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
Suzanne
Nancy Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body
With your mind.
And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body
With his mind.
Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbor
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body
With her mind.
The lyrics to Nancy Wilson's "Suzanne" tell the story of a man's encounter with a woman named Suzanne who lives near a river. Initially, the man is drawn to Suzanne's "half crazy" nature, and she serves him tea and oranges from China. However, as the man attempts to push her away, Suzanne manages to convince him that he's always been her lover, and he becomes willing to travel with her and trust her.
The song also references Jesus, who spent time watching from his "lonely wooden tower" before realizing that only drowning men could see him. He declared that all men would be sailors until the sea freed them, but ultimately he was broken well before he could save them. The references to Jesus and the sea provide a larger metaphorical context for the song, painting a picture of man's struggle against the forces of nature and his own humanity.
Overall, "Suzanne" is a poetic, metaphorical song that explores the themes of human connection, trust, and the cyclical nature of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Suzanne takes you down to Her place near the river
Suzanne leads you to her humble abode by the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can hear the sounds of boats as they pass by on the river
You can spend the night beside her
You can stay the night with her by the river
And you know that she's half crazy
You know that she behaves in a somewhat eccentric manner
But that's why you want to be there
But that is precisely why you desire to be close to her
And she feeds you tea and oranges That come all the way from China
She serves you tea and oranges that she procured from as far as China
And just when you mean to tell her That you have no love to give her
And just when you plan to convey to her that you cannot reciprocate her feelings for you
Then she gets you on her wavelength And she lets the river answer
She makes you align with her thought process and allows the river to respond
That you've always been her lover And you want to travel with her And you want to travel blind
That you've been in love with her for a long time, and you wish to accompany her on a journey together, even if it requires you to do so without using sight
And you know that she will trust you For you've touched her perfect body With your mind
And you are aware that she will put her faith in you since you have formed a deep connection with her subconsciously
And Jesus was a sailor When he walked upon the water
And Jesus was a seafarer as he walked on the water
And he spent a long time watching From his lonely wooden tower
And he gazed from his solitary wooden structure for an extended period
And when he knew for certain Only drowning men could see him
And when it became evident that only men at the point of submerging beneath the waves would be able to perceive him
He said "All men will be sailors then Until the sea shall free them"
He proclaimed, "All men shall be mariners until the ocean releases them"
But he himself was broken Long before the sky would open Forsaken, almost human He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
But he was frail himself before the heavens revealed themselves He was deserted, nearly human, and fell like a stone under your expertise
And you want to travel with him And you want to travel blind
And you desire to journey with him, without reliance on vision
And you think maybe you'll trust him For he's touched your perfect body With his mind.
And perhaps you will have confidence in him, as he has connected with you subconsciously
Now Suzanne takes your hand And she leads you to the river She is wearing rags and feathers From Salvation Army counters
Now Suzanne guides you with her hand as you head to the river She's clad in tattered clothes and chicken feathers from the Salvation Army thrift store
And the sun pours down like honey On our lady of the harbor
And the light from the sun pours down like golden syrup on our harbor's matriarch
And she shows you where to look Among the garbage and the flowers
and she directs your gaze to the areas where discarded waste and natural beauty mix together
There are heroes in the seaweed There are children in the morning They are leaning out for love And they will lean that way forever
Amidst the seaweed are brave souls attempting to make a mark And in the mornings you'll see those reaching out for love and yearning for it ceaselessly
While Suzanne holds the mirror And you want to travel with her And you want to travel blind And you know that you can trust her For she's touched your perfect body With her mind.
As Suzanne clutches the hand mirror, you aspire to join her on her voyage without sight, being confident in her as she has made a profound impression on you unconsciously
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Leonard Cohen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind