Clifford Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956), aka "Brownie," was an Am… Read Full Bio ↴Clifford Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956), aka "Brownie," was an American jazz trumpeter. He died aged 25 in a car accident, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings. Nonetheless, he had a considerable influence on later jazz trumpet players, including Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Booker Little, and Freddie Hubbard, among others. He was also a composer of note: two of his compositions, "Joy Spring" and "Daahoud", have become jazz standards.

He won the Down Beat critics' poll for the 'New Star of the Year' in 1954; he was inducted into the Down Beat 'Jazz Hall of Fame' in 1972 in the critics' poll. Sandoval described him as "one of what we call the mandatory trumpet players" who was "one of the greatest trumpet players of all time".

Wilmington, Delaware, (where Brownie was born and is buried), hosts an annual jazz fest in his honor. Sponsored by the cities arts commission known as Citifest, the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival is a FREE week long event held mostly in outdoor venues at various locations in Wilmington. The festival usually occurs the 3rd week in June of each year.

Noteable websites are:
The Clifford Brown Jazz Festival: http://www.cliffordbrownjazzfest.com
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Brown and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Brown_Jazz_Festival
Brownie, the unofficial memorial website: http://cliffordbrown.net

Blue moon
Clifford Brown Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Blue moon you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for
And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will ever hold

I heard somebody whisper "Please adore me"
And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold!
Blue moon!
Now I'm no longer alone

Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

Overall Meaning

The song "Blue Moon" by Clifford Brown is a ballad that speaks about a man's yearning for love and how he feels lost without it. The opening verse talks about how the blue moon sees him standing alone without a dream in his heart and without a love of his own. Here, the blue moon is used as a metaphor for loneliness, which is a recurring theme in the song.

As the song progresses, the man expresses his desire to find someone to love and care for. The second verse talks about his prayer to find someone to care for, and then suddenly, the person he's been looking for appears before him. He hears someone whispering to him, asking to be adored, and when he looks up, the moon has turned to gold. This signifies a turning point in his life, where he feels that he's no longer alone and has someone to love.

The song ends on a hopeful note, with the man expressing his joy at having found someone to love. The song's slow tempo and mellow tone perfectly capture the sense of longing and hope that are central to its themes.

Line by Line Meaning

Blue moon you saw me standing alone
The moon silently observed me as I stood all by myself

Without a dream in my heart
I lacked aspirations and goals in my life

Without a love of my own
I lacked someone special in my life to call my own

Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for
The moon understood my purpose for being there

You heard me saying a prayer for
You could hear me silently praying for

Someone I really could care for
A person whom I could truly love and care for

And then there suddenly appeared before me
All of a sudden, someone unexpected came before me

The only one my arms will ever hold
The person who I will embrace and hold close to me forever

I heard somebody whisper "Please adore me"
Someone asked me to love and cherish them

And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold!
When I glanced back at the moon, it had transformed into something extraordinary

Blue moon!
The phrase 'blue moon' is used to express a rare and special moment