Her debut album Come Away with Me was released in 2002 and sold 26 million copies worldwide. It won 5 Grammy Awards in 2003. This album was produced by Arif Mardin.
Her second album, Feels Like Home, with folk tendency, is the highest-selling album in the history of Blue Note Records with over a million copies sold within the first week. Norah Jones was listed among the most influential people of 2004 by the Time Magazine.
On January 30, 2007 Norah Jones released her third album, Not Too Late - a collection of 13 original songs, itunes includes a bonus live track of the song Sinkin' Soon. This was the most pre-ordered album of all time on Amazon.com.
Her fourth studio album, The Fall, was released on November 17, 2009.
Her fifth studio album ...Little Broken Hearts was released on May 1, 2012 and she collaborated with Danger Mouse for its production. The Happy Pills Songfacts reports that the album was recorded at Danger Mouse's Los Angeles studio during the fall of 2011. The record was co-written by Jones and Danger Mouse, with the pair handling the majority of the instrumentals. Jones teamed up with the producer after she contributed vocals to his Rome project with Daniele Luppi.
The daughter of Beatles-influencing sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, Jones doesn't closely follow any particular genre, rather she brings her unique jazzy flavor to songs with roots in country, folk, Americana, and modern light jazz, pop and rock.
The Prettiest Thing
Norah Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I ever did see
Was lightning from the top of a cloud
Moving through the dark a million miles an hour
With somewhere to be
So why does it seem
Like a picture
Lately I just haven't been myself at all
It's heavy on my mind
I'm dreamin' again
Like I've always been
And way down low
I know
The prettiest thing
I ever did see
Was dusty as the handle on the door
Rusty as a nail stuck in the old pine floor
Looks like home to me
I'm dreamin' again
Like I've always been
And way down low
I'm thinkin' of the prettiest thing
In the song, Norah Jones describes two different things that she finds beautiful - lightning and something that appears to be old, worn out and rustic, like the handle of a door or a nail stuck in the floor. While she finds these things beautiful and meaningful, she also feels disconnected from them in some way, as if they are something that belongs to someone else.
She feels weighed down by this sense of disconnection and it occupies her thoughts. In the chorus, she expresses her desire to escape her current state of mind and to retreat to the dream world. At the same time, she also recognizes that her connection to these beautiful things, whether they be things of nature or things that appear unremarkable, is something that she has always felt deeply.
The song seems to be a reflection on the nature of beauty and the way in which we can find it in unexpected and overlooked places. Jones is using her personal experience to highlight how our emotional connection to something can make it beautiful, even if it may not appear so to others.
Line by Line Meaning
The prettiest thing
Norah recalls something beautiful that caught her attention
I ever did see
It is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen
Was lightning from the top of a cloud
She describes the beauty of the lightning bolt from a cloud
Moving through the dark a million miles an hour
The speed of the lightning is so astonishing that it touches her heart
With somewhere to be
It seems like the lightning has a destination to reach
So why does it seem
Norah is trying to question herself
Like a picture
She compares her emotions to a photograph
Hanging up on someone else's wall
Her emotions seem to be owned by someone else who is not her
Lately I just haven't been myself at all
She feels like she has been different lately and out of character
It's heavy on my mind
It's been weighing on her mind quite heavy
I'm dreamin' again
Norah is referring to the concept of being lost in a daydream
Like I've always been
She has always been a dreamer
And way down low
This is something she doesn't want others to know
I know
She knows the thing she is missing out on or yearning for
The prettiest thing
Norah redirects the listener's attention to another instance of beauty
I ever did see
Just like the earlier beautiful sight, this is something that captures her heart
Was dusty as the handle on the door
She finds beauty in simple, rustic things
Rusty as a nail stuck in the old pine floor
The image of something old and rusty is another example of something beautiful to her
Looks like home to me
Something familiar can be found in these simple things and reminds her of comfort and nostalgia
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: LEE ALEXANDER, NORAH JONES, RICHARD JULIAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Anonymous
on I Turned Your Picture to the Wall
Down by the Riverside - Noah Wall - Lyrics
I’m gonna lay down my heavy load,
Down by the riverside,
Oh yeah
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside
I’m gonna lay down my heavy load,
Down by the riverside,
I’m gonna study war no more
I ain’t a gonna study war no more,
I ain’t a gonna study war no more
I ain’t a gonna study war no more,
No I ain’t a gonna study war no more
I ain’t a gonna study war no more,
I ain’t a gonna study war no more
I’m gonna put on my long white robe,
Down by the riverside
Oh yeah
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside
I’m gonna put on my long white robe,
Down by the riverside
I’m gonna study war no more
I ain’t a gonna study war no more,
I ain’t a gonna study war no more
I ain’t a gonna study war no more,
I ain’t a gonna study war no more
I ain’t a gonna study war no more,
I ain’t a gonna study war no more
Musical Interlude
Well, I’m gonna lay down my sword and shield,
Down by the riverside
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside
I’m gonna lay down my sword and shield,
Down by the riverside
I’m gonna study war no more
I ain’t a gonna study war no more,
I ain’t a gonna study war no more
I ain’t a gonna study war no more,
I ain’t a gonna study war no more
I ain’t a gonna study war no more,
Anonymous
on The Nearness of You
The Nearness Of You - Camille Thurman -Lyrics
Its not the pale moon that excites me
That thrills and delights me, oh no
Its just the nearness of you
It isn't your sweet conversation
That brings this sensation, oh no
Its just the nearness of you
When you're in my arms
And I feel you so close to me
All my wildest dreams do come true
I need no soft lights to enchant me
If you'll only grant me
The right to hold you ever so tight
And to feel in the night
The nearness of you
Saxophone Musical Interlude
I need no soft lights to enchant me
If you'll only grant me
The right to hold you ever so tight
And to feel in the night
The nearness, the nearness of you