Come Away With Me

Album: Come Away With Me (2002)
Charted: 80
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This love song is the title track to Norah Jones' debut album, released in 2002 when she was just 22. A patient, peaceful song, it finds Jones singing about a romantic escape where the only thing that matters is that they're together. At the time, Jones was dating her bass player, Lee Alexander.
  • "Come Away With Me" is one of three songs Jones wrote on the album, which was produced by the legendary Arif Mardin (Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan) and released on the jazz label Blue Note Records. Jones had final say on the tracklist and left off a number of songs she wrote herself, going with songs written by her collaborators instead. Her guitarist, Jesse Harris, has five songs on the album, including the lead single, "Don't Know Why."
  • The Come Away With Me album is a rare massive seller with no big hits. The only song to land in the Hot 100 was "Don't Know Why," which made #30. "Come Away with Me" was the third single, released in December 2002 after the album had been out for nine months. By this time, it has already sold millions of copies, but many were just discovering it. In February 2003, it took Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards, one of five wins for Jones that night. The album ended up selling 10 million in America to go Diamond, a certification more familiar to acts like the Bee Gees and Backstreet Boys.
  • The music video was directed by James Frost, whose work includes Radiohead's "House of Cards" and Coldplay's "Yellow." It shows Jones driving what appears to be the 1971 Cadillac DeVille that played a very important role in her life (we're not sure if it's the real one or a replica, but it has Texas plates). Jones' mother bought her the oversized vehicle when they were living in Texas and Norah needed to commute for work. The car was pretty much indestructible, so it was a safe choice.

    When Jones was a student at the University of North Texas, she let a friend borrow the car to transport a band that was in town from New York City. This band and their crew ended up hanging out with Jones, and one of them, Jesse Harris, stayed in touch. When Jones moved to New York to pursue music, she started collaborating with Harris and one of the other guys from that trip to Texas bought the car. For Jones, the vehicle is a symbol of her Texas roots and of her life journey.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

When Rock Belonged To Michelob

When Rock Belonged To MichelobSong Writing

Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.

Mike Campbell

Mike CampbellSongwriter Interviews

Mike is lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and co-writer of classic songs like "Boys Of Summer," "Refugee" and "The Heart Of The Matter."

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?

Best Band Logos

Best Band LogosSong Writing

Queen, Phish and The Stones are among our picks for the best band logos. Here are their histories and a design analysis from an expert.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?