He was born in Battle, East Sussex, England and is remembered by many music lovers and record collectors for his numerous albums and appearances on radio and television during the era following the second world war.
From the 1950s onwards, Chacksfield was one of Britain's most famous orchestra leaders, and his fame spread around the world. Early in his career he was fortunate to have several big sellers in the USA, which firmly established his reputation world-wide.
During his recording career with Decca alone, it is estimated that he sold 20 million copies.
Chacksfield learned to play the piano as a boy and became the deputy organist for the local church. Though his parents discouraged his pursuit of music as a career, he persevered. In the late '30s, when he was in his mid-20s, he was leading small musical bands in Britain. During World War II, he was assigned to the British Army entertainment unit, and after the war he became a regular performer on the BBC.
In 1953, he formed an orchestra he called "The Tunesmiths" and won a contract with Parlophone Records. Within two years, he expanded the group from a traditional big band into an orchestra with strings and released a series of "mood music" albums. His sound was similar to Mantovani and Melachrino. His biggest hits, in both the UK and the US, were "Ebb Tide" and "Limelight."
Chacksfield was also responsible for the musical arrangement of the first ever British entry into the Eurovision Song Contest, "All" by Patricia Bredin in 1957. Only because BBC musical director Eric Robinson insisted on accompanying Bredin to the contest in Frankfurt, Chacksfield did not get the chance to perform as a conductor on this international stage.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s Chacksfield recorded a large number of instrumental recordings for Starborne Productions. The recordings were licensed for use by "Easy Listening" radio stations and functional music companies. The vast majority of these recordings were not made commercially available to the general public until 2007 by Starborne Productions.
Rose Rose I Love You
Frank Chacksfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Rose, Rose, so ravishing!
You open in late summer on tip of a branch,
Rose, Rose, I love you!
Rose, Rose, you touch me deeply,
Rose, Rose, my love is true.
You opens in late summer beside the thorns,
I pledge my heart, my tender love,
Your pure brilliance radiates the whole world.
I pledge my heart, my tender love,
Your pure radiance illuminates the world.
Rose, Rose, so stunning!
Rose, Rose, so ravishing!
Opens in late summer on tip of a branch,
Rose, Rose, I love you!
Rose, Rose, your limbs so slender,
Rose, Rose, your thorns so sharp.
Today stormy rains may ravage you,
Bruising your limbs and graceful body.
Rose, Rose, your heart is hard.
Rose, Rose, your thorns are sharp.
In future stormy rains may ravage you,
May crush your mellow fruit.
In Petula Clark's song "May Kway," the singer expresses her love for the beautiful and delicate rose. The lyrics depict the rose as stunning, ravishing, and deeply touching. The rose is personified as opening in late summer on the tip of a branch beside thorns, which adds to its allure and complexity. The singer pledges her heart and tender love to the rose, describing how its pure brilliance radiates and illuminates the world. The repetition of the chorus emphasizes the singer's love for the rose and its timeless beauty.
The lyrics also acknowledge the fragility of the rose, as the stormy rains may damage its limbs, bruise its body or even crush its fruit. Yet, the singer remains devoted to the rose, appreciating its slender limbs and sharp thorns. This further highlights the rose's contradictory nature of being both delicate and strong, which only adds to its charm.
"May Kway" is a beautiful tribute to the rose, highlighting its undeniable beauty and complexity. The song's lyrics showcase how the rose has captured the hearts and imaginations of artists throughout the ages.
Line by Line Meaning
Rose, Rose, so stunning!
Oh, Rose! You are stunningly beautiful!
Rose, Rose, so ravishing!
Rose, my love for you is addictive.
You open in late summer on tip of a branch,
Rose, Rose, I love you!
Your beauty blossoms in late summer, and I find myself falling deeper in love with you.
Rose, Rose, you touch me deeply,
Rose, Rose, my love is true.
Rose, you touch my heart in a most profound way, and my love for you is genuine.
You opens in late summer beside the thorns,
Rose, Rose, I love you!
Despite your thorns, you bloom so graciously in the late summer, and I love you even more for it.
I pledge my heart, my tender love,
Your pure brilliance radiates the whole world.
I promise you my heart, and my love for you shines so brightly that it spreads throughout the world around us.
I pledge my heart, my tender love,
Your pure radiance illuminates the world.
I wholeheartedly pledge my affection, and your pure radiance spreads light throughout the world.
Rose, Rose, so stunning!,
Rose, Rose, so ravishing!
Opens in late summer on tip of a branch,
Rose, Rose, I love you!
You are so gorgeous, Rose! You bloom on the tip of a branch in late summer, and I love you more than ever before.
Rose, Rose, your limbs so slender,
Rose, Rose, your thorns so sharp.
Your slender limbs look so delicate, yet your sharp thorns remind me of your toughness.
Today stormy rains may ravage you,
Bruising your limbs and graceful body.
Today, a storm with heavy rain may cause harm to your fragile limbs and graceful body.
Rose, Rose, your heart is hard.
Rose, Rose, your thorns are sharp.
Your heart may be tough, but your thorns are even tougher.
In future stormy rains may ravage you,
May crush your mellow fruit.
In the future, a storm may destroy your fruit and ravage the beauty you have worked so hard to present to the world.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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