Nobody's Supposed To Be Here

Album: One Wish (1998)
Charted: 55 2
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this song, Deborah Cox has given up on love, only to get reeled back in by a guy who wins her heart. "How did you get here?" she asks, wondering how he got through her defenses.
  • The biggest hit for Deborah Cox, "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here" spent 14 weeks at #1 on the R&B chart, making it the longest running #1 in the Billboard R&B chart history during the rock era. The record was tied in 2005 by Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" and broken the following year by Mary J Blige's "Be Without You." The record in the pre-rock era is 18 weeks, held by "The Honeydripper (Parts 1 and 2)" by Joe Liggins and His Honeydrippers (1945) and "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five (1946).
  • This spent eight weeks at #2 on the Hot 100 but failed to get to the top position.
  • This was written by Def Soul artist Montell Jordan and Anthony "Shep" Crawford. The duo also wrote Sisquo's 2000 US chart-topper "Incomplete." Montell Jordan had a solo #1 hit with "This Is How We Do It" in 1995.
  • Deborah Cox married Lascelles Stephenson on April 22, 1998 and they went on have three children together. She told ABC Audio in 2020 the song tells her story of how she feels when in love.

    Cox added that as the years have gone by, she understands its meaning even more. "You go through this period as you grow and evolve as a person where you shut your heart down because you don't want to be heartbroken anymore," she explained. "You don't want your hopes and dreams that you have in certain people or certain things, you don't want that shattered. So you take a step back, take a moment and take care of yourself. That's when you least expect the love of your life to come along or for a great opportunity to come along."

    Cox concluded she found love when she implemented "trust... faith and lean on something that isn't there."

    She said: "That's usually when God brings these incredible blessings and these things into your life that you know are undeniably his work."
  • The song won the 1998 Soul Train Award for Best R&B/Soul Single-Female and the 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Award for Best R&B/Soul Song of the Year.
  • Cox became the first Canadian to top the Billboard R&B chart when this went to #1.

Comments: 1

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn this day in 1998 {November 29th} "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here" by Deborah Cox peaked at #2 {for 8 weeks} on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart, the first six weeks it was at #2, the #1 record for those six weeks was "I'm Your Angel" by R. Kelly and Celine Dion, and for weeks seven and eight, "Have You Ever?" by Brandy was in the top spot...
    Also at the time the song was in it's fifth of fourteen weeks at #1 on Hot Black Singles chart...
    Between 1995 and 2008 the Toronto, Canada native had twelve records on the Hot Black Singles chart, three made the Top 10 with two reaching #1, the above "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here" and "We Can't Be Friends"* for one week in October of 1999...
    Deborah Cox celebrated her 45th birthday four months ago on July 13th, 2019...
    * "We Can't Be Friends" was a duet with R.L. from Next...
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

Daniel Lanois

Daniel LanoisSongwriter Interviews

Daniel Lanois on his album Heavy Sun, and the inside stories of songs he produced for U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.

Christmas Songs

Christmas SongsFact or Fiction

Rudolf, Bob Dylan and the Singing Dogs all show up in this Fact or Fiction for seasonal favorites.

History Of Rock

History Of RockSong Writing

An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.

Boz Scaggs

Boz ScaggsSongwriter Interviews

The "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle" singer makes a habit of playing with the best in the business.

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.