Shaw first gained critical acclaim with his "Interlude in B-flat" at a swing concert at the Imperial Theater in New York in 1935. During the Swing Era, Shaw's big band was popular with hits like "Begin the Beguine" (1938), "Stardust" (with a legendary trumpet solo by Billy Butterfield), "Back Bay Shuffle", "Moonglow", "Rosalie" and "Frenesi." He was an innovator in the big band idiom, using unusual instrumentation; "Interlude in B-flat", where he was backed with only a rhythm section and a string quartet, was one of the earliest examples of what would be later dubbed third stream.
In addition to hiring Buddy Rich, he signed Billie Holiday as his band's vocalist in 1938, becoming the first white bandleader to hire a full-time black female singer. However, after recording "Any Old Time" she left the band due to hostility from audiences in the South, as well as from music company executives who wanted a more mainstream singer. His band became enormously successful, and his playing was eventually recognized as equal to that of Benny Goodman: Longtime Duke Ellington clarinetist Barney Bigard cited Shaw as his favorite clarinet player. In response to Goodman's nickname, the "King of Swing", Shaw's fans dubbed him the "King of the Clarinet." Shaw, however, felt the titles were reversed. "Benny Goodman played clarinet. I played music," he said.
Artie Shaw and his band playing "Everything's Jumping" from Second Chorus (1940)Shaw did in fact prize innovation and exploration in music more highly than popular success and formulaic dance music, despite a string of hits which sold more than 100 million records. He fused jazz with classical music by adding strings to his arrangements, experimented with bebop, and formed "chamber jazz" groups that utilized such novel sounds as harpsichords or Afro-Cuban music.
The long series of musical groups Shaw formed included such talents as vocalists Billie Holiday, Helen Forrest and, Mel Tormé; drummers Buddy Rich and Dave Tough, guitarists Barney Kessel, Jimmy Raney, and Tal Farlow and trombonist-arranger Ray Conniff, among countless others. He composed the morose "Nightmare", with its Hassidic nuances, for his personal theme, rather than more approachable songs. In a televised interview of the 1970s, Shaw derided the often "asinine" songs that bands were compelled to play night after night even though he did write the anthem for Rav Meir Kahane's' JDL . In 1994, he told Frank Prial (The New York Times), "I thought that because I was Artie Shaw I could do what I wanted, but all they wanted was 'Begin the Beguine.'
I Poured My Heart into a Song
Artie Shaw and His Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It was the sweetest melody
I know I lost heaven 'cause you were the song
Since you and I have drifted apart
Life doesn't mean a thing to me
Please come back, sweet music, I know I was wrong
You know that we were meant to be more than just friends, just friends
I let a song go out of my heart
Believe me, darlin', when I say
I won't know sweet music until you return some day
I let a song go out of my heart
Believe me, darlin', when I say
I won't know sweet music until you return some day
The lyrics of "I Poured My Heart into a Song" by Artie Shaw and His Orchestra, speaks of a heartbroken lover who lost "heaven" as his lost love was the "song" that he poured his heart into. The mourning lover highlights the emptiness he feels, and how without his love, life does not have any meaning to him. The lyrics express his deep regret for letting their love go, and he pleads for another chance to make amends.
The persona admits that he was wrong and asks if it's too late to make amends with the one he loves. He acknowledges that they were meant to be more than just friends and yearns for her return so that he can find sweet music once again. The song is a poignant confession of a man trying to make amends for letting go of the love that meant the world to him.
Line by Line Meaning
I let a song go out of my heart
I let go of something very important to me
It was the sweetest melody
It was something very beautiful and precious to me
I know I lost heaven 'cause you were the song
You were the reason why that beautiful thing was in my life, and now that it's gone, I feel like I've lost everything
Since you and I have drifted apart
We have grown apart from each other
Life doesn't mean a thing to me
Without you in my life, everything seems meaningless
Please come back, sweet music, I know I was wrong
I know I made a mistake and I regret it, please come back to me
Am I too late to make amends?
Is it too late for me to fix my mistake?
You know that we were meant to be more than just friends, just friends
We had a special connection that was more than just a friendship
Believe me, darlin', when I say
Please trust me when I tell you
I won't know sweet music until you return some day
I won't be able to experience anything beautiful or precious until you come back to my life
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Duke Ellington, Henry Nemo, John Redmond, Irving Mills
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@davidhess6593
Awesome singer. My all-time fav.
@jeromewiegand339
IMMORTALLY BRILLIANT WRITING OVER EIGHTY YEARS LATER !
@tyroneepps3018
This song is 🔥!
@davidhess6593
What an amazing voice!
@blevsnark3839
In addition to being a wonderfully emotional singer (just right), she has great microphone technique, carefully delivering her plosive sounds ("p," especially) without popping the mike.
@td3993
She popped it just lightly in "Deep in a Dream." Gotta love ribbon mikes.