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
Whirlwind Soldier
Cassandra Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We love in different colors
Our love is madness
How can it be?
This is a mystery to me
You broke into my world
Shattering all the lies that I'd heard all my life
I am a summer breeze
Can I ride with you?
I know that the road is long
Can I ride with you?
I know I will be strong
Until the journey's end
We are forever friends, you and I
You were a whirlwind bending the trees, bending the trees
I'll be a summer breeze
The song "Whirlwind Soldier" by Cassandra Wilson is a ballad that speaks to the power and the mystery of love. The lyrics reveal a deep sense of wonder and awe that arises when two people with vastly different experiences and perspectives come together in a relationship. The singer describes how she and her lover speak in "separate words" and love in "different colors," indicating that their backgrounds and personalities are vastly different from one another. Despite these differences, they are drawn together by a love that is so intense and all-consuming that it feels like madness. The singer is amazed by this feeling and regards it as a great mystery.
The second half of the song speaks to the transformative power of love. The Whirlwind is the singer's lover, who has burst into her world and shattered all the lies she had come to believe about herself and about love. The Whirlwind is so powerful that he bends trees, while the singer is compared to a summer breeze, which is gentle and pleasant but not particularly forceful. Despite this difference in power, the singer wants to ride with the Whirlwind on his journey, even though she knows it will be long and difficult. She believes that their friendship will last forever, and it will bring out the best in each other. The song is a beautiful tribute to the mysteries and the wonders of love, and it speaks to the transformative power of a close and strong relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
We speak in separate words
We communicate using different expressions and ideas
We love in different colors
We experience love in diverse ways and forms
Our love is madness
Our love is intense and unpredictable
How can it be?
I am amazed and confused by our relationship
This is a mystery to me
I cannot fully understand or explain our connection
You broke into my world
You disrupted my established way of living
Shattering all the lies that I'd heard all my life
You exposed and destroyed the misconceptions I had been taught
You were a whirlwind bending the trees, bending the trees
You were a powerful and transformative force in my life
I am a summer breeze
I am gentle and light compared to your strong presence
Can I ride with you?
Can I join you on your journey through life?
I know that the road is long
I acknowledge that the path ahead is challenging and uncertain
I know I will be strong
I am confident in my ability to endure and overcome difficulties
Until the journey's end
For as long as we are together on this journey
We are forever friends, you and I
Our bond will last a lifetime, no matter what happens
I'll be a summer breeze
I may not be as powerful as you, but I have my own unique qualities to offer
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CASSANDRA WILSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Keith Dubois
One of my favorite songs by her. To bad she didn't explore this style some more. Absolutely gorgeous.
Frank Jones
Cassandra Wilson's vocals the songs background Jazz accompliment is for me, is the essence of sublime.
Tonya Houston
Wonderful, exuberant! !
legend goat
Love this song...
Keith Dubois
Sublime
Isawthis Wow
This has to be her masterpiece album. Was all over WBGO NYC back then. I never came across anything else as original and ambitious as Jumpworld. The rest are too cover. And does not express the AMAZING potential and power CW can supply.
Maybe she can sing some of my material one day. I wonder if there was some personal change in her life after Jumpworld. . Something changed. I think She should get back to her songwriting roots which are original and otherworldly
Tierney Malone
I totally agree! I was somewhat disappointed with here blues exploration. Her early albums before this were also serious before Blue Skies
Rod Williams
Cassandra Wilson- composer and vocals
Rod Williams, piano
Lonnie Plaxico, bass
Mark Johnson, drums
Isawthis Wow
My absolute Fave!! Freshman year College back when portable C D players were hot!!
Zippy
Rod Williams , piano Lonnie Plaxico, bass Mark Johnson, drums