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.
Jingle Bells
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tails ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing
A sleighing song tonight
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon my Mr. Right
Was seated by my side
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
We got into a drifted bank
And then we kissed for luck
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh yeah
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
The lyrics to Natalie Cole's "Jingle Bells" are a joyful celebration of the holiday season and the excitement that comes with it. The song begins with the imagery of a ride through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh, with the jingling bells on the horse's bobtail serving to make spirits bright. As they ride through the fields, the passengers laugh and sing a sleighing song, enjoying the fun and excitement of the experience.
The chorus of the song repeats the iconic "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way" refrain, emphasizing the jingling bells and the fun of the ride. The second verse of the song tells the story of a sleigh ride taken by the singer and her "Mr. Right," in which they encounter misfortune in the form of a drifted bank. However, the couple kisses for luck, highlighting the love and joy that the holiday season brings.
Overall, the lyrics to "Jingle Bells" capture the exuberance and joy of the holiday season, with a focus on the excitement of sleigh rides, the sound of jingling bells, and the happiness of spending time with loved ones.
Line by Line Meaning
Dashing through the snow
Riding swiftly through the snow-covered landscape
In a one horse open sleigh
On a sled pulled by a lone horse, without a roof or walls
O'er the fields we go
Crossing over the open fields
Laughing all the way
Enjoying the experience with laughter and joy
Bells on bob tails ring
The bells on the horse's tail are ringing and making a musical sound
Making spirits bright
Lifting the mood and filling the atmosphere with joy
What fun it is to laugh and sing
Expressing happiness by laughing and singing
A sleighing song tonight
Singing a song while enjoying the ride on the sled
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Addressing the bells on the horse's tail and the sound they make
Jingle all the way
Making a continuous sound with the bells as the sled moves along
Oh, what fun it is to ride
Expressing the joy of riding on the sled
In a one horse open sleigh
Reiterating the type of sled being ridden
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Repeating the sound of the bells on the sled
Jingle all the way
Echoing the continuous jingling of the sled bells
Oh, what fun it is to ride
Repeating the enjoyment of riding on the sled
In a one horse open sleigh
Repeating the type of sled being used by the riders YEAH
A day or two ago
A short while back, not so long ago
I thought I'd take a ride
Deciding to go on a sleigh ride
And soon my Mr. Right
A significant other, a romantic partner or soulmate
Was seated by my side
Sitting alongside the singer on the sled
The horse was lean and lank
The horse pulling the sled was thin and weak
Misfortune seemed his lot
The horse was having a difficult time pulling the sled
We got into a drifted bank
The sled hit an obstacle in the snow
And then we kissed for luck
The rider and her significant other shared a kiss in the hopes of good fortune
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Reiterating the sound of the sled bells
Jingle all the way
Echoing the continuous sound of the sled bells
Oh, what fun it is to ride
Reiterating the enjoyment of riding on the sled
In a one horse open sleigh
Repeating the type of sled being used by the riders
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Repeating the sound of the sled bells
Jingle all the way
Continuing the enjoyment of the sound of the sled bells
Oh, what fun it is to ride
Reiterating the joy of sled riding
In a one horse open sleigh
Reiterating the type of sled being used by the riders
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Traditional
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
bradly2007
One of the great Christmas albums ever, Natalie Cole masterpiece
James Brownlee
Merry Christmas everyone! Much love for you, Natalie Cole, rest in heavenly peace
MCGURKSWORLD
i am in love with natalie cole forever young i hope she is at peace because she is one the best entertainers of all time along with paps happy xmas everyone
Marco Monti
super! merry Christmas :-)