"I started playing piano at five or six," Freddy remembers. "Music was all around me." In the Chicago home of his youth, visitors included Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton. He also credits Billy Eckstine as a major influence. " He was a fantastic entertainer," Freddy recalls. " I learned so much from just watching and being around him." After a possible career with the NFL was shelved due to a hand injury, he began playing and singing in Chicago clubs as a teenager. Although he was ready to hit the road at 18, his mother intervened and he continued his musical education at the Roosevelt Institute in Chicago.
Freddy moved to New York in 1951, where he studied at the Juilliard School of Music and found himself profoundly influenced by John Lewis, Oscar Peterson and Teddy Wilson. He got a Master's degree at the New England Conservatory of Music and then spent several months on the road as a member of an Earl Bostic band that also included Johnny Coles and Benny Golson.
It was back in New York that Freddy successfully laid the groundwork for a career that continues to flourish to this day. He developed a vast repertoire of songs in Manhattan bistros and concurrently began to supplement his live performances with television and radio commercial jingle work.
A resident of Atlanta since 1972, he currently leads a trio made up of himself, guitarist Jerry Byrd, drummer Curtis Boyd and bassist Elias Bailey that regularly tours the US, Europe, the Far East and South America. Freddy has been a recording artist since 1952, when his first single, "The Joke's on Me", was released on an obscure Chicago-based label.
Freddy recorded several albums for European and English companies during the 1970s that helped him develop a loyal overseas following. Cole believes that becoming an international favorite made him "widen my scope a little bit." He developed a stand-up act, a better rapport with audiences, and learned to sing in other languages. "It made me much more of a performer."
Cole doesn't apologize for sounding like his brother, Nat "King" Cole. There are certain unmistakable similarities. He plays piano and sings and performs live with guitar and upright bass, just like Nat. Yet his voice is raspier, smokier, jazzier even. But he has emerged from the awesome shadow cast by his elder brother. In truth, his phrasing is far closer to that of Frank Sinatra or Billie Holiday than that of his brother and his timing swings a little more. His vocals - suave, elegant, formidable, and articulate - are among the most respected in jazz. Cole's career continues to ascend as he has moved into the front ranks of America's homegrown art form with a style and musical sophistication all his own.
On My Way To You
Freddy Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I find myself reciting
The words I've or should have said
Like scenes that need rewriting
The smiles I never answered
Doors perhaps I should have opened
Songs forgotten in the morning
I relive the roles I've played
The many pipers I have paid
Along the roads I've wandered
Yet all the time I knew it
Love was somewhere out there waiting
Though I may regret a kiss or two
If I had changed a single day
What went amiss or went astray
I may have never found my way to you
If I had changed a single day
What went amiss or went astray
I may have never found my way to you
I wouldn't change a thing that happened
On my way to you
In the song On My Way to You, Freddy Cole sings about the regrets and missed opportunities that one may go through in life. He talks about how, on many nights, as he waits for sleep, he finds himself thinking about the things he could have done differently. He recites the words he should have said, the doors he should have opened, and the songs he should have sung. He regrets the kisses he may have given and the tears he may have shed, but through it all, he knows that love was always out there waiting for him.
Freddy Cole acknowledges that he may have squandered precious time and paid a heavy price for his mistakes, but he believes that those experiences led him to find love. He reflects on how, if he had changed a single day or changed what went amiss or went astray, he would have never found his way to his significant other. He acknowledges that he wouldn't change a thing that happened on his journey because it led him to her.
In conclusion, the song is a beautiful reflection of the journey of life and love. Freddy Cole speaks to the heart and encourages us to treasure our experiences and mistakes because they all lead us to where we are today.
Line by Line Meaning
So often as I wait for sleep
When I lay down at night, so many thoughts run through my head
I find myself reciting
I can't help but repeat over and over again
The words I've or should have said
Things I've said, or things I wish I had said
Like scenes that need rewriting
Similar to scenes in a movie that need to be changed and redone
The smiles I never answered
When someone smiled at me, and I never smiled back
Doors perhaps I should have opened
Opportunities that I missed out on and should have taken
Songs forgotten in the morning
Musical melodies that I forgot about when I woke up
I relive the roles I've played
I think over the different roles and parts I've acted throughout my life
The tears I may have squandered
Tears shed over things that weren't worth it or didn't matter
The many pipers I have paid
The amount of money and time I have spent chasing things that didn't make me happy
Along the roads I've wandered
Throughout my long journey of life, I have come across many paths
Yet all the time I knew it
Despite everything, somewhere deep down I knew that love was waiting for me
Love was somewhere out there waiting
True love was always waiting for me somewhere out in the world
Though I may regret a kiss or two
Even if I regret some of the things I've done in the past, such as perhaps kissing the wrong person
If I had changed a single day
If I had changed even one thing that happened in my past
What went amiss or went astray
Things that went wrong, or twisted up in my past
I may have never found my way to you
I could possibly be living a completely different life, and never have met you
I wouldn't change a thing that happened
Despite everything, I am so grateful for everything that happened in my life
On my way to you
Because all of the ups and downs in my life led me straight to you
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG Rights Management
Written by: ALAN BERGMAN, MARILYN BERGMAN, MICHEL LEGRAND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind