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.
Sometimes I Wonder
Nat King Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Thoughts keep roaming through my mind, they're all of you
I wonder if you're dancing, with somebody new
I wonder, I wonder can't help it if I wonder
No matter which side of the pillow that I'm sleeping on
My dreams of you continue through until the dawn
And after that I find the day dream crew comes on
I wonder, I wonder, can't help it if I wonder
Well, then it's quite alright with me
I'm gonna get me dressed up in my Sunday suit
And find myself somebody who is twice as cute
And when you realize that you and I are through
I wonder, I wonder, I wonder what you'll do
All by myself alone at home a feeling blue
Thoughts keep roaming through my mind, they're all of you
I wonder if you're dancing, with somebody new
I wonder, I wonder can't help it if I wonder
No matter which side of the pillow that I'm sleeping on
My dreams of you continue through until the dawn
And after that I find the day dream crew comes on
I wonder, I wonder, can't help it if I wonder
You care for someone else, I see
Well, then it's quite alright with me
I'm gonna get me dressed up in my Sunday suit
And find myself somebody who is twice as cute
And when you realize that you and I are through
I wonder, I wonder, I wonder what you'll do
Nat King Cole's "One for the Wonder" is a song that speaks to the heart of anyone who has experienced heartbreak. The song is a reflection of the emotions that one goes through after a breakup. The lyrics describe the sense of loneliness and despair experienced by the singer. The opening lines, "All by myself alone at home a feeling blue, Thoughts keep roaming through my mind, they're all of you" set the tone for the rest of the song.
The singer wonders if their former lover is dancing with somebody new. This demonstrates a sense of jealousy and loss. The repetition of the phrase "I wonder, I wonder" highlights the uncertainty and anxiety that come with a breakup. The lyrics take a more positive turn when the singer decides to move on. "I'm gonna get me dressed up in my Sunday suit, And find myself somebody who is twice as cute." This shows that the singer is willing to move forward and find love again.
However, there is still a sense of loss in the final lines, "And when you realize that you and I are through, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder what you'll do." This line shows that even though the singer is moving forward, they still have feelings for their former lover. The song concludes with the singer questioning what their former lover will do without them.
Line by Line Meaning
All by myself alone at home a feeling blue
I'm all alone at home feeling sad and lonely
Thoughts keep roaming through my mind, they're all of you
You're all I can think about, my mind keeps wandering to thoughts of you
I wonder if you're dancing, with somebody new
I'm curious if you're out there dancing with someone new
I wonder, I wonder can't help it if I wonder
I can't stop myself from wondering, it's just how I feel
No matter which side of the pillow that I'm sleeping on
Whether I'm sleeping on the left or the right side of the pillow
My dreams of you continue through until the dawn
I keep dreaming about you until the sun comes up
And after that I find the day dream crew comes on
Even during the day, my mind still wanders to thoughts of you
You care for someone else, I see
It's clear to me that you have feelings for someone else
Well, then it's quite alright with me
I'm okay with that
I'm gonna get me dressed up in my Sunday suit
I'll put on my best clothes
And find myself somebody who is twice as cute
I'll try to find someone even more attractive than you
And when you realize that you and I are through
When you finally realize that we're over
I wonder, I wonder, I wonder what you'll do
I can't help but wonder what you'll do next
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DARYL HUTCHINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
john
on A Blossom Fell
i want the song" I'll never settle for less" lyrics,would somebody be so kind to give it to me?