As a piano player, he formed a jazz trio in 1938 that played Los Angeles nightclubs, one of the first jazz trios featuring guitar and piano. Prior to this he had played music since he was a child and had worked with bands since he was sixteen. He was raised in Chicago and exposed to the abundant jazz scene there. He was heavily influenced by pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines.
Later he became more popularly known as a singer and crooner and his work became more orchestrated.
His first mainstream vocal hit was in 1944 with Straighten Up and Fly Right, based on a black folk tale that his father had used as a theme for a sermon. Although hardly a rocker, the song's success proved that an audience for folk-based material existed. It is considered a predecessor to the first rock and roll records. Indeed, Bo Diddley, who performed similar transformations of folk material, counted Cole as an influence.
Beginning in the late 1940s, Cole began recording and performing more pop-oriented material for mainstream audiences, often accompanied by a string orchestra. His stature as a popular icon was cemented during this period with such hits as The Christmas Song (1946), Nature Boy (1948), Mona Lisa (1950), and his signature tune Unforgettable (1951). While this shift to pop music led some jazz critics and fans to accuse Cole of selling out, he never totally abandoned his musical roots; as late as 1956, for instance, he recorded an all-jazz album, After Midnight. In 1991, Mosaic Records released the Complete Nat King Cole Trio Recordings on Capitol, which contained 349 songs on twenty-seven LPs or eighteen CDs.
Throughout the 1950s Cole continued to rack up hit after hit, including Smile, Pretend, A Blossom Fell, and If I May. Most of his pop hits were collaborations with famed arranger/conductor Nelson Riddle. It was with Riddle that Cole released his first ten-inch long-play album in 1953 entitled Sings for Two in Love. Several more albums followed, including the Gordon Jenkins arranged Love Is the Thing, which reached number one on the album charts in April 1957.
Inspired by a trip to Havana, Cuba in 1958, Nat went back there that same year and recorded Cole Espanol, an album sung entirely in Spanish and Portuguese. The album was a hit not only in the U.S., but in Latin America as well. The album was so popular, that two others followed: A mis amigos in 1959, and More Cole Espanol in 1962.
Musical tastes were changing in the late 1950s, and despite a successful stab at rock n' roll with Send for Me, Cole's ballad singing had grown old to younger listeners. Like contemporaries Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, Nat found that the pop singles chart had been almost entirely taken over by youth oriented acts. In 1960, Nat's longtime collaborator Nelson Riddle, left Capitol Records for Frank Sinatra's newly formed Reprise Records label. The two parted ways with one final hit album Wild Is Love, based on lyrics by Ray Rasch and Dotty Wayne. Nat would later re-tool the concept album into an off-Broadway production called I'm With You.
As the 1960s progressed, Nat once again found success on the American singles chart, starting with the country/pop flavored hit Ramblin' Rose in August of 1962. Three more hit singles followed: Dear Lonely Hearts, Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer, and That Sunday, That Summer. Nat's final album was entitled L.O.V.E, and was recorded in late 1964. It was released just prior to his death and reached number four on the Billboard Albums chart in the spring of 1965. A "Best Of" album went gold in 1968. His 1957 song When I Fall in Love was a chart topping hit for the U.K. in 1987.
Cole was the first African-American to have his own radio program. He repeated that success in the late-1950s with the first truly national television show starring an African-American. In both cases, the programs were ultimately canceled because sponsors shied away from a black artist. Cole fought racism all his life, refusing to perform in segregated venues. In 1956, he was attacked on stage in Birmingham, Alabama by members of the White Citizens' Council who apparently were attempting to kidnap him. Despite injuries, Cole completed the show but vowed never to perform in the South again.
On 23rd August 1956, Cole spoke at the Republican National Convention in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California. He was also present at the Democratic National Convention in 1960, to throw his support behind President John F. Kennedy. Cole was also among the dozens of entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the Kennedy Inaugural gala in 1961. Nat King Cole frequently consulted with President Kennedy (and later President Johnson) on the issue of civil rights. Yet he was dogged by critics, who felt he shied away from controversy when it came to the civil rights issue. Among the most notable was Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was upset that Cole didn't take stronger action after the 1956 on-stage attack.
In 1948, Cole purchased a house in the all-white Hancock Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. The property owners association told Cole they didn't want any undesirables moving in, to which Cole retorted "Neither do I. And if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to complain."
He and his second wife, Maria Ellington, were married in Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. They had five children, including twin girls. Daughter Carol Cole, and son Kelly Cole were adopted. Kelly Cole died in 1995. Nat's daughter, Natalie Cole, and his younger brother, Freddie Cole are also singers.
Natalie and her father had an unexpected hit in the summer of 1991. The younger Cole mixed a 1961 recording of her father's rendition of Unforgettable with her own voice, creating an electronic duet. Both the song and the album of the same name won several Grammy awards the following year.
Cole performed in many short films, and played W. C. Handy in the film Saint Louis Blues. He also appeared in The Nat King Cole Story, China Gate, and The Blue Gardenia.
Nat King Cole was a heavy smoker of Kool menthol cigarettes, believing that smoking up to three packs a day gave his voice the rich sound it had (Cole would smoke several cigarettes in rapid succession before a recording for this very purpose). Cole died of lung cancer at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, on 15th February 1965. His funeral was held at St. Victor's Catholic Church in West Hollywood, and he was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Cat Ballou, his final film, was released several months later.
My Heart Stood Still
Nat King Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I met at schools
All indiscreet hearts
Seemed romantic fools
A house in Iceland
Was my heart's domain
I saw your eyes
Now castles rise in Spain!
I took one look at you
That's all I meant to do
And then my heart stood still
My feet could step and walk
My lips could move and talk
And yet my heart stood still
Though not a single word was spoken
I could tell you knew
That unfelt clasp of hands
Told me so well you knew
I never lived at all
Until the thrill of that moment when
My heart stood still
Through all my school days
I hated boys
Those April Fool days
Brought me loveless joys
I read my Plato
Love, I thought a sin
But since your kiss
I'm reading Missus Glyn!
The lyrics of Nat King Cole's song 'My Heart Stood Still' captures the moment that a person meets someone that causes their world to change. The singer of the song is recounting the experiences they've had in their life with previous romantic interests but can't seem to find a connection that is worthy of their love. They recount meeting several sweethearts at school who they thought were all romantic fools, but never really found them to their liking. However, this person's heart soon changes when they meet someone special who causes them to see life in a new light.
It's evident from the lyrics that the person who the singer has met has changed their outlook on love, from 'hating boys' in their school days to reading novels by Missus Glyn, who was known for her romantic novels. The line, 'And then my heart stood still,' is the moment of realization that this person has found someone who has captured their heart and has made them feel love in its purest form. The simple melody of the song perfectly complements the lyrics, allowing them to take center stage, and giving the listener a chance to reflect on their own moments of falling in love.
In conclusion, the song 'My Heart Stood Still' by Nat King Cole is a beautiful love song that captures the essence of falling in love. The lyrics paint a picture of someone who has found their soulmate, and their life has changed for the better. The simplicity of the lyrics and melody allow the song to connect with people on a personal level and evoke feelings of nostalgia for people's past romantic experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
I laughed at sweethearts
I found amusement in those who fell in love easily
I met at schools
I encountered them often in the educational institutions I attended
All indiscreet hearts
Those who openly displayed their romantic inclinations
Seemed romantic fools
Were perceived as foolishly idealistic
A house in Iceland
My heart was a secluded, icy fortress
Was my heart's domain
My emotions were guarded and rarely exposed
I saw your eyes
Upon seeing you for the first time
Now castles rise in Spain!
My once impenetrable walls fell, just as the impossible became possible
I took one look at you
Reminiscing on the moment when I first laid eyes on you
That's all I meant to do
I had no intentions of falling in love
And then my heart stood still
Until I met you, I was unfazed by love
My feet could step and walk
My physical self was unchanged
My lips could move and talk
I communicated with ease
And yet my heart stood still
But inwardly, I was powerless to resist you
Though not a single word was spoken
Despite this silence between us
I could tell you knew
I could sense that you felt the same
That unfelt clasp of hands
Our bond did not rely on touch, yet we were connected
Told me so well you knew
The unspoken gestures conveyed everything I needed to know
I never lived at all
Before meeting you
Until the thrill of that moment when
Before that pivotal moment when everything changed
My heart stood still
My deepest feelings were stilled, awaiting your response
Through all my school days
For as long as I can remember
I hated boys
I had no interest in the opposite sex
Those April Fool days
Those playful, frivolous days of youth
Brought me loveless joys
Brought me temporary, empty pleasures
I read my Plato
I focused on philosophy and intellectual pursuits
Love, I thought a sin
I considered love an immoral, foolish indulgence
But since your kiss
Since you entered my life
I'm reading Missus Glyn!
My interests and perspectives have shifted to the romantic, sentimental side of literature
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Christine Martin
A terrific song ... sung by a velvety voice!
Michael Butler
A great song sung by one of the greatest singers of the 20th. century.
kenwoodsmusic
Wow. Just... wow.
Keith Sabin
A singer of impeccable taste—and pianist to match. After all these years, greedy for the decades of song we lost the chance to hear him make
catman916
NKC did an excellent job on this classic.
Yukimi Kasaki
This would have slotted memorably on the "Unforgettable" album.
Sofie Bri
❤❤❤
Eric Fluellen
I lot of people may not know this, but the Nat King Cole television show premiered in 1956, but due to racism ended quickly. An unfortunate stain on America because it would not allow this man to show his greatness.