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
You Don't Know What Love Is
Cassandra Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Until you learn the meaning of the blues
Until you've lost a love you had to lose
You don't know what love is
You don't know how lips hurts
Until you've kissed and had to pay the cost
Until you've flipped your heart and you have lost
You don't know what love is
Do you know how a lost hearts fears
The thought of reminiscing
And how lips that taste the tears
Lose their taste for kissing
You don't know how hearts burn
For love that cannot live yet never dies
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes
You don't know what love is
Do you know how a lost hearts fears
The thought of reminiscing
And how lips that taste of tears
Ooh, they lose their taste for kissing
You don't know how hearts burn
For love that cannot live yet never dies
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes
You don't know what love is
You don't know what love is"
In Cassandra Wilson's rendition of the jazz standard "You Don't Know What Love Is," the lyrics capture the essence of what it means to truly experience heartbreak and love lost. The opening verse suggests that the listener cannot fully understand the depth of love until they have also experienced the pain and sorrow of the blues. The song paints a picture of a broken heart that has been shattered by a love that was lost. The lines "Do you know how a lost heart fears/ The thought of reminiscing" poignantly express the fear and sadness that comes with looking back on a love that can never be.
The second verse carries the same melancholic tone, describing how the pain of love is not just emotional but also physical - lips that have tasted tears "lose their taste for kissing." The song concludes with the repetition of the phrase "You don't know what love is" driving home the idea that unless you have mourned the loss of love, you cannot fully grasp its true nature or essence.
Overall, the song is a somber reflection on the inescapable ebb and flow of love, its ability to bring immense joy while also causing deep pain. Wilson's delivery perfectly captures the raw emotion in the lyrics, making it a powerful addition to any jazz or blues collection.
Line by Line Meaning
You don't know what love is
Love is a complicated and painful emotion that cannot be fully understood until it is experienced
Until you learn the meaning of the blues
The sadness and pain of the blues music is a reflection of the depth and complexity of love
Until you've lost a love you had to lose
The pain of losing a love that was important to you is a defining experience that reveals the true nature of love
You don't know how lips hurt
Physical pain is sometimes a consequence of loving someone deeply and losing them
Until you've kissed and had to pay the cost
The cost of loving someone may be heartbreak and pain, and that cost is sometimes revealed through physical hurt
Until you've flipped your heart and you have lost
Giving your heart to someone you love is a risk, and losing that person can be a life-changing event
Do you know how a lost heart fears
The fear of the pain of a lost love can be overwhelming and all-consuming
The thought of reminiscing
Even the memory of a lost love can be painful, and can bring up feelings of sadness and regret
And how lips that taste the tears
Crying over a lost love can change the way you feel physically and emotionally, making it hard to connect with someone in the same way again
Lose their taste for kissing
The physical act of kissing someone can become difficult after experiencing the pain and sadness of losing a love
You don't know how hearts burn
The intense emotions of love can cause physical pain, as if the heart is on fire
For love that cannot live yet never dies
Even when a love is lost, the memories and feelings associated with it never truly go away, and can continue to cause pain and longing
Until you've faced each dawn with sleepless eyes
The pain of a lost love can be so intense that it is impossible to sleep, and each day feels like a struggle to get through
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DON RAYE, GENE DE PAUL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@steveb.4809
Whatever Anyone thinks of this version...to me... This album was ..is Wilson's masterpiece. She'd done a few albums. Recordings before this (but I discovered her with this one) and Wow! I was mesmerized . I feel her style had fully developed here. See her live if you can. Always put on a great show the times I did. Hard to believe..next year it turns 30 !!
@jaknight47
DITTO
@CamilleTowe
This is my definitive recording - and I am trying to do it justice in a new show I'm doing called CAMILLE TOWE IN FAILURE IS A SUCCESS. All about embracing loss and failures and continuing to push through those losses and let downs and do it again. Fail, fail, fail until you're a success. Same can be said about the protagonist in this song - they are letting it all out. And I feel that on the other side of the grief in the devastating unreciprocated love detailed in the lyrics there is another side where this person does find their love. The one that knows what love is and is not afraid to give it.
@SuperStratification
totally agree. My favorite version of this song. Great guitar also. Feel fortunate to have seen them in SF about 20 years ago.
@Raina430
Masterpiece. 👏👏👏 Exquisite arrangement, guitar, violin, and of course Cassandra Wilson’s vocals!
@LoveIzKind
I couldn’t tell if it was a violin 🎻 or a viola. Either instrument compliments the masterpiece of her vocal gift.
💖👄🎤🎼🎵🎶
@flisscook8934
I have been in love with this version since i heard the first 8 bars..... nothing and no one surpasses this rendition for me. <3
@LoveIzKind
Same
@LoveIzKind
This is one of those timeless classics for me personally because it has a dangerously beautiful combination soul, acoustic guitar, and a string instrument. All of them mixed together sounds like a sure fire recipe for a memory to capture in one's spirit forever. Thank you for sharing this gem here. Take care and stay healthy. (Smile)
@0zoneTherapyW0rks
"For love that cannot live yet never dies"... one of the greatest lines ever written. I've never heard an interpretation of this song that so gets it. This woman has lived.