Born Denise Eileen Garrett in Memphis, Tennessee, she grew up in Flint, Michigan. Her father, Matthew Garrett, was a jazz trumpeter and teacher at Manassas High School, and through his playing, Denise was exposed to jazz early on. At the age of sixteen, she was a member of a rock and rhythm'n'blues trio, singing in clubs in Michigan. At 18, she studied at Michigan State University before she went to the University of Illinois. With their jazz band, she toured the Soviet Union in 1969. The next year, she met trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, and after their marriage, they moved to New York City, where Cecil played in Horace Silver's band.
In 1971, Dee Dee Bridgewater joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra as the lead vocalist. The next years marked the beginning of her jazz career, and she performed with many of the great jazz musicians of the time, such as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach, and others. In 1974, her first own album, entitled Afro Blue, appeared, and she also performed on Broadway in the musical The Wiz. For her role as Glinda the Good Witch she won a Tony Award in 1975 as "best-featured actress", and the musical also won the 1976 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.
She subsequently appeared in several other stage productions. After touring France in 1984 with the musical Sophisticated Ladies, she moved to Paris in 1986. The same year saw her in Lady Day as Billie Holliday, for which role she was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she returned from the world of musical to jazz. She performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1990, and four years later, she finally collaborated with Horace Silver, whom she had admired for a long time, and released the album Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver. Her 1997 tribute album Dear Ella won her the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album, and the 1998 album Live at Yoshi's was also worth a Grammy nomination. She has also explored on This is New the songs of Kurt Weill, and, on her latest album J'ai Deux Amours, the French Classics.
Dee Dee Bridgewater is the first American to be inducted to the Haut Conseil de la Francophonie. She has received the Award of Arts and Letters in France.
Dee Dee Bridgewater is mother to three children, Tulani Bridgewater (from her marriage to Cecil Bridgewater), China Moses (from her marriage to theater, film and television director Gilbert Moses) and Gabriel Durand (from her current marriage to French concert promoter Jean-Marie Durand).
All Of Me
Dee Dee Bridgewater Lyrics
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You taught me how to care
Am I to be just remnant of a one side love affair
All you took
I gladly gave
There is nothing left for me to save
Why not take all of me
Can't you see
I'm no good without you
Take my lips
I want to loose them
Take my arms
I'll never use them
Your goodbye left me with eyes that cry
How can I go on dear without you
You took the part that once was my heart
So why not take all of me
The lyrics of Dee Dee Bridgewater's song "All of Me" talk about a person who has fully given their love and affection to someone. The singer of the song has given their all and taught themselves how to care for this person. However, the love isn't mutual, and the recipient of the love has left the singer brokenhearted. The singer offers all of themselves to this person, including their lips and arms, as they cannot imagine life without them. The part of their heart that was once whole now belongs to the person they love. The song suggests that the singer is at a crossroads and is left wondering if they are destined to be just a remnant of a one-sided love affair.
The lyrics of the song are emotionally charged and deeply personal. They can be interpreted in a way that connects with anyone who has ever loved someone who didn't reciprocate their feelings. The song uses vivid imagery to express feelings of heartbreak and despair vividly. The lyrics are also a reflection of the era in which the song was written. "All of Me" was written in the 1930s and recorded by various artists, becoming a popular jazz standard in the decades that followed.
Line by Line Meaning
You took my kisses and all my love
You accepted my love and affection.
You taught me how to care
With your presence, you taught me the meaning of being caring and loving.
Am I to be just remnant of a one side love affair
Is it fair to leave me with false hope and no reciprocation of my love?
All you took, I gladly gave
I gave my love wholeheartedly and without reservation.
There is nothing left for me to save
I have nothing left to give or offer, and there is nothing that I can do to save this relationship.
All of me, Why not take all of me
My heart and soul are yours. Why not take all of me and complete me?
Can't you see, I'm no good without you
You are my everything, and I cannot exist without you.
Take my lips, I want to loose them
Every kiss is a reminder of what we shared. I would rather forget.
Take my arms, I'll never use them
These arms that once held you will never embrace another. I am yours.
Your goodbye left me with eyes that cry
The pain of your departure has left me in tears.
How can I go on dear without you
You are essential to my existence, and I cannot imagine life without you.
You took the part that once was my heart
You were my love, my soul, my heart.
So why not take all of me
I am yours. Own me completely, and let us be together forever.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Cloud9, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Gerald Marks, Seymour Simons
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Даша Михалькова
All of me, why not take all of me?
Can't you see that I'm no good without you
Take my arms I want to lose them
Take my lips I'll never use them
Your goodbye left me with eyes that cry
And I know that I am no good without you
You took apart that once was my heart
So why not take all of me?
All of me, why not take all of me?
Can't you see that I'm no good without you
Take my arms I want to lose them
Take my lips I'll never use them
Your goodbye left me with eyes that cry
And I know that I am no good without you
You took apart that once was my heart
So why not take all of me?
Why not take all of me?
Didi Chocolaté
It's amazing