Take 5
Duke Ellington Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Bluebirds singin' a song
Nothin' but bluebirds all day long

Never saw the sun shinin' so bright
Never saw things goin' so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my, how they fly

Blue days, all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see

Never saw the sun shinin' so bright
Never saw things goin' so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my, how they fly





Blue days, all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on

Overall Meaning

In Duke Ellington's song Take 5, the lyrics are about the feeling of being in love and how it changes one's perception of the world. The Blue skies and bluebirds become metaphors for the feeling of love that surrounds the singer. The author sings about how everything seems to be going right and how they are more aware of the passing time when they are in love. The blue days, a metaphor for days of sadness, are gone, and they seem to only see blue skies from now on. The song's message is about how love has transformed the singer's outlook on life and how they can now see only the good things in life.


Line by Line Meaning

Blue skies smilin' at me
The singer sees a happy, optimistic future ahead of them


Nothin' but blue skies do I see
The singer is only able to think positively


Bluebirds singin' a song
The singer is surrounded by peace and joy


Nothin' but bluebirds all day long
The artist's life is filled with happiness and calmness


Never saw the sun shinin' so bright
The artist has never before experienced such a positive and bright outlook on life


Never saw things goin' so right
Everything seems to be falling into place for the singer


Noticing the days hurrying by
The singer is aware of the limited time they have to enjoy this happy chapter of their life


When you're in love, my, how they fly
Time seems to pass quickly when you are enjoying life and in a positive relationship


Blue days, all of them gone
The artist has left behind a period of sadness or negative emotions


Nothin' but blue skies from now on
The artist is confident in a future filled with happiness and positive experiences




Lyrics © Songtrust Ave
Written by: IRVING BERLIN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@squintstheninja

So, famously, Dave Brubeck said that the group never intended for this song to be as famous as it became. Paul Desmond had a lick he wanted to play around with, and they used the opportunity to give Joe Morello an overdue drum solo.

So, Dave and Eugene kinda took a backseat while Paul did his thing, and then Joe got his solo.

But Joe could have gone nuts here. This is the era of Buddy Rich and Art Blakey. Drum solos were marked by how fast and how hard you can bash everything.

For one of jazz's most influential groups, in the group's most famous song- a jazz standard and by extention, arguably one of the most famous drum solos in jazz- Joe Morello's solo was so simple, a middle schooler on a PlayTek My First Kit could play it.

Joe could have gone nuts. He could have gone ferral for three minutes Whiplash-style. The team gave him a blank check to flex.

He didn't. He decided to just... he just vibed out, man.

They say jazz is about the notes you don't play. In that case, this is the greatest jazz drum solo of all time.



All comments from YouTube:

@baldilocks1914

I'm just going to leave my comment here so when someone likes it I can listen to this masterpiece again.

@ItsLarry-in1jq

Something tells me you're gonna be listening to this song a lot for the next while lol

@paulbellamy9920

Wanted to give you the gift of listening again. Happy holidays my friend.

@lioncat84

Sure, but right now this comment has 69 likes. Niiiiceee.

@McGuyveracity

You're welcome. 😊

@Tae__story

Like from Korea🖤

22 More Replies...

@johndambrosio1448

I was 8 years old when my uncle John Goggie introduced this song to me, to say i was blown away is a understatement, now I'm 70 and my grandson Tyler has informed me that he's into jazz, to which I replied "Dave Brubeck, Take Five!" he turned to his iphone and typed it in, listened and fell in love with it....greatness knows no bonds.

@SharadMathurr

tyler's a fine man, sir

@ElBarto743

Wow

@ekambijral5697

Funny, some woman had the exact same story 4 months ago xD

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