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).
No more
Dee Dee Bridgewater Lyrics
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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 on the wind down there
And he stated and promised he'd take special care
Now a man don't mind if the stars grow dim
And the clouds blow over and darken him
So long as the Lord God's watching over them
Keeping track of how it all goes on
But I've been walking all the night and the day
Till my eyes get weary and my head turns gray
And sometimes it seems maybe God's gone away
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
The song “No More” by Dee Dee Bridgewater has a powerful message and touches on the theme of feeling lost and abandoned by God. The opening stanza of the song speaks about the creation of the universe and how God held all the stars in the palm of his hand. However, one star fell alone, and that's where the main message of the song begins. The following verses state how God searched for the little dark star and promised to take special care so that it wouldn't get lost again. The next few verses then shift the focus from stars to humans, where the singer feels like God may have left them alone and lost among the vast expanse of the universe.
The song highlights the feeling of loneliness and abandonment that many individuals face at some point in their lives. The singer goes on to say that while people don't mind if the stars grow dim and the clouds blow over them, they still need the Lord God to watch over them and take care of them. The last two verses talk about how the singer has been walking day and night, and at times it seems like God has gone away, and they are lost out here in the stars.
Overall, the song's lyrics are a reflection of the human psyche and how everyone needs guidance and support from a higher power at some point in their life.
Line by Line Meaning
Before Lord God made the sea and the land
At the beginning of time, before God created the earth and the sea
He held all the stars in the palm of his hand
God held all of the stars in his hand
And they ran through his fingers like grains of sand
The stars were like fine grains of sand that flowed through his fingers
And one little star fell alone
One star fell all by itself
Then the Lord God hunted through the wide night air
God searched through the vast night sky
For the little dark star on the wind down there
He searched for the small, dark star that had fallen earlier
And he stated and promised he'd take special care
God promised to take special care of that star
So it wouldn't get lost again
To prevent it from getting lost again
Now a man don't mind if the stars grow dim
A man doesn't worry if the stars lose their brightness
And the clouds blow over and darken him
Even if clouds cover the stars and make them less visible
So long as the Lord God's watching over them
He is reassured that God is still watching over them
Keeping track of how it all goes on
Making sure everything is happening according to his plan
But I've been walking all the night and the day
The singer has been wandering for a long time
Till my eyes get weary and my head turns gray
Until her eyes get tired and her hair turns gray
And sometimes it seems maybe God's gone away
Sometimes it feels as if God has abandoned her
And we're lost out here in the stars
And she feels lost in the vastness of space
Little stars, big stars, blowing through the night
Small and big stars are scattered everywhere at night
And we're lost out here in the stars
And she feels lost in the vastness of space
Little stars, big stars, blowing through the night
Small and big stars are scattered everywhere at night
And we're lost out here in the stars
And she feels lost in the vastness of space
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: KURT WEILL, MAXWELL ANDERSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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