Cole was exposed to the greats of jazz, soul and blues at an early age and began performing at the age of 11. Her debut album in 1975, Inseparable, won her immediate praise, with the smash single This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) (#1 R&B, #6 Pop) winning her a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female, a category that had been monopolized by Aretha Franklin, since its inception in 1967. She also was named the Grammys' Best New Artist of 1975. She attended the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield, MA.
More hits followed through 1980, including her biggest Pop hit, 1977's I've Got Love On My Mind, as well as Sophisticated Lady (She's A Different Lady) (1976), Our Love (1978), and Someone That I Used To Love (1980). "I've Got Love On My Mind" and "Our Love" both earned certifications as Gold singles. But then her career hit a snag in the early 1980s due to a severe drug problem. By 1985, Natalie was clean, sober, and in fine voice, and ready to begin her comeback in earnest with the album Dangerous, released on the Modern label.
In 1987, she released Everlasting (on EMI Manhattan) which sold over 2 million copies in the U.S., and won Cole a Soul Train Award for Female Single of the Year for the #1 R&B ballad I Live for Your Love. This album was the one that put Natalie Cole firmly back in the spotlight, yielding three major hit singles: Jump Start, "I Live For Your Love" (#2 AC and #13 Pop as well as #1 R&B), and a successful remake of Bruce Springsteen's Pink Cadillac (#5 Pop, #16 AC, and #1 Dance). The album also included a taste of things to come in her career with a remake of one of her father's signature hits, "When I Fall In Love," which did moderately well on the AC chart. In 1989, the aptly-titled Good To Be Back gave her another across-the-board smash with "Miss You Like Crazy" (#1 both R&B and AC, and #7 Pop).
However, it was her 1991 album, Unforgettable... with Love, featuring her own arrangements of her father's greatest hits, that gave her the most success. Ironically, when Natalie began her career, she was determined not to capitalize on her father's name and wanted to forge her own identity by going after the soul market in earnest. For many years, she also found the prospect of recording her late father's songs too painful on a personal level. But Unforgettable... With Love certainly paid off. The set sold over 5 million copies in the United States alone, and won Cole several Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. The album featured a duet, the title track, with her father, created by splicing a recording of his vocals into the track. As a single, it reached #14 on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart, and went gold. The one sour spot in the album's success was that it strained Natalie's already-tumultuous relationship with her mother, Maria, who said in interviews at the time that she couldn't listen to the album or attend any of her daughter's concerts because she felt that the music really belonged to her late husband.
Natalie has released several more albums of pop standards in the years since; as a result of appealing to the "adult standards" audience, she has made only occasional forays onto the pop singles charts in that time (for example, "A Smile Like Yours," #8 AC and #84 Pop in 1997), although her albums still sell well. Her 1999 album Snowfall On The Sahara marked a return to the easy adult-contemporary soul that categorized her late-1980s hits, but for 2002's critically-praised Ask A Woman Who Knows, she turned more to the jazz side of the spectrum, covering songs made famous by Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, and Sarah Vaughan.
Battle With Drugs
In 2000, Cole released an autobiography, Angel on my Shoulder, which described her battle with drugs during much of her life. In the book, Cole admitted to using LSD, heroin and crack cocaine. Cole said she began experimenting with drugs while attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and was arrested in Toronto, Canada for possession of heroin in 1975. Cole continued to spiral out of control - including an incident in which her young son Robert nearly drowned in the family swimming pool while she and her first husband, the late Reverend Marvin Yancy were on a drug binge - until she entered rehab in 1983.
In concert with the release of the book, her autobiography was turned into a made-for-TV movie, The Natalie Cole Story, which aired December 10, 2000 on NBC.
Natalie has been married three times and has a son Robert Yancy (by Marvin Yancy), born in 1977. She later married former Rufus drummer Andre Fischer, who co-produced the Grammy Award-winning Unforgettable... With Love, Natalie's love offering featuring songs made famous by her father, including a faux-duet between her and her father.
The marriage to Fischer ended in divorce a few years later, amidst rumors of domestic verbal and physical abuse.
It has also been reported that Natalie has recovered from a life-threatening hepatitis illness (most likely the cause of her years of drug abuse) by having a liver transplant.
Miss Cole went on to release more albums after Unforgettable...With Love, with most of them featuring jazz-oriented standard songs or pop-song remakes. None of the albums were nearly as successful as Unforgettable...With Love.
As of 2013, Natalie Cole spent most of her professional time covering the concert circuit entertaining audiences around the world with her hits.
On December 31, 2015, Natalie Cole died from congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was aged 65.
I Can't Say No
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you ask me to walk a thousand miles
Just to be where you are
I can't say no if you ask me
If I had a dime, it's yours as well as mine
I'd keep the penny, you know I would
And gladly give you the nine
If you told me tonight to get up
Pack my bags, let's go away
I wouldn't even care what my mommy
What my daddy might have to say
'Cause I can't say no if you ask me
No, you're too beautiful to be, to be
No, you mean everything to me
No, and that's why I, that's why I, that's why I
I can't say no if you ask me
Sometimes I get so angry with him
I walk around and I pout all day
And then he kisses me and asks me, do I love him
In a sweet, soft, sexy kind of way
I can't say no if he asks me
Ooh, no, I can't say no if he asks me
I can't say no if you ask me
I can't say no if you ask me
I can't say no if you ask me
I can't say no if you ask me
I can't say no if you ask me
Natalie Cole's "I Can't Say No" is a song about absolute love and commitment. The lyrics depict a lover who is so deeply in love that they cannot say no to the person they love, regardless of the request. The opening lines confirm the lover's readiness to go to any lengths for their partner, even if it means walking a thousand miles. The lover confirms that they would give up everything they have for their partner, even if it's as small as a dime.
The chorus further emphasizes the inability to say no, highlighting the partner's beauty and everything they mean to the lover. The second verse continues with the theme of being unable to say no, even when the lover feels angry and upset with their partner. The song ends with the repetition of the chorus, underscoring the unwavering commitment and love the lover has for their partner.
Overall, "I Can't Say No" is a song that celebrates the depth of love and commitment between two people. It speaks about being willing to make sacrifices and give everything for the person you love, even when it's difficult.
Line by Line Meaning
Here I am, there you are
I'm here and you're there, close but not close enough.
If you ask me to walk a thousand miles
If you ask me to do something difficult and challenging, I will do it to be with you.
Just to be where you are
I want to be where you are because I miss you.
I can't say no if you ask me
I am too weak to refuse you if you ask me for something.
If I had a dime, it's yours as well as mine
Everything I have belongs to you as much as it belongs to me.
I'd keep the penny, you know I would
I would give you everything and even keep the smallest thing for myself.
And gladly give you the nine
I would happily give you most of what I have without hesitation.
If you told me tonight to get up
If you asked me to leave right now, I would do it without question.
Pack my bags, let's go away
I am willing to leave everything behind and go wherever you want.
I wouldn't even care what my mommy
I would disregard the opinions of my parents.
What my daddy might have to say
I would ignore my father's advice.
'Cause I can't say no if you ask me
I can't say no to you, no matter what you ask of me.
No, you're too beautiful to be, to be
You are too beautiful, amazing, and wonderful to be refused.
No, you mean everything to me
You are the most important thing to me and I can't bear the thought of losing you.
No, and that's why I, that's why I, that's why I
My love for you is so strong that I won't deny you anything.
I can't say no if you ask me
Once again, I am powerless to say no to you.
Sometimes I get so angry with him
Sometimes he frustrates me and we have arguments.
I walk around and I pout all day
I sulk and show him how upset I am.
And then he kisses me and asks me, do I love him
He tries to make up with me by showing me affection and asking me if I still love him.
In a sweet, soft, sexy kind of way
He tries to be charming and romantic to win me back.
I can't say no if he asks me
Once again, I give in to him and can't say no.
Ooh, no, I can't say no if he asks me
I am under his spell and can't resist him.
I can't say no if you ask me
The song ends repeating the same message, emphasizing that the singer is still unable to resist the person they are singing about.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHARLES JACKSON, MARVIN YANCY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
David Richardson
One of the most heartfelt overlooked R&B songs from a soulful underrated legend. RIP Natalie. I'm only 20, and yet I've begun the timeless of your music and every other R&B and soul legend that has passed on. Heaven's choir is looking mighty gorgeous in R&B right now. Rest in Paradise, Natalie!
Marquita Whitlock
I agree 👍
DJ
Yup
Musiclover60
This song was never overlooked when it came out in 1975
Sherri Solomon
kind words for a beautiful angel.
STACIE SIEBERT
This was always my favorite Natalie Cole song. I miss her like crazy already!!!!!
DJ
My favorite too
Terry P.
2021 & this Still a Classic Right Up there With Some of Aretha's Ballads !!!! just saying
Dawn Morris
@David Richardson, Ms. Natalie was NEVER underrated or overlooked in my Mama's house!! That Woman played this album until you couldn't play it anymore! What a talent.
Lynnette Boykin
My mother’s house too!