Born in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium into a family of Manouche Gypsies, Jean Reinhardt learned to play several instruments such as the banjo, violin and guitar from an early age; he spent most of his youth in Gypsy encampments close to Paris. His family made a living from crafting furniture, but included several amateur musicians who inspired Reinhardt. Eventually, Reinhardt was given a banjo-guitar, at which point he stopped playing the violin. During this period, he was inspired by two older Gypsy musicians, Gusti Mahla and Jean Castro. Able to make a living from his music from his teen years onwards playing in bal-musette halls in Paris, Reinhardt received little formal education until his adult life; he was taught the rudiments of literacy by fellow band member Stéphane Grappelli.
At the age of eighteen, Reinhardt was injured in a fire that ravaged the caravan he shared with Florine "Bella" Mayer, his first wife. They were very poor, and to supplement their income Bella made imitation flowers out of celluloid and paper; consequently, their home was full of this highly inflammable material. Returning from a performance late one night, Django apparently knocked over a candle on his way to bed. While his family and neighbors were quick to pull him to safety, he received first- and second-degree burns over half his body. His right leg was paralyzed and the third and fourth fingers of his left hand were badly burnt. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again and intended to amputate one of his legs. Reinhardt refused to have the surgery and left the hospital after a short time; he was able to walk within a year with the aid of a cane.
His brother Joseph Reinhardt, an accomplished guitarist himself, bought Django a new guitar. With painful rehabilitation and practice, Reinhardt relearned his craft in a completely new way, even as his third and fourth fingers remained partially paralyzed. Hence, he played all of his guitar solos with only two fingers, and managed to use the two injured digits only for chord work. After regaining his ability to play, Reinhardt resumed his career playing Parisian cafes. According to one story, during his period of recovery, Reinhardt was introduced to the aesthetics of American jazz when he purchased a 78rpm disc of "Dallas Blues" by Louis Armstrong at an Orléans flea market.
In 1934, Reinhardt and Parisian violinist Stéphane Grappelli were approached by hot club chief Pierre Nourry with the idea of forming a forming a new hot club group. Thus, the Quintette du Hot Club de France was formed, with Reinhardt's brother Joseph and Roger Chaput on guitar, and Louis Vola on double bass. Occasionally, Chaput was replaced by Reinhardt's best friend and fellow Gypsy Pierre "Baro" Ferret. As the group had no true percussion section, percussion was instead provided by the group's guitarists; the Quintette du Hot Club de France thus became one of the few well-known jazz ensembles composed only of string instruments.
Jean Sablon was the first singer to record with the Quintette, resulting in more than thirty collaborations from 1933 onwards. Vocalist Freddy Taylor participated on a few songs, such as "Georgia on My Mind" and "Nagasaki". A long line of recordings for Decca, HMV and Ultraphone ensured long-lasting international success for the Quintette.
As a composer, Reinhardt wrote several influential, highly original tunes recorded by the Quintette, ranging from the dulcet ballads "Daphne", "Nuages", and "Manoir de mes rêves", to mad swingers such as "Minor Swing" and the ode to his record label of the 1930s, "Stomping at Decca". With the passing of time, many of his songs became jazz standards in their own right.
Reinhardt also experimented with recordings outside the "comfort zone" of the Quintette; in March 1933 Reinhardt recorded two takes each of "Parce que je vous aime" and "Si, j'aime Suzy", vocal numbers with lots of guitar fills and great guitar support, using three guitarists along with an accordion lead, violin, and bass. In August of the following year, recordings were also made with more than one guitar (Joseph Reinhardt, Roger Chaput, and Django), including the first recording by the Quintette. In both years, it should be noted, the great majority of recordings featured a wide variety of horns, often in multiples, piano, etc.
Throughout his career, Reinhardt played and recorded with many American jazz legends such as Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins, Rex Stewart (who later stayed in Paris), and a led a jam-session and radio performance with Louis Armstrong. Later in his career, he performed with Dizzy Gillespie in France.
The outbreak of war in 1939 broke up the Quintette, with Grappelli remaining in London where the group was playing and Reinhardt returning to France. During the war years he led a big band, another quintet with clarinettist Hubert Rostaing in place of Grappelli, and after the liberation of Paris, recorded with such visiting American jazz artists as Mel Powell, Peanuts Hucko, and Ray McKinley. In 1946, Reinhardt took up the electric guitar and toured America as a soloist with the Duke Ellington Band, but his appearances were poorly received.
Some of his recordings on electric guitar late in his life are bop escapades where his playing sounds frantic and jagged, a world apart from the jubilant swing of old. However, starting in January 1946, Reinhardt and Grappelli held several sporadic reunions where the bop influences were more subtly integrated into the old swing format of the glory days of the Quintette. In the 1950s, Reinhardt became more reclusive, remaining in Europe, playing and recording sporadically until his death from a stroke on 16 May 1953 in Fontainebleau, France.
You Took Advantage of Me
Django Reinhardt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It must go to someone of course
It can't be sister or brother
And so I love my horse
But horses are frequently silly
Mine ran from the beach of Okhala
And left me alone for a filly
So I have picked you up
I'm a sentimental sap, that's all
What's the use of trying not to fall?
I have no will, you've made your kill
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm just like an apple on a bough
And you're gonna shake me down somehow
So, what's the use, you've cooked my goose
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm so hot and bothered that
I don't know my elbow from my ear
I suffer something awful each time
You go and much worse when you're near
Here I am with all my bridges burned
Just a babe in arms where you're concerned
So lock the doors and call me yours
Cause you took advantage of me.
I'm a sentimental sap, that's all
What's the use of trying not to fall?
I have no will, you've made your kill
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm just like an apple on a bough
And you're gonna shake me down somehow
So, what's the use, you've cooked my goose
Cause you took advantage of me
I'm so hot and bothered that
I don't know my elbow from my ear
I suffer something awful each time
You go and much worse when you're near
Here I am with all my bridges burned
Just a babe in arms where you're concerned
So lock the doors and call me yours
Cause you took advantage of me
You took advantage of me
The first few lines of Django Reinhardt's "You Took Advantage of Me" seem to be a lighthearted and nonsensical ditty about a girl's love for her horse. However, this goofy opening quickly gives way to a more serious sentiment - the singer's vulnerability and feeling of being taken advantage of by someone they love. The lyrics describe the singer's lack of control in the situation, acknowledging that they are "just like an apple on a bough" waiting to be shaken down by the other person.
The second half of the song elaborates on the singer's feelings of helplessness and how they have been completely swept up by their affections for the other person. The lines "I suffer something awful each time/You go and much worse when you're near" convey the idea that the singer is completely at the mercy of the other person's actions and emotions. The closing lines of the song essentially beg for the other person to reciprocate the singer's feelings and claim them as their own, despite the risks.
Line by Line Meaning
When a girl has the heart of a mother
When a girl is nurturing and caring, with a motherly instinct
It must go to someone of course
She will naturally direct her affection towards someone
It can't be sister or brother
It can't be a family member
And so I love my horse
And so, in the absence of another suitable recipient, I love my horse
But horses are frequently silly
However, horses often behave foolishly
Mine ran from the beach of Okhala
My horse fled from the beach of Okhala
And left me alone for a filly
Leaving me alone in pursuit of a female horse
So I have picked you up
So I have turned to you as a replacement recipient for my affection
I'm a sentimental sap, that's all
I am an emotional person, that's just how I am
What's the use of trying not to fall?
What is the point of trying not to be affected by my feelings?
I have no will, you've made your kill
I have no control over my emotions, you have completely won me over
Cause you took advantage of me
Because you have manipulated me for your own benefit
I'm just like an apple on a bough
I am vulnerable and easily shaken loose from my perch
And you're gonna shake me down somehow
You will inevitably take advantage of my vulnerability
So, what's the use, you've cooked my goose
So, what's the point? You have ruined my chances of resisting you
I'm so hot and bothered that
I'm so aroused and flustered that
I don't know my elbow from my ear
I am so overwhelmed that I cannot think straight
I suffer something awful each time
I experience great pain each time
You go and much worse when you're near
You cause me greater pain when you are around
Here I am with all my bridges burned
I am in a situation where I have lost all other options
Just a babe in arms where you're concerned
I am completely inexperienced and naive when it comes to you
So lock the doors and call me yours
So let's commit to each other
Cause you took advantage of me
Because you manipulated me, and now I am yours
You took advantage of me
You used my vulnerability to your advantage
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sand Man
Greatest of the Great guitar players
Peter Peter and his Uploads
Wonderful illustrations as well. I sent this to Feggo, and artist/cartoonist I collect.