No One (2007) – Alicia Keys

I was thinkin’ ’bout Alicia Keys, couldn’t keep from crying
But she was born in Hell’s Kitchen, I was living down the line
I’m wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be
I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee

Bob Dylan – Thunder on the Mountain

It was Keys’ record label mate John Mayer that initially told her about the song.

“He texted me saying, ‘You’re never gonna believe this…Bob Dylan wrote a song about you.‘ It’s a mind-blower and an honor. And then another part of me is wondering what he was thinking,” Keys tells Mojo magazine.

“Maybe he read something about me and it said when I was born and he got to thinking where he was in his life back then,” she continues. “I’m not sure what line he was living down then, but I know he knows, and he knows what it all means.“

The media-shy Dylan hasn’t exactly been quick to clarify exactly how or why Keys became such a central part of ‘Thunder On The Mountain‘. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he told the magazine that after having been on a Grammy Awards show with Keys, he reportedly told himself ‘There’s nothing about that girl I don’t like.‘”

Being a Dylan fan, Keys was humbled with his paying homage to her.  She even covered his 1980 song ‘Pressing On‘ (from ‘Saved‘) for a music documentary.

“I’m glad I’m in Bob Dylan’s songbook…I hope to meet him one day.“

• What’s it Like When Bob Dylan Writes About You? Alicia Keys Explains – Ultimate Classic Rock

A bit like how Dylan was impressed, I was gobsmacked when I heard Alicia Keys sing this song. I still love hearing it. It was recorded for her third studio album As I Am.

From Wikipedia in the article below:

“No One” topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks and also reached number one in Croatia, Hungary and Switzerland, while charting within the top ten in 18 additional countries. It was the third most successful song of 2008 in Brazil and the United States, and was the most listened song on US radio, with 3.08 billion listeners. It was also the sixth most successful song of the 2000s decade in the US. 

[Verse 1]
I just want you close
Where you can stay forever
You can be sure
That it will only get better

[Pre-Chorus]
You and me together
Through the days and nights
I don’t worry ’cause
Everything’s gonna be alright
People keep talking, they can say what they like
But all I know is everything’s gonna be alright

[Chorus]
No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I’m feelin’
No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I feel for you, you, you
Can get in the way of what I feel for you

[Verse 2]
When the rain is pouring down
And my heart is hurting
You will always be around
This I know for certain

Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981) in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Columbia Records. Keys made her film debut in the action-thriller film Smokin’ Aces and performed the theme song to the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, with the single “Another Way to Die” (with Jack White) a year later….Keys has sold over 90 million records worldwide, making her one of the world’s best-selling music artists.

Keys spent more time in Harlem during her teenage years. She connected with the cultural and racial diversity in the neighborhood, where she expanded upon her musical exploration, and her character was also solidified:

“Harlem raised me in a lot of ways. “[It] taught me how to think fast, how to play the game … taught me leadership, how to get out of bad situations when you need to, how to hold my own.”

References:
1. No One (Alicia Keys song) – Wikipedia