently, she went on to star in the films Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's Wife (1996), and she recorded their respective soundtracks; the former scored her last Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)", while the latter, produced by Houston herself, became the bestselling gospel album of all time. As a film producer, she produced multicultural movies and series such as Cinderella (1997) and The Princess Diaries and The Cheetah Girls.
Houston's first studio album in eight years, My Love Is Your Love (1998), spawned several hit singles, including the title track, "Heartbreak Hotel", "It's Not Right but It's Okay" and the Academy Award-winning Mariah Carey duet "When You Believe". Following the success, she renewed her contract with Arista for $100 million in 2001, one of the biggest recording deals of all time. However, her personal problems began to overshadow her career. Her 2002 studio album, Just Whitney, received mixed reviews, while her drug use and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown received widespread media coverage. After divorcing Brown, Houston returned to the top of the Billboard 200 chart with her final studio album, I Look to You (2009). In February 2012, Houston accidentally drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, with heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards, which took place the day following her death, and was covered internationally. Her life and career were dramatized in the 2022 biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Her assets amounted to $250 million, earned over a 25-year career.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Houston
Discography
Whitney Houston (1985)
Whitney (1987)
I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990)
My Love Is Your Love (1998)
Just Whitney (2002)
One Wish: The Holiday Album (2003)
I Look to You (2009)
I'm Knockin'
Whitney Houston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hah yeah yeah, listen up
Who's to say it's easy
Sometimes life's not fair
I've heard some say
Just knock the door will open
And when it does
You'll find love standing there
Come open up the door
My heart's been right here waiting
For someone to adore
Well if it's true, I'm knockin'
Come open up the door
My heart's been right here waiting
For someone to adore
Say if it's true
In sight we have two choices
And it's told me to do or die
And every word he speaks makes me certain
Beyond the door's life's reason why
And if it's true I'm knockin'
Come open up the door
My heart's been right here waiting
For someone to adore
Well if it's true, I'm knockin'
Come open up the door
My heart's been right here waiting
For someone to adore
Knock and the door will open
The door will open
Look and you will find it
Look and you will find it
For certain it's true
For me and for you
When love comes and knocks
Here's the right thing to do
And if it's true I'm knockin'
Come open up the door
My heart's been right here waiting
For someone to adore
Well if it's true, I'm knockin'
Come open up the door
My heart's been right here waiting
For someone to adore
C'mon, knock on the door
It will open, I'm knockin'
Please open up the door yeah
My heart's been right here waiting
Someone to adore
Ask me what I want
Peace of mind
Ask me what I don't
Waste of (my) time
Tell me that it's true
And you will find me knockin'
In Whitney Houston's song "I'm Knockin'," she discusses the search for love and how sometimes life can be tough. The song begins with Houston saying "Who's to say it's easy, sometimes life's not fair." She talks about how some say that if you knock on the door, it will open and love will be standing there waiting for you. Houston's heart has been waiting for someone to adore, and she's knocking on the door in hopes of finding that special someone.
Houston then says that there are two choices in life, to do or die, and every word we speak makes us certain about the reason why we are here. She believes that if we knock on the door, the door will open, and we will find what we are looking for. The chorus repeats the sentiment that if love comes and knocks on the door, you should open it and let it in.
Overall, "I'm Knockin'" is a song about hope and the search for love. It encourages listeners to take a chance and knock on the door of love, even if it may seem difficult or uncertain at times. Houston's powerful vocals and the catchy chorus make this song a timeless classic.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh yeah, alright
Introduction to the song
Hah yeah yeah, listen up
Requesting listeners to pay attention
Who's to say it's easy
Life is not easy and there is no one who can claim that it is
Sometimes life's not fair
Life can be unfair sometimes
I've heard some say
The singer has heard some people say
Just knock the door will open
People say that if you knock, the door will open
And when it does
If the door opens
You'll find love standing there
The person who opens the door will find love on the other side
And if it's true I'm knockin'
The singer is knocking on the door to find love
Come open up the door
The singer is requesting the person to open the door
My heart's been right here waiting
The singer has been patiently waiting for love
For someone to adore
The singer is looking for someone to love and cherish
Say if it's true
Asking if it's true that love is behind the door
In sight we have two choices
In life, we have two choices available to us
And it's told me to do or die
The singer has been instructed to either do something or face the consequences.
And every word he speaks makes me certain
The singer is completely sure about what he is being told
Beyond the door's life's reason why
Behind the door lies the purpose of life
Knock and the door will open
If you knock on the door, it will open
The door will open
The door will open if you knock on it
Look and you will find it
If you look for it, you will find love
For certain it's true
It's true beyond a doubt
For me and for you
It's true for everyone, including the singer and the listener
When love comes and knocks
When love takes the initiative to come into our lives
Here's the right thing to do
Here's what you should do in response to love
C'mon, knock on the door
Asking the person to knock on the door
It will open, I'm knockin'
Assuring the listener that the door will open if they knock
Please open up the door yeah
Requesting the person to open the door
Ask me what I want
Asking the listener to ask a question
Peace of mind
The singer wants peace of mind
Ask me what I don't
Asking the listener to ask another question
Waste of (my) time
The singer doesn't want to waste time
Tell me that it's true
Asking the person to confirm if love is behind the door
And you will find me knockin'
If it's true, the singer will knock on the door in search of love
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RICKEY MINOR, RHETT LAWRENCE, BEBE WINANS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind