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.
The Song Is Ended
Nat King Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A moment of bliss we spent
Our hearts were filled with a song of romance
As into the night we went
And sang to our hearts' content
The song is ended
But the melody lingers on
But the melody lingers on
The night was splendid
And the melody seemed to say
"Summer will pass away
Take your happiness while you may"
There 'neath the light of the moon
We sang a love song that ended too soon
The moon descended
And I found with the break of dawn
You and the song had gone
The Song Is Ended is a classic song by Nat King Cole that was released in 1956. The song begins with the first verse, “My thoughts go back to a heavenly dance, A moment of bliss we spent.” These lyrics describe the memory of a beautiful dance that was shared by two individuals. The memory of this dance is described as heavenly because it was a moment of pure joy and happiness. The dance continued into the night, and the two individuals sang to their hearts' content. However, as the song progressed, the melody gradually died down, and the two individuals departed. The second verse goes, “The song is ended, but the melody lingers on. You and the song are gone, but the melody lingers on.” The song is used as a metaphor for the relationship; the song ended, but the melody (memory) lingers on. Despite the two individuals going their separate ways, their memories still remain.
Cole's lyrics portray a bittersweet longing for a past love that ended too soon. The lyrics of the chorus reiterate the message of the song by stating that even though the dance and the song have ended, the melody will continue to linger on. The second verse implies that even though the person is no longer there, their memory will continue to resonate.
Line by Line Meaning
My thoughts go back to a heavenly dance
I reminisce about a wonderful time in the past when I was dancing with my beloved.
A moment of bliss we spent
For that brief moment, we experienced pure joy and happiness.
Our hearts were filled with a song of romance
Our love for each other was expressed through a beautiful, romantic song.
As into the night we went
We continued to enjoy each other's company as the night progressed.
And sang to our hearts' content
We sang with full hearts, expressing our love and joy through music.
The song is ended
Our time together has come to an end, and so has the song we were singing.
But the melody lingers on
Even though the song is over, its melody remains in our hearts and minds.
You and the song are gone
You, my beloved, have left, as has the song we were singing.
The night was splendid
The night we spent together was truly wonderful and unforgettable.
And the melody seemed to say
The music we shared seemed to speak to us, conveying a message of fleeting happiness.
"Summer will pass away
Just as the season of summer will come to an end, so too will our time together.
Take your happiness while you may"
Capture the happiness you feel in the moment, for it may not be there forever.
There 'neath the light of the moon
Under the moon's gentle glow, we shared a special moment.
We sang a love song that ended too soon
We expressed our love for each other through song, but it came to an end all too quickly.
The moon descended
As the night drew to a close, the moon began its descent.
And I found with the break of dawn
As the new day dawned, I realized that you had left me.
You and the song had gone
The melody and you, my love, had both left me, but the memories will stay.
Lyrics © IMAGEM U.S. LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: IRVING BERLIN
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?