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.
--==--
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
If I Could
Nancy Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'd protect you from the sadness in your eyes
Give you courage in a world of compromise
Yes, I would
If I could
I would teach you all the things I never learned
And I'd help you cross the bridges that I burned
Yes, I would
If I could
I would try to shield your innocence from time
But the part of life I gave you isn't mine
I watched you grow
So I could let you go
If I could
I would help you make it through the hungry years
But I know that I can never cry your tears
But I would
If I could
If I live
In a time and place
Where you don't want to be
You don't have to walk along this road with me
My yesterday
Won't have to be your way
If I knew
I'd have tried to change the world I brought you to
Through there wasn't very much that I could do
But I still would
If I could
If, if I could
I would try to shield your innocence from time
But the part of life I gave you isn't mine.
I watched you grow
So I could let you go
If I could
I would help you make it through the hungry years
But I know that I can never cry your tears
But I would
If I could
Yes, I would
Yes, I would
If I could
The song "If I Could" by Nancy Wilson is a poignant reflection on the desire of a parent to protect and guide their child through life. The lyrics depict a parent's longing to shield their child from the sadness and compromises of the world, and to teach them the things they never learned themselves. The parent wishes to help the child navigate the challenges and difficulties they will face, but recognizes that some experiences are uniquely their own and cannot be shared.
Despite the parent's desire to protect their child, they also understand that they must let go and allow the child to make their own way in life. The lyrics touch on the idea that every generation faces its own struggles and challenges, and that the parent cannot fully understand or change the world that their child will inherit. However, the parent remains committed to supporting and encouraging their child, even as they must step back and allow them to forge their own path.
Overall, "If I Could" is a moving tribute to the complexity of the parent-child relationship, and the universal desire to protect and care for those we love.
Line by Line Meaning
If I could
The singer expresses a strong desire to help and protect someone.
I'd protect you from the sadness in your eyes
The singer wants to help the person deal with their sadness and make them feel better.
Give you courage in a world of compromise
The singer wants to help the person be strong in a world where it's hard to stand up for oneself.
Yes, I would
The singer reiterates their willingness to help.
I would teach you all the things I never learned
The singer wants to pass on their knowledge and help the person grow and develop.
And I'd help you cross the bridges that I burned
The singer wants to make up for their past mistakes and help the person avoid them.
If I could
The singer repeats their desire to help.
I would try to shield your innocence from time
The singer wants to protect the person's innocence and keep them from being harmed by the passage of time.
But the part of life I gave you isn't mine
The singer acknowledges that the person's life is their own, and that they can't control everything that happens to them.
I watched you grow
The singer has been present in the person's life and has seen them develop over time.
So I could let you go
The singer recognizes that they can't control the person's life forever and that eventually they will have to let them go.
If I could
The singer repeats their desire to help.
I would help you make it through the hungry years
The singer wants to help the person during difficult times when they might struggle to provide for themselves.
But I know that I can never cry your tears
The singer acknowledges that they can't fully understand or experience the person's emotions and hardships.
But I would
The singer reiterates their willingness to help.
If I live
The singer speculates about a hypothetical scenario in which they are not with the person.
In a time and place
The hypothetical scenario involves a different time and place than the one they are currently in.
Where you don't want to be
The person would not be happy or fulfilled in this hypothetical time and place.
You don't have to walk along this road with me
The singer wouldn't want to force the person to be with them if it didn't make them happy.
My yesterday
The singer reflects on their past experiences and time spent with the person.
Won't have to be your way
The person doesn't have to follow in the singer's footsteps or make the same choices they did.
If I knew
The singer considers what they would do differently if they had the chance.
I'd have tried to change the world I brought you to
The singer wishes they could have done more to create a better world for the person to live in.
Though there wasn't very much that I could do
The singer acknowledges that they couldn't control everything and didn't have all the answers.
But I still would
The singer reiterates their desire to help and make the person's life better.
Yes, I would
The singer repeats their willingness to help.
Yes, I would
The singer emphasizes their strong desire to help and make a difference in the person's life.
If I could
The singer ends the song by repeating their desire to help, even though they know they can't control everything.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KENNETH HIRSCH, RON MILLER, MARTI SHARRON, KENNY HIRSCH, RONALD NORMAN MILLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Operabilia
Immortal, legendary and unmatched.
LeslyeJoyAllen - JazzMaestra
Yesssssssssss!
Aziyha Brown
👌🏽👏🏽🌹
Deborah Patterson
I dedicated this to my children and now to my grandchildren. So funny how many folks thought Regina Belle sang this FIRST. Can't nobody sing this like Fancy MIss Nancy!
Pattifanalwayz
They both killed it
Aziyha Brown
I sing this to my babies still 2day. My eldest is 46 and my babies #twins are 26! I have 5. And this song is definitely a perfect message frm me to thm💖🌹
Aziyha Brown
👌🏽👏🏽🌹
Darryl Ennis
Lol me too!!!
Frances
No one sang this song the way Nancy did. RIP.
Linda Owens
I can't thank my grandma enough for singing this song to Us all the time she is the reason I adore you today and sing this to my babies now rest on you have done a magnificent job Well Done Legendary.... love always ❤️❤️