I have written about songs before on this terrible internet story forum, and another song by a female singer has struck me. The original was Heart’s Magic Man. It just made sense one night. This new revelatory song has been on my Itunes and Ipod and Imind for quite some time and even sampled in a popular rap song that I bumped in high school. (White kids in high school love rap…it makes them feel dangerous)
Lisa Stansfield’s 'All Around The World’ was released in 1989, and according to Wikipedia reached #3 on the Billboard charts. She is your typical white British female singer trying to recreate the sound of black American R&B singers. (See: Amy Winehouse) She has covered songs by Barry White and even recorded a version of All Around the World with the late velvet voiced legend.
This song was shaking out of my tattered car speakers and my passenger started to dance like he was escaping a hornet’s nest. It wasn’t the scotch in his soul it was the SOUL in his soul. Why is this song so jarring? Why do you need to play it at a high volume? Why does Lisa feel so bad? Because Lisa fucked up.
Most love sick songs are about a man making a big mistake. We cheated. We were afraid of commitment. We were even told to ‘Call Tyrone’ because our friends mooched of our girlfriend’s amenities. Ruben Studdard had to apologize for a whole year even. He was sorry for ALL of 2004, not just one stupid comment or mistake, he fucked up for 365 days!
Then Lisa chimes in with the baritone. She sounds like the guy who just talks in Boys II Men. She begins the landmark tune with these words, but she isn’t singing them.
Spoken:
I don't know where my baby is
but I'll find him, somewhere, somehow
I've got to let him know how much I care
I'll never give up looking for my baby
You can just feel the ‘oh shit’ in her smooth voice. She is sitting alone at home, manless and smoking cigarettes at furious pace. She really fucked up this time.
We had a quarrel and I let myself go
I said so many things, things he didn't know
And I was oh oh so bad
And I don't think he's comin' back, mm mm
He gave the reason, the reasons he should go
And he said things he hadn't said before
And he was oh oh so mad
And I don't think he's comin' back, comin' back
I did too much lyin', wasted too much time,
Now I'm here a'cryin', I, I, I
She can’t even muster the words at that last line. All she can say is, “I..I..I…I.” The ‘I’ is Lisa and her mistake. She plays it over again and again in her heard and can’t shake the man. Who I am guessing was a great guy if she is willing to go all Amelia Earhart trying to find him.
I've been around the world, lookin' for my baby
Been around the world, and I'm gonna
I'm gonna find him
So open hearted, he never did me wrong
I was the one, the weakest one of all
And now I'm oh oh so sad
And I don't think he's comin' back, comin' back
The vulnerability she displays through song and lyrics is the most appealing aspect of this late 80’s tune. Lisa did her man so wrong that she knows deep down in her soul he isn’t going to return. Not even for a late night booty call/text. Not even a random email or instant message. He is simply a phantom now. Whatever she said in that quarrel must have been crushing. So crushing that she knew as soon as the words left her mouth at the speed of sound he was going out the door and never coming back as the speed of light.
There is no way that dude is coming back…and you know and I know LISA is going to have to look for another beau.
