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.
Like a Lover
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your smile is soft and drowsy as you let it play upon your face
Oh how I dream I might be like the morning sun to you
Like a lover the river wind,
Sighs and ripples it's fingers through your hair
Upon your cheek it lingers, never have I known a sweeter place
Oh how I dream I might be like the river wind to you
Oh how I envy a cup that knows your lips
Let it be me, my love
And a table that feels your fingertips
Let it be me, let me be your love
Bring an end to the endless days and nights without you
Like a lover the velvet moon shares your pillow and watches while you sleep
It's light arrives on tiptoe gently taking you in it's embrace
Oh how I dream I might be like the velvet moon to you
Como um radio de sol (Like the sunshine)
A brincar com seui rosto (Playing upon your face)
Oh how I envy a cup that knows your lips let it be me
My love and a table that feels your fingertips
Let it be me, let me be your love
Bring an end to the endless days and nights without you
Like a lover the velvet moon shares you pillow and watches while you sleep
It's light arrives on tiptoe gently taking you in it's embrace
Oh how I dream I might be like the velvet moon to you
I might be like the velvet moon to you
Como um radio de sol (Like the sunshine)
I might be like the velvet moon to you
A brincar com seui rosto (Playing upon your face)
I might be like the velvet moon to you
Como um radio de sol (Like the sunshine)
I might be like the velvet moon wanna be like the velvet moon
I might be like the velvet moon to you
The song "Like a Lover" by Natalie Cole is a beautiful love song in which the singer expresses their desire to be everything to their lover, from the morning sun that kisses them awake to the velvet moon that watches them sleep. The singer describes their envy of objects that come into contact with their lover, such as a cup that knows their lips or a table that feels their fingertips. The lyrics are full of imagery, with comparisons to natural elements such as the river wind and the velvet moon. The singer dreams of being like these elements to their lover, offering protection, comfort, and companionship.
The use of nature imagery in the song represents the singer's desire to be a constant part of their lover's life, just as nature is a constant part of the world around us. The repetition of the line "Oh how I dream I might be like" emphasizes the singer's longing to be everything their lover needs, from the morning to the night. The use of Portuguese in the lines "Como um radio de sol" and "A brincar com seui rosto" adds a romantic, exotic flair to the lyrics.
Overall, "Like a Lover" is a beautiful love song that captures the depth of emotions that come with loving someone deeply and passionately.
Line by Line Meaning
Like a lover, the morning sun slowly rises and kisses you awake
Just like a lover, the morning sun rises gently and gently wakes you up with its touch
Your smile is soft and drowsy as you let it play upon your face
Your smile is gentle and sleepy, and it reflects how you feel in the morning
Oh how I dream I might be like the morning sun to you
I have a dream of being like the morning sun to you, waking you up gently and kissing you awake
Like a lover the river wind, sighs and ripples it's fingers through your hair
The river wind touches you like a lover, ruffling your hair and creating small waves
Upon your cheek it lingers, never have I known a sweeter place
It stays on your cheek and I think it's the sweetest feeling ever experienced
Oh how I dream I might be like the river wind to you
I wish to be just like the river wind to you, touching you with love, creating little waves in your hair and seeing the smile on your face
Oh how I envy a cup that knows your lips. Let it be me, my love
I feel envious of a cup that touches your lips while you sip. I wish it could be me who touches your lips and sips along with you, my love
And a table that feels your fingertips. Let it be me, let me be your love
I wish to be like a table that holds your hands and feels your touch. Let me be your love and feel the warmth of your love too
Bring an end to the endless days and nights without you
I want to end all the long days and nights of loneliness without you
Like a lover the velvet moon shares your pillow and watches while you sleep
Just like a lover, the moonlight rests on your pillow and watches you peacefully sleep
It's light arrives on tiptoe gently taking you in its embrace
The moon's light touches your face lightly and hugs you warmly as you sleep
Oh how I dream I might be like the velvet moon to you
I dream of being like the velvet moon for you, holding you romantically and lovingly as you sleep
Como um radio de sol (Like the sunshine)
Like the sunshine
A brincar com seui rosto (Playing upon your face)
Playing upon your face
I might be like the velvet moon to you
I wish to be like the velvet moon for you
I might be like the velvet moon wanna be like the velvet moon
I wish to be like the velvet moon and I long to be with you
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG Rights Management
Written by: ALAN BERGMAN, DORIVAL TOSTES CAYMMI, MARILYN BERGMAN, NELSON MOTTA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
MsG
Sounds so beautiful.....Rest Well and so long Ms. Natalie Cole.....we loved you!!!!
Evelyn Brown
We sure did!
MARIPOSA MUSIC GROUP, LLC
Great lyrics! Rest In Sweet Peace Natalie Cole.
Ademar Amâncio
O Cantador - música brasileira de Dory Caymmi e Nelson Motta.
GlenStace
Always loved Natalie. Sweet heart. :-)
Mary ExStroughtonaire
RIP Natalie.
Arraial HD
My favorite versions are:
Elis Regina in portuguese
Earl Klugh (fingerstyle)
Stacey Kent in english
Josie Centeno
Love❤️❤️❤️
J P
For you sweets!
Ryan MoonCat
"I do not own any rights to this material."
Then you shouldn't have an advertisement on it. It's unethical to get money from someone else's creation.