Wilson's repertoire includes both jazz and blues standards and renditions of pop and rock songs. Her contralto voice has been described as bluesy and sultry, and the style of her music ranges from swing to funk to bossa nova. Many of the songs she covers are by artists who usually record in other genres.
Wilson counts the late Miles Davis as one of her greatest influences. In 1989 she performed as the opening act for Davis at the JVC Jazz Festival in Chicago. In 1999 she produced Traveling Miles as a tribute to Davis. The album developed from a series of jazz concerts that she performed at Lincoln Center in November 1997 in Davis's honor and includes three selections based on Davis's own compositions, in which Wilson adapted the original themes.
A Brief Discography
Point of View (1986, JMT)
Days Aweigh (1987, JMT)
Blue Skies (1988, JMT)
Jumpworld (1989, JMT)
She Who Weeps (1990, JMT)
Live (1991, JMT)
After the Beginning Again (1992, JMT)
Dance to the Drums Again (1992, DIW/Columbia)
Blue Light 'til Dawn (1993, Blue Note)
New Moon Daughter (1995, Blue Note)
Rendezvous (with Jacky Terrasson) (1998, Blue Note)
Traveling Miles (1999, Blue Note)
Belly of the Sun (2002, Blue Note)
Glamoured (2003, Blue Note)
Thunderbird (2006, Blue Note)
Loverly (2008, Blue Note)
Silver Pony (2010, Blue Note)
Another Country (2012, eOne)
Official website: www.cassandrawilson.com
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Cassandra Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I could cry
Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves began to die
That means he's lost the will to live
The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry
I'm so lonesome I could cry
Cassandra Wilson's rendition of Hank Williams' classic tune "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a poignant and evocative interpretation of a timeless country ballad. The song's haunting melody and Wilson's soulful vocals combine to create an atmosphere of profound sorrow and longing. The opening stanza introduces the theme of loneliness, with the singer describing the mournful cry of a winter bird that sounds too sad to fly. The bird's state of melancholy echoes the singer's own sense of isolation and pain, and the imagery of the midnight train's plaintive whine adds to the sense of desolation.
The second stanza uses another metaphor to explore the theme of despair, with the singer asking if we have ever seen a robin weep when leaves start to fall. This image suggests that even nature is moved by the sense of loss and grief that the singer is feeling. The line "that means he's lost the will to live" is especially poignant, as it suggests that the singer herself may be on the verge of giving up. The use of the first-person pronoun "I" throughout the song reinforces the sense of personal anguish and vulnerability.
The final stanza brings together several of the song's key motifs to create a haunting and ethereal image. The silence of a falling star, the purple sky, and the singer's own sense of dislocation and longing are all woven together as the song ends with the refrain "I'm so lonesome I could cry." Wilson's interpretation of the song is a masterful blend of soul, blues, and country-folk, and her voice is perfectly suited to capturing the raw emotions expressed in Williams' lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Hear that lonesome winter bird
Listen to that bird singing alone in the winter, its melancholy sound tells me it's too sad to take flight.
He sounds too blue to fly
The bird's melancholy sound tells me it's too sad to fly, it's as if it has lost all hope.
The midnight train is whining low
I can hear the mournful sound of the midnight train in the distance, as if it too is feeling the sadness of the wintry night.
I'm so lonesome I could cry
My own sense of loneliness is so overpowering that it feels like it could make me cry.
Did you ever see a robin weep
Have you ever observed a robin crying, lamenting the loss of life as the leaves fall?
When leaves began to die
When autumn comes, and the leaves start to fall, the robin loses the will to live, as if it's lost all of the joy in its own existence.
That means he's lost the will to live
The robin has become so sorrowful that it feels like it is no longer interested in going on living.
The silence of a falling star
As a shooting star streaks across the sky and quietly disappears, I am reminded of the loneliness and isolation that I feel in the darkness of this vast universe.
Lights up a purple sky
As the star lights up the sky with a purplish glow, I am captivated by its beauty, yet it only intensifies my feeling of solitude.
And as I wonder where you are
I can't help but think about where you are, and how I wish you were here with me during this lonely time.
I'm so lonesome I could cry
My sense of loneliness is so profound that it feels like it could bring me to tears.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Hank Williams, Sr.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind