Search - Norah Jones :: What Am I to You

What Is Norah To You?!

Busy Body | London, England | 06/27/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There aren't many musicians who can release a debut album and go on to become one of the biggest superstars of the past decade in the space of a year. Norah Jones is clearly an exception to the rule. Her debut album "Come Away With Me" was released in the spring of 2002 and went no where for about a year. Few critics even knew it was on shelves and only a handful of music industry insiders knew her name. This all changed when the hype began to build and in February 2003, Norah Jones picked up a staggering 8 Grammy awards for the album - a record for a female artist. Suddenly Norah was big news and the album gradually ascended to the No.1 spot all over the world; suddenly jazz was cool; suddenly America had a new idol; suddenly, people began to wonder how such a young lady could make such simple music and break all the records and rules...The album has since topped the charts in both the US and UK and just been certified for US sales of 9 million copies. Worldwide sales stand at 18 million and despite this success, Norah has many critics. Some can't believe her international fame and believe her as nothing more than a jazz/country wannabe with hardly anything to show for it. How wrong they are! Norah's voice is amazingly powerful and extremely soulful. She's chilled out and cool and people can listen to her music easily which is why she appeals to a phenomenally vast market. She also happens to be stunning in appearance, and that always helps. Come Away With Me is now a classic in modern music, a landmark of the times and is still going strong selling hundreds of thousands of copies around the world, with no sign of slowing down!Norah's latest album, "Feels Like Home," was one of the most anticipated in recent years and sold a staggering 1 million copies in its first week in American alone upon its Febrary 2004 release. It is now officially the second fastest-selling female album in terms of first-week sales, after Britney's "Oops!...I Did It Again" from May 2000. The album has been certified for sales of 4 million in the US after just three months and it shows no signs of slowing down. This album will be in the Top 40 all year!The second single to be taken from the album was the beautiful "What Am I To You?" After the delicate and calming "Sunrise," this is a perfect follow up. It opens with a soft country guitar and the drums kick in as Norah sings the first verse, "What am I to you? Tell me darlin' true. To me you are the sea. Vast as you can be. And deep the shade of blue." Norah then sings, "When you're feelin' low to who else do you go? I'd cry if you hurt. I'd give you my last shirt. Because I love you so." Norah then sings my favourite part of the song. She sings, "Now if my sky should fall. Would you even call? I've opened up my heart. I never wanna part. I'm givin' you the ball."Norah then sings, "When I look in your eyes. I can feel the butterflies. I'll love you when you're blue. But tell me darlin' true. What am I to you?" An instrumental then plays, before Norah repeats my favourite section, but her vocals have more emphasis and this enhances the song's overall mood. Norah then sings, "When I look in your eyes. I can feel the butterflies. Could you find a love in me? Would you carve me in a tree? Don't fill my heart with lies. I will love you when you're blue. Tell me darlin' true. What am I too you?" The song then ends and in three and a half minutes you've just experienced a very simple but satisfying country/jazz classic from Norah Jones! I haven't see a video for this single, and I honestly don't think that one has been made. Norah Jones doesn't need to promote her material - people buy it anyway. Videos and promotional tours are not needed because she's selling millions of albums all over the world. It must be nice to have a career like that. Just think, Norah Jones will go on to become an American legend. Her music has touched so many people even though it's so simple, and her place in music history because of this is secure."

Sublime (as always)...

Adam Teak Lagowski | Ontario, Canada | 08/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Norah Jones: International mega star with 25 million albums sold worldwide and sold-out tours around the globe, and she's done it all without once taking her top off for the guys! Now that's impressive ;) Norah, once again, seemlessly blends blues, jazz, folk pop and bluegrass into 2 gorgeous tunes. As much as I love "What Am I to You?" ~ "Sleepless Nights," like the "Sunrise" b-side, the gorgeous gem "Moon Song," is sweet, delicate ear candy. Both of these cd singles were released in Canada, much to my delight, and the Canadian response to them has been excellent. Both "Sleepless Nights" and "Moon Song" will be featured on the re-release of FEELS LIKE HOME hitting store shelves in September 2004."