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
Skylark
Cassandra Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Have you anything to say to me?
Can you tell me where my love might be?
Is there a meadow in the mist
Where someone's waiting to be kissed?
Skylark
Have you seen a valley green with spring
Wondering over the shadows and the rain
To a blossom-covered lane?
And in your lonely flight
Haven't you heard the music in the night?
This wonderful music
Faint as a will of the wisp
Crazy as a loon
Sad as a gypsy serenading the moon
Skylark
I don't know if you can find these things
But my heart is riding on your wings
And if you see them anywhere
Won't you lead me there?
The song "Skylark" by Cassandra Wilson is a heart-warming ballad that expresses a longing for love and a desire to find it through the help of nature. The lyrics depict the singer talking to a bird, a skylark, asking it if it has any knowledge of where her love could be. She describes her imagination of a meadow in the mist where her love could be waiting for her to kiss, or a valley green with spring where she can wander over the shadows and the rain, to a blossom-covered lane.
The song portrays the idea that nature, especially birds, might hold the key or a clue to finding love. The lyrics also capture the tenderness of the singer's heart and her willingness to take a chance and follow the skylark's guidance towards finding love. She urges the bird, as her messenger, to help her find these things and to lead her to her love. The song’s melody is hauntingly beautiful, and the singer’s voice captures the sincerity and fragility of the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Skylark
The singer is addressing a bird known as a skylark.
Have you anything to say to me?
The singer is asking the bird if it has a message for them.
Can you tell me where my love might be?
The singer is asking the bird if it knows the location of their beloved.
Is there a meadow in the mist Where someone's waiting to be kissed?
The artist is asking if there is a romantic setting where someone is waiting for love.
Have you seen a valley green with spring Where my heart can go wondering Wondering over the shadows and the rain To a blossom-covered lane?
The artist is asking the bird if it knows of a picturesque place that embodies beauty and new beginnings, where they can reflect, dream, and escape the gloomy environment around them.
And in your lonely flight Haven't you heard the music in the night?
The singer is asking the bird if, in its solitary journeys, it has ever encountered melodies and harmonies in the nocturnal sounds of nature.
This wonderful music Faint as a will of the wisp Crazy as a loon Sad as a gypsy serenading the moon
The singer is describing the feelings and emotions that the music conjures. The music is whimsical, intense, and emotional.
Skylark I don't know if you can find these things
The artist is acknowledging the uncertainty of the bird's ability to provide the answers they seek.
But my heart is riding on your wings
The artist is entrusting their hopes and aspirations to the bird, putting their faith in it to guide them.
And if you see them anywhere Won't you lead me there?
The artist is requesting the bird to lead them to the places that hold the answers to their heart's desires.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HOAGY CARMICHAEL, JOHNNY MERCER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind