Her first album, Abbey Lincoln's Affair, A Story of a Girl in Love was released in 1956. Also that year Lincoln starred in the film The Girl Can't Help It, for which she famously wore a dress worn by Marilyn Monroe.
Lincoln sang on the 1960s landmark jazz civil rights recording, We Insist! - Freedom Now Suite in 1960 by jazz musician and Lincolns husband from 1962-1970, Max Roach. Especially since this album, Abbey Lincoln was connected to the political fight against racism in the United States.
She co-starred with Sidney Poitier and Beau Bridges in 1968's For Love of Ivy and received a 1969 Golden Globe nomination for her appearance in the film. She also starred in the 1990 Spike Lee movie Mo' Better Blues.
In 2003, she received the National Endowment for the Arts NEA Jazz Masters Award.
Lincoln died on August 14, 2010 in Manhattan at the age of 80. Although no official cause of death was given, Lincoln had suffered deteriorating health following open heart surgery in 2007. She passed away in a Manhattan nursing home.
Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
Abbey Lincoln Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The light of love comes stealing
Into a newborn day
Flaming with all the glow of sunrise
A burning kiss is sealing
A vow that all betray
And take you high to heaven
Are the passions that kill love
And let it fall to hell
So ends the story
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light that gave you glory
Will take it all away
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light of love comes stealing
Into a newborn day
Flaming with all the glow of sunrise
A burning kiss is sealing
A vow that all betray
For the passions that thrill love
And take you high to heaven
Are the passions that kill love
And let it fall to hell
So ends the story
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light that gave you glory
Will take it all away
Softly as it fades away
Softly as it fades away
Softly as it fades away
Softly as it fades away
The song "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" by Abbey Lincoln is a jazz standard that explores the fleeting nature of love and the passionate highs and lows that come with it. The lyrics describe how love comes "softly as in a morning sunrise," with the light of love stealing into a new day. The imagery is romantic and optimistic, but the lyrics take a darker turn when the singer acknowledges that the same passions that thrill love and take you high to heaven are the passions that can also kill love and let it fall to hell. The final lines suggest that this love and glory that seemed so bright moments ago will eventually fade away just as softly as it came.
The use of light as a metaphor for love is particularly noteworthy in this song. The sunrise, with all of its flaming glow, represents the passion and intensity of love, and the lyrics suggest that this fire and intensity can either seal a vow or betray it. The use of opposites is also apparent throughout the song - the softness of the sunrise is contrasted with the burning kiss, the thrill of love is contrasted with its ending, and the glory of love is contrasted with its eventual fading away.
Overall, "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" is a melancholy exploration of the highs and lows of love that understands how fleeting and temporary it can be. The use of light and opposites creates a sense of tension throughout the song, and the final lines suggest that love, like everything else in life, is subject to change.
Line by Line Meaning
Softly as in a morning sunrise
Love enters gently and gradually, like the soft morning sunlight.
The light of love comes stealing
Love arrives secretly and quietly.
Into a newborn day
Into a fresh, new start.
Flaming with all the glow of sunrise
Love is passionate and bright, like the sun's first rays.
A burning kiss is sealing
A passionate kiss seals a vow.
A vow that all betray
Many promises of love are broken.
For the passions that thrill love
The intense emotions that make love exciting and enjoyable
And take you high to heaven
Elevate and transport you to a blissful state
Are the passions that kill love
Those same intense emotions can also destroy love
And let it fall to hell
Causing love to become painful, hellish and unenjoyable
So ends the story
Thus the tale concludes
The light that gave you glory
The love that once made you feel special and happy
Will take it all away
Will destroy those feelings and the joy that love once brought.
Softly as it fades away
Quietly and gently disappearing.
Softly as it fades away
Quietly and gently disappearing.
Softly as it fades away
Quietly and gently disappearing.
Softly as it fades away
Quietly and gently disappearing.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN, II, OSCAR II HAMMERSTEIN, SIGMUND ROMBERG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alessia Amati
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light of love comes stealing
Into a newborn day
Flaming with all the glow of sunrise
A burning kiss is sealing
A vow that all betray
For the passions that thrill love
And take you high to heaven
Are the passions that kill love
And let it fall to hell
So ends the story
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light that gave you glory
Will take it all away
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light of love comes stealing
Into a newborn day
Flaming with all the glow of sunrise
A burning kiss is sealing
A vow that all betray
For the passions that thrill love
And take you high to heaven
Are the passions that kill love
And let it fall to hell
So ends the story
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light that gave you glory
Will take it all away
Softly as it fades away
Softly as it fades away
Softly as it fades away
Softly as it fades away
klawpro
Wonderful rendition... This should be required listening for young and upcoming singers - Melodically pure yet richly interpreted, personalized and caressing, free of excess and bombastic excursions, lyrically crisp and always intelligible... totally captivating and full of soul!
Alex Segal
Everything you say is true. But I think that Abbey Lincoln’s recording would be even better if she had stuck to the original lyric. She cuts out the reference to sunset in the four stanza - a cut which detracts from the lyric.
Daphne Anson
One of the greatest of the Great American Songbook.
Buzz C
i found this great singer during the corona virus pandemic 2020... wow blown away!!!!
OZ the REAL
There s a right moment for all the things...
Freeman Z
My college buddy named his pet rat after her. I forget why. That's how I knew the name... but yeah, wow! Kinda Gershwin. Oh..... Oscar wrote it. Definitely jewish blues. Don't tell anybody, but I love Jolson too.
Alex Mokori
A brilliantly rendered take on a classic jazz standard. R.I.P. Dame Abbey Lincoln...today's singers could not be a pimple on your lovely bottom. What phrasing...what subtle, yet distinct arrangement...the brushes, the piano, the trumpet...and ABBEY bringing it all together with grace and a velvet vocal. Outstanding!
Alessia Amati
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light of love comes stealing
Into a newborn day
Flaming with all the glow of sunrise
A burning kiss is sealing
A vow that all betray
For the passions that thrill love
And take you high to heaven
Are the passions that kill love
And let it fall to hell
So ends the story
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light that gave you glory
Will take it all away
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light of love comes stealing
Into a newborn day
Flaming with all the glow of sunrise
A burning kiss is sealing
A vow that all betray
For the passions that thrill love
And take you high to heaven
Are the passions that kill love
And let it fall to hell
So ends the story
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light that gave you glory
Will take it all away
Softly as it fades away
Softly as it fades away
Softly as it fades away
Softly as it fades away
TheOrionpass
Thank you miss Alessia for the lyric. Now I can sing a long with my favourite jazz singer June Christy. Greeting from Singapore :)
Anthony Flynn
evocative, moving, beautiful by one of our greatest artists