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)
Lover for Life
Whitney Houston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
yeah oh baby
I hope you realize baby
Just what you mean to me (uh)
Hey you where I run for cover
Your love is shelter for me
And when I find myself needing
Some lifting up
That always is enough
How you make being in love
A true rare affair
So take me I'm your prisoner
[Chorus]
Will you sentence me
To be your lover for life
Your lover for life
Will you sentence me
I want to be your lover for life
Your lover for life
Your lover yeah yeah yeah
I just want to hear you say
You'll be my lover, lover for life
Capture, there's no getaway
You're my lover, my lover for life
Under your spell or
Under my own power
It really doesn't matter to me
No boy
See I fell in love
The first time I saw you
And have been falling in love
Ever since mm boy
You heard my testimony
You've seen my evidence
Hey, it's a crime of passion
In every sense
And justice would be served
If you stay here in my world
So take me I'm your prisoner
[Chorus]
I'm your prisoner
Take me
I'm your prisoner
And sentence me to be
Your lover for life
want to be
Take me baby
Your lover, your baby
In this song, Whitney Houston is expressing her profound love for someone and hoping they realize just how much they mean to her. She describes this person as her shelter, someone she runs to for cover, and how being in love with them is a rare and beautiful thing. She is so enamored by this person that she wants to be sentenced to be their lover for life and is effectively giving herself up as a prisoner to their love.
The lyrics paint a picture of someone so deeply in love that they are willing to surrender themselves completely to the object of their affection. The use of the metaphor of imprisonment emphasizes this idea of being willingly trapped by love. The imagery suggests that for Whitney, love is an all-consuming force that has completely taken over her.
There is a sense of vulnerability in the lyrics; Whitney Houston is essentially exposing herself and her emotions to this person, who has the power to either accept or reject her. She pleads with this person to let her be their lover for life, providing them with a lifetime of affection and loyalty. Ultimately, the lyrics convey a message of pure and selfless love that transcends all boundaries and limitations.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey yeah baby hoo boy
The singer expresses excitement and eagerness for their lover.
yeah oh baby
The singer affectionately addresses their lover and continues to express enthusiasm.
I hope you realize baby
The singer wants their lover to understand the significance of their relationship.
Just what you mean to me (uh)
The singer wants their lover to understand how much they value them.
Hey you where I run for cover
The singer sees their lover as a safe haven and refuge.
Your love is shelter for me
The singer feels protected and secure by their lover's love.
And when I find myself needing
The singer recognizes that they sometimes require emotional support.
Some lifting up
The singer needs their lover to uplift them when they're feeling down.
One night with you and
The singer only needs one night with their lover to feel better.
That always is enough
The singer finds their lover's love to be fulfilling.
How you make being in love
The singer reflects on how their lover has enhanced their experience of love.
A true rare affair
The singer characterizes their love as unique and exceptional.
So take me I'm your prisoner
The singer is willingly submitting to their lover's love and affection.
[Chorus]
The singer asks their lover to commit to them for life.
Will you sentence me
The singer wants to be bound to their lover for life.
To be your lover for life
The singer desires a lifelong commitment from their lover.
Your lover for life
The singer wants to be exclusively and perpetually loved by their partner.
Capture, there's no getaway
The singer has been captured by their lover's love and cannot escape their devotion.
You're my lover, my lover for life
The singer reiterates their lover's importance in their life.
Under your spell or
The singer reflects on how deeply they've fallen under their lover's influence.
Under my own power
The singer acknowledges their own agency in choosing to love their partner.
It really doesn't matter to me
The singer finds no difference in being captivated by their lover or choosing to love them independently.
See I fell in love
The singer explains how they began to love their partner.
The first time I saw you
The singer had an instant attraction to their lover.
And have been falling in love
The singer has continued to love their partner more and more over time.
Ever since mm boy
The singer has been in love with their partner for a long time.
You heard my testimony
The singer has shared their love for their partner with them.
You've seen my evidence
The singer has expressed their love for their partner through their actions and behavior.
Hey, it's a crime of passion
The singer characterizes their love for their partner as a passionate act.
In every sense
The singer emphasizes the totality of their passion for their partner.
And justice would be served
The singer believes that a lifelong commitment from their partner would be the right thing for them both.
If you stay here in my world
The singer invites their partner to stay with them and continue their relationship.
Take me baby
The singer reiterates their willingness to be their partner's forever lover.
Your lover, your baby
The singer wants to be their partner's exclusive and beloved companion.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: SAM DEES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@tanewsha4183
Hey yeah baby hoo boy
yeah oh baby
I hope you realize baby
Just what you mean to me (uh)
Hey you where I run for cover
Your love is shelter for me
And when I find myself needing
Some lifting up
One night with you and
That always is enough
How you make being in love
A true rare affair
So take me I'm your prisoner
Will you sentence me
To be your lover for life
Your lover for life
Will you sentence me
I want to be your lover for life
Your lover for life
Your lover yeah yeah yeah
I just want to hear you say
You'll be my lover, lover for life
Capture, there's no getaway
You're my lover, my lover for life
Under your spell or
Under my own power
It really doesn't matter to me
No boy
See I fell in love
The first time I saw you
And have been falling in love
Ever since mm boy
You heard my testimony
You've seen my evidence
Hey, it's a crime of passion
In every sense
And justice would be served
If you stay here in my world
So take me I'm your prisoner
Will you sentence me
To be your lover for life
Your lover for life
Will you sentence me
I want to be your lover for life
Your lover for life
Your lover yeah yeah yeah
I just want to hear you say
You'll be my lover, lover for life
Capture, there's no getaway
You're my lover, my lover for life
I'm your prisoner
Take me
I'm your prisoner
And sentence me to be
Your lover for life
want to be
Take me baby
Your lover, your baby
@markjolley3768
Why why this wasn't released as a single!! One of her finest in my opinion!!!!!
@tiffshea
Agree
@ericdavis6261
whitney had a list of other great songs never released. never understood that.
@lifeisthedash
Some songs work well album cut faves. This one was a quiet storm and evening radio favorite. They radio would always play this one back then. DAILY!
@denisbaranoff
I agree, undervalued
@beodinepedro360
Absolutely
@anthonykyei-barffour9203
I have absolutely fallen in love with this song and I can't explain why.
I mean, I am a thousand percent Whitney fan and I have almost all her songs.
I recent discovered this and something draws me to it like a magnet.
@loshneenaicker6452
I feel the same
@rocetta1984
It's the perfect song that's why.
@Noahhhh367
This song put you in a loving mood forever