1) Nancy Sue Wilson - … Read Full Bio ↴There is more than one artist with this name:
1) Nancy Sue Wilson - jazz diva best known for her 60s standards recordings.
2) Nancy Lamoureaux Wilson - singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and member of the group Heart.
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1) Nancy Sue Wilson (born February 20, 1937, in Chillicothe, OH, United States – December 13, 2018, in Pioneertown, CA, United States) was a jazz diva famous for recording American standards in the 60s.
She was among contemporary music's most stylish and sultry vocalists; while often crossing over into the pop and R&B markets -- and even hosting her own television variety program -- she remained best known as a jazz performer, renowned for her work alongside figures including Cannonball Adderley and George Shearing. Wilson first attracted notice performing the club circuit in nearby Columbus; she quickly earned a growing reputation among jazz players and fans, and she was recording regularly by the late '50s, eventually signing to Capitol and issuing LPs including 1959's Like in Love and Nancy Wilson with Billy May's Orchestra. Her dates with Shearing, including 1960's The Swingin's Mutual, solidified her standing as a talent on the rise, and her subsequent work with Adderley -- arguably her finest recordings -- further cemented her growing fame and reputation.
In the years to follow, however, Wilson often moved away from jazz, much to the chagrin of purists; she made numerous albums, many of them properly categorized as pop and R&B outings, and toured extensively, appearing with everyone from Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan to Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker. She even hosted her own Emmy-winning variety series for NBC, The Nancy Wilson Show, and was a frequent guest performer on other programs; hits of the period included "Tell Me the Truth," "How Glad I Am," "Peace of Mind," and "Now, I'm a Woman." Regardless of how far afield she traveled, Wilson always maintained her connections to the jazz world, and in the 1980s, she returned to the music with a vengeance, working closely with performers including Hank Jones, Art Farmer, Ramsey Lewis, and Benny Golson. By the 1990s, she was a favorite among the "new adult contemporary" market, her style ideally suited to the format's penchant for lush, romantic ballads; she also hosted the Jazz Profiles series on National Public Radio.
In the early 2000s, Wilson recorded two albums with Ramsey Lewis for Narada (2002's Meant to Be and 2003's Simple Pleasures). Her 2004 album R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal) was a blend of straight-ahead jazz and ballads, similar to her next record, 2006's Turned to Blue, which, like R.S.V.P., used a different instrumentalist for each track. In 2005, Capitol released a three-part series to pay tribute to Wilson's contributions to music in the '50s and '60s: Guess Who I Saw Today: Nancy Wilson Sings Songs of Lost Love, Save Your Love for Me: Nancy Wilson Sings the Great Blues Ballads, and The Great American Songbook.
Wilson died from a long-illness on December 13, 2018 at her home in Pioneertown, California at the age of 81.
2) Nancy Lamoureux Wilson (born March 16, 1954, San Francisco, CA, United States), more popularly known as Nancy Wilson, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter. Along with her older sister Ann Wilson, she is part of the Seattle/Vancouver rock band Heart. She is married to film director and screenwriter Cameron Crowe and has composed and performed music for most of Crowe's movies, including Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, and Elizabethtown.
While Ann is the lead singer on most of the Heart recordings, Nancy is the lead vocalist on Treat Me Well, These Dreams, Stranded, There's the Girl and Will You Be There (In The Morning), and frequently performs background vocals. She is also the band's rhythm and lead guitarist. In 1999, she released a live solo album, Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop.
Solo albums
1999 - Live At McCabes Guitar Shop
2005 - Elizabethtown
2009 - Baby Guitars
2016 - Undercover Guitar (with Julie Bergman)
2021 - You and Me
I've Never Been To Me
Nancy Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're a discontented mother and a rich inventive wife
I've no doubt you dream about the things you'll never do
But I wish someone had a talked to me like I wanna talk to you
Ooh I've been to Georgia and California, oh, anywhere I could run
Took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free
Please lady, please, lady, don't just walk away
Cause I have this need to tell you why I'm all alone today
I can see so much of me still living in your eyes
Won't you share a part of a weary heart that has lived a million lies
Oh I've been to Nice and the isle of Greece
While I sipped champagne on a yacht
I moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo and showed 'em what I've got
I've been undressed by kings and I've seen some things
That a woman ain't s'posed to see
I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me
Hey, you know what paradise is? It's a lie. A fantasy we create about
People and places as we'd like them to be. But you know what truth is?
It's that little baby you're holding, and it's that man you fought with
This morning, the same one you're going to make love with tonight.
That's truth, that's love
Sometimes I've been to cryin' for unborn children
That might have made me complete
But I, I took the sweet life and never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet
I spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that cost too much to be free
Hey lady, I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to Nice and the isle of Greece
While I sipped champagne on a yacht)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to cryin' for unborn children)
In Nancy Wilson's song I've Never Been To Me, the lyrics describe a conversation between two women where one woman is seemingly unhappy with her life as a mother and wife. The other woman, who has lived a more adventurous life, tells her that paradise is not what it seems and that the true beauty and love in life comes from the moments we share with those we love. She explains that she has been to many places, seen many things and has been "undressed by kings," but she has never truly found herself in all of her explorations.
The lyrics highlight the idea of the grass always being greener on the other side, and how chasing after a fantasy can leave one feeling unfulfilled. Despite the singer's experiences, she still feels a sense of longing and incompleteness, having never found true happiness and contentment within herself.
Overall, the lyrics of I've Never Been To Me suggest that real fulfillment comes not from chasing after fantasies, but from embracing the imperfect moments and people in our lives and finding happiness within ourselves. It is a poignant reminder to appreciate the simple and authentic moments that make life worth living.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey lady, you, lady, cursin' at your life
Addressing a woman who seems unhappy with her life
You're a discontented mother and a rich inventive wife
She's a mother and a wife, but still discontented with her life despite having wealth.
I've no doubt you dream about the things you'll never do
She has dreams that seem unachievable.
But I wish someone had a talked to me like I wanna talk to you
The singer wished somebody talked to her as she wants to talk to the unhappy woman.
Ooh I've been to Georgia and California, oh, anywhere I could run
The singer traveled to different places like Georgia and California, which made her feel free.
Took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun
She had a sexual encounter with a preacher man under the sun.
But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free
She had to keep moving to feel free but it led to loneliness.
I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me
She's been to paradise but feels like she's never truly been herself.
Please lady, please, lady, don't just walk away
The singer pleads with the unhappy woman to listen to her.
Cause I have this need to tell you why I'm all alone today
The singer wants to share her experience of being alone with the unhappy woman.
I can see so much of me still living in your eyes
The singer sees her reflection in the unhappy woman's eyes.
Won't you share a part of a weary heart that has lived a million lies
The singer requests the unhappy woman to share her tired heart that's lived in the midst of lies.
Hey, you know what paradise is? It's a lie. A fantasy we create about
The singer believes that the idea of paradise is not real and is a fantasy that we create ourselves.
People and places as we'd like them to be. But you know what truth is?
The truth is not in our imagination of people and places but what we experience in reality.
It's that little baby you're holding, and it's that man you fought with
The truth is the baby that the unhappy woman is holding and the man she had a fight with earlier in the day.
This morning, the same one you're going to make love with tonight.
The same man she'll make love with tonight.
That's truth, that's love
The truth is found in moments of love.
Sometimes I've been to cryin' for unborn children
The singer has cried for the children she never had.
That might have made me complete
She believes having children might have given her life more meaning.
But I, I took the sweet life and never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet
The singer pursued the sweet life, not realizing the bitterness it would bring her.
I spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that cost too much to be free
The singer spent her life trying to be free but it cost her too much.
Hey lady, I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me
The singer has been to paradise but has never truly been herself.
I've been to paradise, never been to me
She has been to paradise but has never been herself.
(I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run)
She traveled to different places to find freedom.
I've been to paradise, never been to me
She reached paradise but never really knew herself.
(I've been to Nice and the isle of Greece
She's been to Nice and the Isle of Greece where she sipped champagne on a yacht.
While I sipped champagne on a yacht)
She enjoyed the luxurious lifestyle of sipping champagne while on a yacht.
I've been to paradise, never been to me
She's been to paradise but never really understood herself.
(I've been to cryin' for unborn children)
She's cried for the children she never had.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Kenneth W Hirsch, Ronald N. Miller
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind