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)
Somebody Bigger Than You and I
Whitney Houston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bigger than the saddest frown
Bigger than the brightest smile
And longer than the longest mile
Somebody bigger than the biggest fight
And darker than the darkest night
Bigger than the biggest gun
Who made the mountains
Who made the trees
Who made the rivers that flow out to the seas
And who hung the moon in the starry, starry, starry sky
[Chorus:]
Somebody bigger
I know I know he's bigger than you and I
My God is bigger
Somebody bigger
He's bigger, he's bigger than you
He's bigger than you
My God is, my God is oh
Now who made the flowers bloom in the spring, yeah
And who writes the songs for the robins to sing uh
And who sends the rain when the Earth is dry
I know, I know, I know
Somebody bigger yeah
Than you and I
Somebody bigger than you and I
Bigger than you and I
He lights the way when road is alone
Keeps me company with love to guide you
He walks beside you just like he walks with me
When I am weary, and filled with despair
Who gives me courage to go on and on and on from there
And who gives me faith
I will never, never, never, never, never doubt
Somebody bigger yeah
Somebody bigger than me and you
Bigger than you and I
Somebody bigger
My Lord is bigger than you
Bigger than you and I
He lights the way when the road is long
Keeps you company with love to guide you
He walks beside you just like he walks with me
Somebody bigger than you and I
Bigger than the open sky
Bigger than the tallest tree
Bigger than the deepest sea
Somebody deeper than the desert sands
Bigger than the tallest man
And phatter than the phattest phat
Bigger than the Shaq attack
[Chorus]
The lyrics of "Somebody Bigger Than You And I" by Whitney Houston Featuring Bobby Brown Faith Evans Johnny Gill Monica And Ralph Tresvant celebrate and acknowledge the greatness of God. The first verse establishes that God is bigger than everything in the world, including the Earth, emotions like sadness and happiness, and physical distances. The second verse talks about God being more massive than any conflict, darkness, or weapon, and he is the only source of light in the world. The chorus repeats the lines "Somebody bigger, I know, I know he's bigger than you and I" emphasizing the magnitude of God. The third verse talks about God being responsible for everything in nature, from creating mountains, trees, and rivers to flowers, songs of birds, and bringing rain in droughts. The final verse describes how God supports and guides people in their lives. He provides companionship, courage, faith, and love, and he is more significant than any human or any barrier.
Line by Line Meaning
Somebody bigger than the Earth is round
There is a being greater than the magnitude of the size of the planet Earth.
Bigger than the saddest frown
The being's importance supersedes the emotional pain of a person's sadness.
Bigger than the brightest smile
The being's significance is more important than the joy of a person's happiest moment.
And longer than the longest mile
The being's size is immeasurable by distance, even one as long as a mile.
Somebody bigger than the biggest fight
The being is more powerful than any conflict.
And darker than the darkest night
The being's darkness surpasses that which occurs in natural cycles or physical experiences.
Bigger than the biggest gun
The being is more substantial than weapons or any man-made weapons.
Cause he's the only shining sun see'mon
The being is the sole light in a dark universe.
Who made the mountains
The being is responsible for creating mountains.
Who made the trees
The being is responsible for creating trees.
Who made the rivers that flow out to the seas
The being is responsible for creating the source that generates the flow of rivers that empty into the ocean.
And who hung the moon in the starry, starry, starry sky
The being is responsible for positioning the moon in the vast expanse of space beyond Earth.
Somebody bigger
There is a being of great importance
I know I know he's bigger than you and I
The being is greater than both the singer and their audience.
My God is bigger
The being being sung about is the God of the singer.
He's bigger, he's bigger than you
The being sung about is greater than the listener.
He's bigger than you
The being is more significant than the listener.
My God is, my God is oh
The being of great significance is indeed the God of the singer.
Now who made the flowers bloom in the spring, yeah
The same God who created the mountains, trees, and rivers is responsible for planting and growing the flowers in the spring season.
And who writes the songs for the robins to sing uh
The same God is responsible for creating all forms of life and providing the purpose and abilities for beings to act.
And who sends the rain when the Earth is dry
The same God is responsible for ensuring the provision of resources when they are scarce.
I know, I know, I know somebody bigger yeah
The singer is confident that there is a being of great importance and significance.
Than you and I
This being is greater than both the singer and their audience.
Somebody bigger than you and I
There is a being greater than the magnitude of both the singer and their community.
He lights the way when road is alone
The being provides enlightenment when a person feels isolated and lost.
Keeps me company with love to guide you
The same being provides a loving presence that offers guidance and support.
He walks beside you just like he walks with me
The being is present in the lives of both the singer and their listeners.
When I am weary, and filled with despair
The being provides comfort during times of difficulty and hopelessness
Who gives me courage to go on and on and on from there
The being grants strength and bravery to persevere through challenging situations.
And who gives me faith
The being instills trust and belief.
I will never, never, never, never, never doubt
The singer will always have unwavering faith in the being.
Somebody bigger yeah
There is a being of great importance.
Somebody bigger than me and you
The being in question is bigger than both the singer and their audience.
Bigger than you and I
The being is of greater magnitude than both the singer and their community.
Bigger than the open sky
The being is greater than the vastness of the sky.
Bigger than the tallest tree
The being is greater than the magnificence of the tallest tree.
Bigger than the deepest sea
The being's magnitude exceeds the depth of the ocean.
Somebody deeper than the desert sands
The being is deeper than the minds of human beings.
Bigger than the tallest man
The being is of greater magnitude than even the tallest man.
And phatter than the phattest phat
The being is of greater magnitude than even the thickest, heaviest of things.
Bigger than the Shaq attack
The being is of greater magnitude than basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal.
My Lord is bigger than you
The being being sung about is the Lord of the singer.
Bigger than you and I
The being is of greater significance than both the singer and their audience.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Sonny Burke, Hy Heath, Johnny Lange
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind