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.
Safe
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You fell apart
Boy, you didn't know what hit ya
You never thought that you'd get caught
Doing it again
Now, did ya?
So hard to get so cool and yet
You're lovin' it and you know it
We feel the heat
Trying so hard not to show it
In the arms of romance
You say you'll never go back, no way
Just when you thought it was safe
That you could never fall in love again
Just when you thought it was safe
Look what I got'cha thinkin' of again
It took a while to make you smile
Boy, you didn't know what hit ya
Hard as you try, you can't deny
That you're ready now
Would I kid ya?
So take the reins and break the chains
No, you can't hold back forever
You're in control, you're on a roll
And the timing won't get no better
In the arms of romance
You say you'll never go back, no way
Just when you thought it was safe
That you could never fall in love again
Just when you thought it was safe
Look what I got'cha thinkin' of again
It's not a crime to change your mind
People do
It's not so bad, it's easy to
You never know when love will show you the way
You don't belong to yesterday
Just when (oh boy) you thought it was safe
You didn't know what hit ya
Now, did ya?
Ha, ha, ha, yeah, yeah, oh baby
I got'cha thinkin'
Now didn't I, now didn't I
Now didn't I, boy?
Trying hard to be cool
But my love's getting through
You're in trouble
I bet'cha my love is surely gonna get'cha, baby
Just when you thought it was safe
You've been runnin' and hidin'
Slippin' and a-slidin' no more
Just when you thought it was safe
It's not safe
That you could never fall in love again
Just when you thought it was safe
You're in love
Look what I got'cha thinkin' of again
I got'cha thinkin' now, didn't I?
Now I got'cha wonderin', now don't I?
Oh, I got'cha thinkin'
I got'cha thinkin'
My love is gonna get'cha
Looks like my love is getting through
In the song "Safe," Natalie Cole sings about a man who has been hurt in love before and is hesitant to try again. He falls for her but keeps his feelings hidden, trying to play it cool. However, Natalie senses the heat between them and encourages him to let go of his fear and take a chance on love again. The lyrics suggest that love is unpredictable but worth the risk, and that people should not be held back by their past experiences.
The first verse talks about how the man has been hurt before and did not expect to get caught up in love again. The second verse shows how Natalie is trying to give him the confidence to embrace love once more. In the chorus, she emphasizes that falling in love is not safe, but it's not a crime to change your mind and try again.
The bridge speaks to the idea that people should not hold on to past hurt and should instead focus on the present and the future. Finally, Natalie emphasizes that her love is going to get him, and he won't be able to resist her for long.
Overall, "Safe" encourages listeners to take risks and not let past experiences hold them back from experiencing love and happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
She broke your heart
Someone caused you deep emotional pain
You fell apart
You were unable to cope with the pain
Boy, you didn't know what hit ya
You were taken by surprise by the pain and its intensity
You never thought that you'd get caught
You trusted that your actions would not have negative consequences
Doing it again
Repeating the same mistake
Now, did ya?
You did not anticipate being caught and questioned about your actions
So hard to get so cool and yet
It is challenging to maintain a facade of indifference and detachment
You're lovin' it and you know it
You secretly enjoy the thrill of the forbidden
Cause when we meet
When we are together
We feel the heat
There is a strong attraction between us
Trying so hard not to show it
Suppressing emotions to appear unaffected
In the arms of romance
Experiencing deep feelings of love and passion
You say you'll never go back, no way
You vow not to return to a state of emotional vulnerability
Just when you thought it was safe
Just when you believed you were emotionally guarded
That you could never fall in love again
When you believed you would never experience romantic feelings
Look what I got'cha thinkin' of again
I made you reconsider the possibility of falling in love
It took a while to make you smile
It took time and effort to make you happy
Hard as you try, you can't deny
Despite your attempts to resist, you cannot ignore your emotions
That you're ready now
You are emotionally prepared for a romantic relationship
Would I kid ya?
Would I lie to you?
So take the reins and break the chains
Take control of your life and overcome your emotional barriers
No, you can't hold back forever
You cannot suppress your emotions indefinitely
You're in control, you're on a roll
You have regained control over your emotions and are making progress
And the timing won't get no better
The present moment is the best time to act
It's not a crime to change your mind
It is acceptable to alter your perspective or actions
People do
It is a common occurrence
It's not so bad, it's easy to
It is not difficult or harmful to change one's mindset
You never know when love will show you the way
Love can guide and direct one's life in unexpected ways
You don't belong to yesterday
You are not restricted by your past experiences or decisions
You've been runnin' and hidin'
You have been avoiding your emotions
Slippin' and a-slidin' no more
You are no longer evading or ignoring your emotions
You're in love
You are experiencing romantic feelings
I got'cha thinkin' now, didn't I?
I made you rethink your emotional barriers
Now I got'cha wonderin', now don't I?
I have piqued your interest and curiosity
Oh, I got'cha thinkin'
I have impacted your thoughts and feelings
My love is gonna get'cha
My affection will affect and influence you
Looks like my love is getting through
It appears that my romantic feelings are being reciprocated
Contributed by Emma B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Rose speaks truth!! like it is!!!
⭐✨⭐✨ Wonderful 😊