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).
Lost In The Stars
Dee Dee Bridgewater Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He held all the stars in the palm of his hand
And they ran through his fingers like grains of sand
And one little star fell alone
Then the Lord God hunted through the wide night air
For the little dark star in the wind down there
And he stated and promised he'd take special care
Now, a man don't mind if the stars get dim
And the clouds blow over and darken him
So long as the Lord God's watching over him
Keeping track how it all goes on
But I've been walking through the night and the day
Till my eyes get weary and my head turns gray
And sometimes it seems maybe God's gone away
Forgetting his promise and the word he'd say
And we're lost out here in the stars
Little stars big stars blowing through the night
And we're lost out here in the stars
Little stars big stars blowing through the night
And we're lost out here in the stars
"Lost In The Stars" is a song by Dee Dee Bridgewater that reflects on the struggles of life, often feeling lost and forgotten, and wondering about the existence and relevance of God. The song's first verse talks about God's creation of the stars, but how one little star became lost in the vast universe. God then searches for the star and promises to keep it safe. The second verse contrasts this promise to the feelings of being abandoned and forgotten by God, as the singer feels lost and alone in the world, with no divine intervention to help guide them.
The overall message of the song is one of hopelessness and disillusionment, with the belief that there is no divine presence helping the singer through their struggles. The chorus reinforces this idea, with the repetition of "lost out here in the stars" emphasizing the singer's feelings of isolation and abandonment. The song's message is timeless and universal, addressing the common human experience of feeling lost and alone in the world, searching for meaning and purpose.
Line by Line Meaning
Before Lord God made the sea or the land
The stars existed before the creation of the Earth and everything else
He held all the stars in the palm of his hand
God had control over all the stars
And they ran through his fingers like grains of sand
The stars were numerous and difficult for God to control
And one little star fell alone
A star was lost from its original constellation
Then the Lord God hunted through the wide night air
God searched for the lost star in the vast sky
For the little dark star in the wind down there
God looked for the lost star that had fallen to the Earth
And he stated and promised he'd take special care
God made a promise to take care of the lost star
So it wouldn't get lost no more
God intended to prevent the star from getting lost again
Now, a man don't mind if the stars get dim
People don't care if the stars appear less bright
And the clouds blow over and darken him
When clouds obscure the stars, it doesn't affect people's lives negatively
So long as the Lord God's watching over him
As long as God protects and cares for us, we can cope with temporary difficulties
Keeping track how it all goes on
God is always in control of everything
But I've been walking through the night and the day
The singer has been struggling and enduring hardship
Till my eyes get weary and my head turns gray
The singer has grown tired and weary from the constant struggles
And sometimes it seems maybe God's gone away
The singer feels abandoned by God
Forgetting his promise and the word he'd say
The artist doubts God's faithfulnessand ability to keep his promises
And we're lost out here in the stars
The artist feels lost and abandoned like the lost star that God searched for
Little stars big stars blowing through the night
The stars, regardless of size, are free to move and exist in the sky
And we're lost out here in the stars
The singer reiterates a feeling of being lost and forgotten
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Beverly Mouzone
Love this song. Does anyone know what this song is from
Beverly Mouzone
Thank you so much jazznik2 now I go on with my life. Thanks
jazznik2
From wikipedia:
"Lost in the Stars is a musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country (1948) by Alan Paton. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1949; it was the composer's last work for the stage before he died the following year.";
You may know that "Cry, the Beloved Country" was made into a movie at least twice. The original starred Sidney Poitier and a later one starred James Earl Jones, I believe.
Robert Rosenberg
Isn't this based on the novel about South Africa? Love DeeDee's rendition
jazznik2
According to wikipedia, it is based on the novel "Cry, the Beloved Country".