Carmen Mercedes McRae (1920-1994) was a U.S. jazz singer, songwriter, and p… Read Full Bio ↴Carmen Mercedes McRae (1920-1994) was a U.S. jazz singer, songwriter, and pianist.

McRae was born in Harlem, New York, on the 8th April 1920, and studied piano as a child. As a teenager she came to the attention of Teddy Wilson and his wife, the composer Irene Kitchings Wilson. Through their influence, one of McRae’s early songs, "Dream of Life", was recorded by Wilson’s longtime collaborator Billie Holiday.

By the late 1940s she was well known among the modern jazz musicians who gathered at Minton's Playhouse, Harlem’s most famous jazz club, where she was the intermission pianist. But it was while working in Brooklyn that she came to the attention of Decca’s Milt Gabler. Her five year association with Decca yielded twelve LPs.

The musicians she sang with include Benny Carter, Mercer Ellington, Count Basie, Sammy Davis Jr, Dave Brubeck, and Louis Armstrong. She was married once (and briefly), to drummer Kenny Clarke.

McRae died on the 10th November 1994.

Midnight Sun
Carmen McRae Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Your lips were like a red and ruby chalice, warmer than the summer night
The clouds were like an alabaster palace rising to a snowy height.
Each star it's own aurora borealis, suddenly you held me tight,
I could see the midnight sun.

I can't explain the silver rain that found me--or was that a moonlight veil?
The music of the universe around me, or was that a nightingale?
And then your arms miraculously found me,suddenly the sky turned pale,

I could see the midnight sun.

Was there such a night, it's a thrill i still don't quite believe,
But after you were gone, there was still some stardust on my sleeve.

The flame of it may dwindle to an ember, and the stars forget to shine,
And we may see the meadow in december, icy white and crystalline.

But oh my darling always i'll remember when your lips were close to mine,
And we saw the midnight sun.

Overall Meaning

The opening lines of Carmen McRae's song "Midnight Sun" is an ode to the warmth, comfort and passion of the lover's embrace. The singer's lips are compared to a red and ruby chalice, far more overwhelming than the midsummer heat of the night. The clouds are painted as an alabaster palace, as if rising to heaven with an ethereal glow. Carmen McRae then describes how every star is like a borealis, slowly holding her, suddenly pressing her tightly so that she could see the midnight sun. In the second stanza, the singer expresses her difficulty explaining the silver rain, whether it is real or just patterns of the moonlight veil. She then hears the music of the universe or the songs of the nightingale around her. The lover's arms miraculously find her, and the sky turns pale as she can finally see the midnight sun.

Line by Line Meaning

Your lips were like a red and ruby chalice, warmer than the summer night
Your kiss was passionate and intense, igniting a fire in me that transcended the heat of the summer night.

The clouds were like an alabaster palace rising to a snowy height.
The clouds were magnificent, resembling a palace made of white stone, towering high in the sky.

Each star it's own aurora borealis, suddenly you held me tight,
The stars were so beautiful that they resembled an aurora borealis, and in that moment, you held me tightly in your arms.

I could see the midnight sun.
In that moment, everything became clear and I felt as if I could see the impossible, the midnight sun.

I can't explain the silver rain that found me--or was that a moonlight veil?
I can't explain the overwhelming feeling of happiness that came over me - was it like the sensation of the silver rain or the magic of a veil in the moonlight?

The music of the universe around me, or was that a nightingale?
I heard the music of the universe around me, filling my senses with joy - was it indeed the sound of the cosmos or perhaps the sweet song of a nightingale?

And then your arms miraculously found me,suddenly the sky turned pale,
Your embrace felt almost miraculous to me, and when you held me close, everything else around us faded into the background.

I could see the midnight sun.
Once again, I felt like I could see the impossible, the midnight sun, in that moment with you.

Was there such a night, it's a thrill i still don't quite believe,
That night seems almost too good to be true, and I still can't believe how incredible it all felt.

But after you were gone, there was still some stardust on my sleeve.
Even though you're gone now, there are still remnants of that magical night with me, like stardust that lingers on my sleeve.

The flame of it may dwindle to an ember, and the stars forget to shine,
As time passes, the memory of that night may fade and lose its intensity, and the stars may not shine as brightly as they did that evening.

And we may see the meadow in december, icy white and crystalline.
Winter may come and the meadow may become covered in ice and snow, turning it into a beautiful, crystalline wonderland.

But oh my darling always i'll remember when your lips were close to mine,
Despite the passing of time and the changing of the seasons, I will always remember that special moment when we were close and everything else faded away.

And we saw the midnight sun.
Together, we felt like we could see the impossible, the midnight sun, and that moment will stay with me forever.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Johnny Mercer, Lionel Hampton, Sonny Burke

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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