Paula Cole was one of the many female singer-songwriters that rose to prominence in the mid-'90s in the wake of alternative's commercial breakthrough. Drawing heavily from the ethereal, pretty sound of Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos, Cole created songs that relied equally on dreamy melodies and poetic, introspective lyrics.

Cole was born and raised in Rockport, Massachusetts, the daughter of an amateur musician and a visual artist. Following her high graduation, she went to the Berklee College of Music to study jazz singing and improvisation. After she graduated from Berklee, Cole became a professional musican in order to make a living; she continued to write original material on the side.

Her first big break arrived when Peter Gabriel invited her to perform on his 1992-93 world tour. Shortly afterward, she signed to Imago Records, where she released he debut album, Harbinger, in 1994. Within a year of the album's release, Imago went out of business, which prevented the record from getting exposure on radio and in the press. In 1995, she signed to Warner Brothers, who reissued Harbinger in the fall of that year. Cole returned with her second album, This Fire, in October of 1996. The album and its accompanying single, "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?, " became word-of-mouth hits, breaking through into the mainstream in the spring of 1997. That summer, Cole participated in the first Lilith Fair, a traveling festival Sarah McLachlan designed to showcase female artists. Cole was one of the performers to receive a significant boost of profile from the tour, and was the subject of many articles in the mainstream press.