San
Bix Beiderbecke;Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra Lyrics

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It only takes a tiny corner of
This great big world to make a place you love
My home up on the hill
I find I love you still
I've been away but now I'm back to tell you

San Francisco
Open your golden gate

You let no stranger wait outside your door
San Francisco
Here is your wandering one
Saying I'll wander no more
Other places only make me love you best
Tell me you're the heart of all the golden west

San Francisco
Welcome me home again

I'm coming home
To go roaming no more

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to "San Francisco" by Bix Beiderbecke and Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra speak of the love for a city, in this case, San Francisco. This love is compared to the love for a person, as the singer finds that even though they have been away, they still love the city just as much as they did before they left. They describe the city as welcoming and open, allowing no strangers to wait outside its doors. The singer also acknowledges that San Francisco is the heart of the golden west, and no other place can compare.

The chorus speaks directly to San Francisco, asking the city to open its golden gate and welcome the singer back home. The singer promises that they will no longer wander, and that they are coming home for good. The closing line, "To go roaming no more," emphasizes the commitment to the city and the decision to stay put and make it their permanent home.

Line by Line Meaning

It only takes a tiny corner of
The world is huge, but sometimes, all it takes is a small, meaningful part of it to create a place that you cherish.

This great big world to make a place you love
Although the world seems immense, even the tiniest part of it can be the place where you find happiness and love.

My home up on the hill
Referring to a particular home or place located on a hill that holds a special meaning to the person.

I find I love you still
Implies that love doesn't necessarily change, even if someone has been away for some time. This may be addressed to a person or a place.

I've been away but now I'm back to tell you
After being away for some time, the person has returned and wants to express something important to someone or something.

San Francisco
The title of the song, which refers to the city itself.

Open your golden gate
Inviting San Francisco to open its arms and welcome the person in a warm and hospitable way.

You let no stranger wait outside your door
San Francisco is known for being welcoming and hospitable, especially to outsiders or strangers.

Here is your wandering one
The person considers themselves to be a wanderer, but at this moment, they find themselves in San Francisco.

Saying I'll wander no more
The person is expressing a sense of finality, indicating that they have found themselves in a place that feels like home and they no longer feel the need to wander or look for another place to settle down.

Other places only make me love you best
The person may have visited other places, but they realize that San Francisco is the place they truly love the most.

Tell me you're the heart of all the golden west
Asking San Francisco to reveal that it is the epicenter of the American West, with its deeply rooted history and culture.

Welcome me home again
The person is asking for a welcoming and warm reception from San Francisco, as if they're coming back to their own home.

I'm coming home
The person excitedly declares that they're returning to a place that holds special meaning to them, and that they are looking forward to reuniting with it.

To go roaming no more
Finally declaring that they have found a home, and now they are embracing that sense of belonging. They feel like they don't need to roam around anymore to find a place where they belong.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Walter Jurmann, Gus Kahn, Bronislaw Kaper

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

@j.walker6845

4y↑5

Something about Bix is so understated and powerful, really touches your heart

@bernardmeyre

2y↑3

I dont know why but this is one of my alltime favourite jazz number!
So dynamic, bouncy, energetic, joyful, melodic, subtle, inspired ...

@jimthompson606

21w

Me too!

@jeffreycraven8154

5y↑4

Best I ever heard Bix sound! Really enjoyed hearing this!

@jeffcraven7376

Bix's piano solo "In a Mist " and "San" here are included in my dozen favorite recordings of all time. Consider getting Wynton Marsalis's CD "Bolden", now that's also honey to my ears. Dancer, Sharon Davis on this site doing "The Charleston", now that's also my kind of music and her smile will knock you out.

@jeffcraven7376

Sorry, what I'm talking about is called "Sharon Davis: Charleston Showcase", & the tune is "After You've Gone".

@agustine.alvarez9832

5y↑6

Uno de los mejores arreglos de Bill Challis, y muy avanzado para la època.

@oldtimedrumcorps

15w

The more I listen the more I'm struck by how good Bix is at this his age . I also noticed the cymbal tap introduction after each soloists phrase setting up the next solo or duet with different voicing. Im struck by the complexity of the parts and how they are spot on in execution . Most of the repetitive parts are changed from a standard melody riff to an ending of jazz notation not expected. The trills that Bix uses sends chills. To me this is a lesson in music itself ,composition style, Many of the phrases are so incredibly difficult that short of professional it would be very difficult to execute. Bix is very bright on this this and ensemble upbeat tempo . Beautiful soft solo passages clarinet, guitar, bass sax, violin, are countered then by Bix introducing his wake up in the next phrase . absolute perfection in Whiteman style and player expertise

@oldtimedrumcorps

12y↑11

Ya know I have heard this tune many times and have tried to whistle Bix's part . I can get close but he always does something somewhere that I cant get. He's all over the map on this . Makes me want to take up playing again. Bix and Boys . The cats pajamas.

@SuperIliad

6y↑8

"San" persists as a humdinger!

@uhlr

15y↑3

I love the bass sax solo and in the background.

@JonathanHolmesjazz

12y↑9

This was recorded with a very early microphone in the Victor studio, New York. It's likely the orchestra was placed around the microphone so that the sound was just right - so this literally involved placing louder instruments further away and quieter ones closer to the microphone. A lot of science went in to placements of the time!

@randyknight00

12y↑4

Enjoyed this immensely!

@leocosentino137

6y↑4

bix que maestro

@cristinaprisa3634

Que maravilla.

@msjazzmeblues

Terrific restoration, Jonathan! You da man!

@spacemissing

I have the Proper Box set (#66) of Bix. He was so, SO good.

@dianajohannessen33

9y↑3

Oh and that's the wonderful Min Leibrook on base sax. —Dooley

@TuanBasikal

Min Leibrook played tuba in the Wolverine Orchestra. He has the distinction of being on Bix's first and last recordings.

@thendrjazz

Pappy Selph and His Blue Ridge Playboys brought this tune into Western Swing-Country Music in the 1930s with lyrics as I Want My Dime Back{Gimme My Dime Back}. It still gets played for dances etc.

@kingkoeller

11y↑5

San - Song and Lyrics by Lindsay McPhail and Walter Michels San Year 1920 Words and Music by Lindsay McPhail and Walter Michels

@agustine.alvarez9832

5y↑1

hERMOSO !!!

@leonblum7898

TOTALMENTE DE ACUERDO,ESTIMADO ''AGUSTIN''DESDE ''BUENOS AIRES--ARGENTINA

@kingkoeller

11y↑3

First Verse King San of Senegal Sat on the shore At Bulamay, Singing a sad refrain. To his dear queen who'd gone away, This was his lay. Second Verse One day the queen came home Saw San in sadness on the shore, Told him she'd no more roam. Only her San would she adore, Then came this lore.

@76trombones007

13y↑2

Best version I have ever heard. Can someone please help me. I have an RCA Camden LP CAL-446 with this cut plus liner notes by Leonard Feather. He says the trumpet chorus was played by Bix plus Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey . Never heard that before. Rest of the players Joe venuti, Violin, Min Leibrook Bass sax, Eddie Lang, Guitar

@johncoffin9354

Both Dorsey brothers DID play cornet, especially Tommy. But that doesn't appear to have happened on this recording. Tommy wasn't in the studio and Jimmy is the only candidate for third tpt/cornet.

@msjazzmeblues

9y↑2

Diana, Whiteman's recording sessions tended to be during the working day, rather than the wee hours. (The "My Ohio Home" session was filmed at night so Paul could dramatically tear up his contract with Victor and the last stroke of midnight,) Bix may have been short on sleep here, but he doesn't sound like it on this take. He goes at it like it's the first take, which it definitely is not!

@dianajohannessen33

9y↑7

Actually (according to the most recent scholarship) that's not Venuti but Matty Malneck (who later composed "Hey Good Lookin'," ""Shangri-La," "I'll Never Be the Same," "Goody Goody" and "Stairway to the Stars") on violin here; Carl Kress, not Lang, on guitar (using banjo tuning); and Bix & Jimmy Dorsey (cornets) and Charlie Margulis (trumpet) on the horn trio, with Bix taking the lead. But Bix did lots of other memorable stuff with Lang and Venuti. Compare Bix's inspired opening solos on this and the other surviving take to see how utterly fresh he could be in his improvisations on the same song even at the same recording session. The horn trio heard here was arranged by Challis from one of Bix's (unrecorded) improvisations in performance.

@jimthompson606

Thanks for this good information.

@jeffcraven7376

AKA Jeffrey Craven above: I rather hear Joe Venuti or Stephan Grappelli but to me, the meat of this recording is Bix's cornet; BEAUTIFUL!

@oldtimedrumcorps

12y↑3

No player overplays another but perfectly compliments the soloist. The sound man and recording tehnique is unreal. Does anyone know how this was done? Along w/ shear musical perfection.

@TuanBasikal

15w

One microphone, the engineer placed the band members for sound balance, and they had to walk up to the mic to take solos, while playing. No editing or alteration after recording. Direct to a wax disc so they couldn't even play it back to hear how it went.

@marvinmuoneke6277

10y↑4

Whiteman recorded the same arrangement again with Capitol Records in 1945. It's really good. But this is the best!!

@TheBeiderbecke

13y↑2

To 76trombones: There is an alternate take of this song that has the Dorcey brothers playing with Bix. That session kicks this one's ass, if you can imagine that being possible. I'm not 100% sure if they play on this one.

@adrianheenan268

JIMMY DORSEY COULD ALSO PLAY TRUMPET

@michaeljayklein500

9y↑2

One of my all-time Whiteman sides. Look at all the talent here. Every soloist here inspired and spawned a whole generation of great jazz players. I don't feel Venuti, Lang or Challis ever got the fame they deserved.

@adrianheenan268

the guitarist here is the great karl kress

@valentinkuzmin9810

Бигс байдербек был одним из выдающихся музыкантов своего времени но как и все они прожил короткую жизнь( спился)

@dianajohannessen33

9y↑8

The same personnel play on the alternate cut that survives, which was stuck on the shelf because the musicians, in their exuberance, are slightly unsynchronized in the opening bars. But Bix's solo here, though quite different, is beautiful in its own way. It's a reminder of how much of his brilliant improvisation probably ended up being scrapped (or never released) because somebody screwed up and the take had to be scrapped. The amazing thing is that these guys, often recording in a cold studio in the early morning hours after having been up all night, were able, again and again, to pull off such memorable recordings with rarely m ore than two or three takes—as opposed to today's musicians and recording engineers who may do twenty and then mix and re-mix tracks until they've got a version they want to release. These guys were good. —Dennis Dooley

@michaelshoshani3230

9y↑3

Diana Johannessen Hi Dennis, actually the other take (Take 6) is the original issue. It came out on HMV in England in 1928, but for reasons that no one knows today, San was not issued on Victor (catalog number 24078) in America until 1933, five years after it was recorded. This version is Take 7, and was issued in 1936 by Victor (as catalog number 25367) on a Bix tribute album of either 3 or 4 78s. Since the two takes were given different catalog numbers, chances are they were both in print simultaneously for a brief time.

@blackbirdsocietyorchestra8471

I'm not an authority but I do know that Lang joined Whiteman in 1929 and this song was recorded in 1928....

@jeffreycraven8154

@@michaelshoshani3230 I've forgotten more than I know, but your right. Use to be a jazz authority. Bix is fierce and on top of the world in this recording.

@jassW

30w↑1

I believe this is take 7. In this one, you can hear Bill Rank sneak into the first written ensemble. I also think Bix is left alone for a phrase in a later ensemble. I also hear distortion in the final out chorus, so I'm wondering if both were released, or this one later. I'm familiar with take 6, which I had transcribed some years ago. In that one, the tempo feels a bit frantic, and bass sax less well recorded. Fascinating to hear the difference between the two takes, the subtle differences in their solos and improvised ensemble work.. Bill Rank, a hero of mine, does some different things in this take, Rollini's bass sax is almost identical to that of the previous take, but he's clearly taking liberties, pushing things along. He's instantly recognizable in style although other recordings feature bass sax playing in a similar vein. He's the most propulsive, lively player on the thing (though you don't hear that same fire when he's playing piano, or vibes).. I've read that Bill Challis, the arranger, was notoriously late in getting his work out. In this case, that he showed up to the studio with it at the day of recording. It tells you how incredible these musicians were to have developed such perfect ensemble playing, solos, more or less on the spot (although I suppose it could be that they had been playing the tune on their own, had worked out some things? Someone else might be able to triangulate publication date of the tune, and this recording).

@dianajohannessen33

Sorry, I'm responsible for the foregoing comments (beginning "Actually..."), not Diana J. —Dennis Dooley

@msjazzmeblues

4y↑1

Carl Kress on guitar, according to Jean Pierre Lion.

@anonymous203020

FYI San was composed by Walter Michels and Lyndsey McPhail

@oldtimedrumcorps

11y

Great, I want to put the words to the music. Can you break it down so I may follow ? Your the Cats Pajamas. Ha Cha!

@kingkoeller

11y

Chorus 2 Oh, sweet heart Lona, my darling Lona, Have you come back to stay? You said you loved me, I knew you loved me, I knew you'd | come some day. If I had ever been untrue to you, What you have done would be the thing to do; But now you're mine, dear, For all the time, dear, And you're forgiven by your loving San!

@kingkoeller

11y

Chorus Oh, sweet heart Lona, my darling Lona, Why have you gone away? You said you loved me, But if you loved me, Why did you act this way? If I had ever been untrue to you, What you have done would be the thing to do; But my heart aches, dear, And it will break, dear, If you don't come back home again to San!