Washington was born Ruth Jones in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. As she was growing up in Chicago, she played piano and directed her church choir. Later, she studied in Walter Dyett's renowned music program at DuSable High School. For a while, she split her time between performing in clubs as Dinah Washington while singing and playing piano in Salle Martin's gospel choir as Ruth Jones.
Washington began performing in 1942 and soon joined Lionel Hampton's band. In 1943, she began recording for Keynote Records and released "Evil Gal Blues", her first hit. By 1955, she had released numerous hit songs on the R&B charts, including "Baby, Get Lost", "Trouble in Mind", "You Don't Know What Love Is" (arranged by Quincy Jones), and a cover of "Cold, Cold Heart" by Hank Williams. In 1958 she made a well-received appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival.
With "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" 1959, Washington won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance; the song was her biggest hit, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The commercially driven album of the same name, with its heavily reliance on strings and wordless choruses, was slammed by jazz and blues critics as being far too commercial, not keeping with her blues roots. Despite this, the album was a huge success and Washington continued to favor more commercial, pop-oriented songs rather than traditional blues and jazz songs. She also dealt in torch songs; her rendition of The Platters' "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" was well-regarded.
She was married seven times, and divorced six times while having several lovers, including Quincy Jones, her young arranger. She was known to be imperious and demanding in real life, but audiences loved her. In London she once declared, "...there is only one heaven, one earth and one queen...Queen Elizabeth is an impostor", but the crowd loved it.
Dinah Washington died from an accidental overdose of diet pills and alcohol at the age of 39 in 1963.
Stardust
Dinah Washington Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
The melody
Haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale
Tells his fairytale
Of paradise, where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain.
The lyrics of Dinah Washington's song Stardust bring to mind a poignant nostalgia and longing for a love that has passed. The opening lines describe a peaceful but melancholic scene, as the purple dusk of twilight descends and the stars appear in the sky. The singer's heart is filled with memories of a lost love as she contemplates the distance between them, with the stars serving as a constant reminder of what once was. The second verse describes how the singer spends her nights dreaming of the past and the song that remains as a symbol of their love. The melody of the song acts as a haunting presence in the singer's thoughts, taking her back to a time when their love was new and exciting, and each kiss held endless inspiration. Despite the longing and the pain, the singer finds solace in the beauty of the starry night and the lasting memory of the love they shared.
Line by Line Meaning
And now the purple dusk of twilight time
As the sun sets, a sense of longing is felt in my heart
Steals across the meadows of my heart
The feeling of longing gradually engulfs my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
The stars shine bright, reminding me of my loneliness
Always reminding me that we're apart
The stars emphasize that we are not together anymore
You wander down the lane and far away
You walk away from me and leave me behind
Leaving me a song that will not die
You leave me a song that continues to play in my memory
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
Our love has vanished like stardust, and only the memories remain
The music of the years gone by.
The music reminds me of the moments we shared together, which are now gone
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
I often ponder how I pass my lonely nights
The lonely nights
I spend my nights alone, without you
Dreaming of a song
I dream of the song that you left behind
The melody
The tune keeps playing in my head
Haunts my reverie
It lingers in my thoughts and memories
And I am once again with you
The memories of us being together come flooding back
When our love was new
I reminisce about the early days of our relationship
And each kiss an inspiration
Every kiss was a moment of deep inspiration for me
But that was long ago
Those moments are now far in the past
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
The song left behind by you is my only source of comfort
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
Under the bright stars, beside the garden wall
You are in my arms
We are together, in each other's embrace
The nightingale
The bird's sweet song
Tells his fairytale
Telling a tale of love and happiness
Of paradise, where roses grew
Describing a world of beauty and serenity
Though I dream in vain
I know my dreams will never come true
In my heart it will remain
But the memories of those dreams will stay with me
My stardust melody
The song you left behind, which is now so important to me
The memory of love's refrain.
The memory of our love, which is still vivid in my mind
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER GENTRY, JOHN HUTCHINSON DEAN, MATTHEW EVERITT, SIMON IAN WHITE, STUART BLACK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@susaninmaine
can you imagine hearing her sing the entire song a cappella, as it starts out...?
@yvettejohnson1681
Strings gotta go!!!.
@lukethomas658
shivers