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)
So Emotional
Whitney Houston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I just do
Ooh-ooh, ooh
I've been hearing your heartbeat inside of me
I keep your photograph beside my bed
Livin' in a world of fantasies
I've been waiting for the phone to ring all night
Why you wanna make me feel so good
I got a love of my own, baby
I shouldn't get so hung up on you
I remember the way that we touch
I wish I didn't like it so much
Oh, I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby
Ain't it shocking what love can do
Ain't it shocking what love can do
Ain't it shocking what love can do
I gotta watch you walk in the room, baby
I gotta watch you walk out
I like the animal way you move
And when you talk
I just watch your mouth
Oh, I remember the way that we touch
I wish I didn't like it so much
Oh, I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby
Ain't it shocking what love can do
I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby
Ain't it shocking what love can do
Ain't it shocking what love can do
Ain't it shocking what love can do
See I remember the way that we touch
I wish I didn't like it so much
No no no, I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby
Ain't it shocking what love can do
I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby
Ain't it shocking what love can do
I get so emotional
I get so emotional, baby
Shocking what love can do
I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby
Ain't it shocking what love can do
I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby
Whitney Houston's "So Emotional" is a song about being irresistibly drawn to someone, even though you know it's not entirely right. The first stanza sets the scene: the singer is deeply infatuated with someone else, but doesn't really know why. She's been hearing his heartbeat inside of her and keeps his photograph by her bed. She's living in a world of fantasies; she can't stop thinking about him. The second stanza reveals that she's been waiting for him to call her all night, even though she knows she shouldn't get so hung up on him. However, whenever she thinks about the way they touch, she wishes she didn't like it so much.
The chorus is a repetition of her feeling of being overwhelmed by her emotions, every time she thinks of this person. She can't help but be shocked at what love can do to her. The bridge reveals that even watching him walk into or out of the room paradoxically brings her joy and pain. She likes the way he moves like an animal, and when he talks, she just watches his mouth. Despite herself, she can't help being haunted by their physical connection, and she can't help wanting more. In the end, the singer is left with the realization that she is hopelessly caught up in her feelings, no matter how irrational or even self-destructive they may be.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't know why I like it
I just do
Ooh-ooh, ooh
I can't explain why I'm attracted to you, I just am and it's a feeling I can't ignore.
I've been hearing your heartbeat inside of me
I keep your photograph beside my bed
Livin' in a world of fantasies
I can't get you out of my head
I feel a strong emotional connection to you, which makes me want to hold things that remind me of you close. You are on my mind all the time, and I find myself daydreaming about you.
I've been waiting for the phone to ring all night
Why you wanna make me feel so good
I got a love of my own, baby
I shouldn't get so hung up on you
I'm waiting for you to call me and I feel like I'm falling for you, even though I'm in love with someone else. I know I shouldn't be so obsessed with you, but I can't seem to help it.
I remember the way that we touch
I wish I didn't like it so much
I recall how it felt when we were physically close, but I regret being so drawn to you. I don't want to feel this way because I know it's not right.
Oh, I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby
Ain't it shocking what love can do
Thinking of you makes me feel overwhelmed with emotions, and it's shocking to me how powerful love can be. It's like a rollercoaster ride and it's difficult to control these feelings.
I gotta watch you walk in the room, baby
I gotta watch you walk out
I like the animal way you move
And when you talk
I just watch your mouth
I can't help but watch you whenever you're near me. I find your movements and the way you speak captivating and fascinating.
See I remember the way that we touch
I wish I didn't like it so much
No no no, I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I can't stop thinking about how it felt to be close to you, despite wishing I didn't feel so strongly for you. Thoughts of you overwhelm me time and time again.
I get so emotional, baby
Ain't it shocking what love can do
I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
The power of my love for you takes me by surprise and leaves me feeling emotional, as our connection triggers deep-seated emotions inside of me.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind