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).
Here
Dee Dee Bridgewater Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Funny, but here's that rainy day
Here's that rainy day they told me about
And I laughed at the thought that it might turn out this way
Where is that worn out wish that I threw aside
After it brought my lover near
It's funny how love becomes a cold rainy day
Funny how love becomes a cold rainy day
Funny, that rainy day is here
Dee Dee Bridgewater's "Here" tells the story of a person looking back on a relationship that ended badly. The lyrics reveal regret and disappointment, as the singer wishes they had held onto some of their previous dreams and wishes. The rainy day serves as a metaphor for the sadness and gloom that has taken over the singer's life. The song says that love can sometimes feel like a cold rainy day, which might be unexpected and uninvited.
The lines "Maybe I should have saved those left over dreams / Funny, but here's that rainy day" suggest that the singer knows they have missed something important in their life. They realize that they let go of some meaningful hopes for their future, and the rainy day is a reminder that time is passing and opportunities are slipping away. The song's melancholic tone matches the feeling of resignation and sadness that comes with realizing that they may have missed their chance at happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
Maybe I should have saved those left over dreams
Perhaps I should have held onto my aspirations and desires for the future.
Funny, but here's that rainy day
Amusingly, the day that I have been warned about has arrived - a day of metaphorical hardship and distress.
Here's that rainy day they told me about
Indeed, the day that was previously foreshadowed and talked about has now come to pass.
And I laughed at the thought that it might turn out this way
I now find myself in a situation that I previously did not take seriously or underestimated, and that irony fills me with humor.
Where is that worn out wish that I threw aside
Where has the desire or hope that I once had and then discarded gone?
After it brought my lover near
After that once-discarded dream brought me the person whom I loved and cared for deeply.
It's funny how love becomes a cold rainy day
It is ironic how feelings of love and happiness can suddenly transform into feelings of sadness and despair, much like a sudden downpour of rain.
Funny, that rainy day is here
Indeed, that day of emotional gloom and turbulence has arrived.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
David Geyer Rhoades
For me this is the best version of Rainy Day ever. I played this for a friend a few years ago and somewhere in the first eight bars she said “this is music for adults”. I’ve been quoting her ever since.
Harriet Johnson
I’ve lived this. I feel this song. Dee Dee is outstanding here. 👌🏾
Harriet Johnson
AND the musicians are superb! The pianist—WOW—beautiful sparkling notes!!!
Sergio Orlandi
Meravigliosa........!
Vic Glazer
To my knowledge, only jazz singers like to, or perhaps have to kick off the tempo for the band behind them. Not because the singer doesn't trust the conductor, pianist, or whatever. It's because only the vocalist knows EXACTLY what she/he wants. Conditions sometimes change from day to day....even set to set.
It also takes the onus off of the band and puts it squarely on the singer. After all, they didn't kick off the wrong tempo. LOL
Harriet Johnson
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰