A 2014 Blues Music Award winner, thereโs not a time in her life that singer/ bassist/ songwriter Nicole doesnโt remember loving to perform. As a child, she would sing for her family at holidays and took tap, jazz and ballet lessons for many years competing in numerous events. Nicole also took band in middle school, playing the tenor saxophone and enjoying it quite a bit. Unfortunately, she was forced to quit when the family moved to Kansas City and the new school did not offer band.
Nicole comes from generations of singers. Her grandmother, Evelyn Skinner, was a big band singer. Nicoleโs mother, Lisa Swedlund, taught her everything she knew while growing up and listening to all different kinds of music from the Everly Brothers to the B-52s.
It wasnโt until she was 12 that Nicole took to the stage for the first time singing, Koko Taylorโs โNever Trust a Manโ at a Blues for Schools program that her parents were playing at Englewood Elementary. From then on, she knew music would be her passion for the rest of her life.
Nicole began singing in coffeehouses and at open mic events at age 14, jamming with her parents whenever she could at clubs that would allow minors. At 16, she began singing lead in her fatherโs band, Little Eva and the Works โ until he became too sick to play. In March of 1999, she started her own band, Fresh Brew, with Kansas City music veterans Steve Gronemeyer, Steve Hicks, Chuck Payne and Terry Roney. They performed for four years and even represented Kansas City in the International Blues Challenge.
It was during this time that Nicole and her brothers Nick and Kris began talking about a family band that would eventually become Trampled Under Foot. Not only did she and Kris have to move to Philadelphia (where Nick was living), but she would have to learn the bass guitar to keep it a family band. It took a few years of lessons and saving money before that could become reality.
After several acclaimed self-released albums, Trampled Under Foot released Badlands on July 9, 2013 on Telarc, a division of Concord Music Group. Toughened by years of nonstop roadwork, Badlands revealed a musical sophistication well beyond the bandโs years.
Badlands debuted at #1 on Billboardโs Blues Chart and Trampled Under Foot performed live throughout the United States and Europe in support of the album.
As Trampled Under Foot wound down after 13 years, Nicole formed her own band and now makes her Concord Records solo debut with the September, 2015 release of a New Orleans-flavored, blues-soul based album Wolf Den, featuring GRAMMYยฎ-winning producer-guitaristAnders Osborne, Galacticโs co-founding drummer Stanton Moore and her regular keyboardist Mike โShinetop, Jr.โ Sedovic.
Take It All
Danielle Nicole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't leave anything
I can't take the memories and all the pain that it would bring
If you leave me, please don't get my heart
I gave you all the love I had to give
If you take it, please take it all
Take my heart, don't leave it behind
I can't have all your loving on my mind
Just take it all
Don't leave anything
I can't the loneliness and all the pain that it brings
I said, take it, take it all
I said take it, please, take it all
In Danielle Nicole's song "Take It All", the lyrics reflect the raw emotions of a person who is trying to save a relationship that is falling apart. The singer is begging their lover to take all their heart and love, even if they decide to leave, because they cannot bear the thought of being left with nothing but the memories and pain. The singer has given all they have to offer in the relationship and now they just want their lover to take it all, including their love and the responsibility of keeping their heart safe. The repetition of the phrase "take it all" shows the desperation and urgency in the singer's voice as they try to cling to what little hope they have left.
The lyrics show the fear and vulnerability of someone who has given their all in a relationship and is scared of the potential of losing it all. The singer is willing to risk the pain of being left behind as long as their lover takes everything that they have offered. The emotions in the lyrics are very relatable as most people can understand the fear of losing love and how it can be easier to give it all away rather than be left with nothing.
Line by Line Meaning
Just take it all
I want you to take everything that belongs to me
Don't leave anything
I don't want you to leave behind any of my belongings
I can't take the memories and all the pain that it would bring
The memories and pain associated with you leaving would be too much for me to bear
If you leave me, please don't get my heart
If you have decided to leave me, I urge you not to break my heart along the way
I gave you all the love I had to give
I have given you all of the love and devotion that I had within me
If you take it, please take it all
If you choose to take my love, I hope you take all of it with you
Take my heart, don't leave it behind
Please take my heart with you, don't leave it behind to be broken
I can't have all your loving on my mind
I cannot continue to carry the weight of all of your love and affection on my mind
I said, take it, please, take it all
I have already requested that you take all of my belongings with you, and I am repeating this request
I can't the loneliness and all the pain that it brings
The loneliness and pain that comes with being without you would be unbearable for me
I said, take it, take it all
I am once again asking you to take everything that belongs to me
I said take it, please, take it all
I am again pleading with you to take all of my belongings with you
Contributed by Blake Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@djowinzschuschen235
OMG.The best off the last 10 years.
@melissafocareto5667
i sang this to my dog, my soul mate and best of friend of 16 years, the day we laid on our living room floor and helped her cross over the Rainbow Bridge. It's been 3 years, 4 months and 2 days.
@nachoramirez1308
I'm pretty sure ur best friend Wags their tail every time u sing this song โค much love
@whatinthewhatnow5167
Omfg!!!! Her and Chris Stapleton ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ
@debbierennox931
What a singer โค๏ธ
@suzanneleonard5519
I absolutely and utterly love this song and Danielle's voice. So soulful ...lyrics are ace too x
@johnnylynn4745
beautiful song heard it on spotify 2 weeks ago and downloaded it and have listened to it at least over 100 times. i can't help but listen to it over and over again. thanks spotify for bringing this very beautiful song to me. well gotta go and listen again for the 101st time. thanks Danielle.keep up the good work;beautiful voice. i can tell your singing from the heart.sorry for the heartbreak but we all go thru it if we are lucky to find that special someone.i can tell you was and so was i.thanks again.
@jerryjames2636
A natural artist with an inner Soul belting out with LOVE
@Vanasse1
This is my new favorite artist... I am LOVING this!
@debbierennox931
Just heard her for the first time my new fav singer โค๏ธ