Coolidge's early career was as a backing vocalist, for artists such as Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, and Leon Russell. Her performance of "Superstar" on the Cocker/Russell Mad Dogs and Englishmen album helped gain her attention. She became known as "The Delta Lady" and inspired Leon Russell to write a song of the same name for her. It was during this time that she met Kris Kristofferson; the two married in 1973. With him, she recorded several duet albums which sold well, and earned them a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1974 for From the Bottle to the Bottom, and in 1976 for Lover Please.
In 1997, Coolidge was one of the founding members of Walela, a Native American music trio, that also includes Coolidge's sister Priscilla and Priscilla's daughter Laura Satterfield. The trio released albums in 1997 and 2000. Walela means hummingbird in Cherokee.
I Thought About You
Rita Coolidge Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That out of sight is out of mind
Maybe that's so but I tried to go
And leave you behind, what did I find
I took a trip on the train
And I thought about you,
I passed a shadowy lane
Two or three cars parked under the stars
A winding stream
Moon shining down on some little town
And with each beam, same old dream
At every stop that we made
Oh, I thought about you
But when I pulled down the shade
Then I really felt blue,
I peeked through the crack
And looked at the track
The one going back to you
And what did I do
I thought about you
The lyrics of Rita Coolidge's song "I Thought About You" talk about the feelings of someone who has tried to move on from a past love, but finds that they can’t escape those memories. The song begins by referencing the saying "out of sight is out of mind," which suggests that when you can’t see something or someone, you forget about them. The singer reveals that they have tried to adopt this mindset, but feel differently. They went on a train journey, but couldn't help thinking about their past love at every station. The lyrics are filled with imagery, for example, referencing "a winding stream, moon shining down on some little town," which adds to the mood of the song.
The song is such a relatable tune to anyone who has ever struggled to forget about an old flame. Even once we try to move away, memories and connections will still resurface from time to time. It seems that the singer has tried to leave their former significant other in the past, but every corner they turned reminded them of the love that they once shared.
Line by Line Meaning
Seems that I read, or somebody said
It appears to me that I read it somewhere or heard someone say it
That out of sight is out of mind
It is a common belief that people tend to forget things when they cannot see them
Maybe that's so but I tried to go
Perhaps it is true, but I made an attempt to leave
And leave you behind, what did I find
And leave you behind, what did I discover
I took a trip on the train
I went on a journey aboard a train
And I thought about you,
And I reflected on you
I passed a shadowy lane
I went by a dark alley
And I thought about you,
And I remembered you
Two or three cars parked under the stars
A couple of vehicles parked beneath the stars
A winding stream
A sinuous body of water
Moon shining down on some little town
The moon illuminating a small town
And with each beam, same old dream
And with each ray, the same recurring vision
At every stop that we made
At each stop we made
Oh, I thought about you
Oh, I reminisced about you
But when I pulled down the shade
But when I lowered the curtain
Then I really felt blue,
I became truly melancholy
I peeked through the crack
I glanced through the opening
And looked at the track
And surveyed the path
The one going back to you
The one that leads back to you
And what did I do
And what did I accomplish
I thought about you
I continued to reminisce about you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: James Van Heusen, Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Mercer
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Rich Litton
Everything great here. The writing, singing, musicians--especially Mike Baird on drums. Well done.
Rebecca
Great! Love Rita Coolidge. Thanks for posting 😊
OSCAR IVAN GONZALEZ PALENCIA
DIVA , SENSACIONAL!!!!
Joao Gilberto Martins Sabino
Amazing song !!
Janie West
Great song. Great record.
Kleber Galesco
Beautiful and happy song!!!
Michael Re
Awesome song. Also, You're So Fine & Sweet Inspiration were also great songs from this album. They should have been in the AT40. They probably would have done well.
Paulo Amancio
Essa é a música!
Joe Fagan
Here's a song you don't hear every day on the radio. Probably you hear it in shopping malls or supermarkets.
Juan Carlos Guadarrama
hermosa ella y la pieza musical.