Rhapsody in Blue
George Gershwin piano; Paul Whiteman Orchestra Lyrics
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I'm somewhere in another world, alone with you
Sharing all the joys we used to know
Many moons ago
Once again your face comes back to me
Just like the theme of some forgotten melody
In the album of my memory
It seems like only yesterday
The small cafe, a crowded floor
And as we danced the night away
I hear you say forever more
And then the song became a sigh
Forever more became goodbye
Cause you remained in my heart, but
Tell me darling in there still a spark?
Or only lonely ashes of the flame we knew
Should I go on whistling in the dark,
Serenade in blue
The lyrics of "Serenade in Blue" by George Gershwin piano and Paul Whiteman Orchestra describe a nostalgic feeling of being transported to a different world when listening to the serenade. The singer remembers the shared joys of a past relationship and recalls specific moments, such as dancing in a small cafe. However, the song takes a bittersweet turn as the singer wonders if there is still a spark between them or if it has all turned to ashes. The phrase "whistling in the dark" suggests a hint of desperation or uncertainty in the search for an answer.
The lyrics convey a sense of longing and nostalgia, which is fitting for "Rhapsody in Blue" as a whole. Gershwin composed the piece as an experiment in blending classical and jazz music, creating a new form of American music that captured the essence of the culture's fusion of styles. "Serenade in Blue" echoes this theme by blending elements of sentimental ballads and jazz instrumentation. The line "the theme of some forgotten melody" is particularly poignant, as it suggests a fusion of past and present, much like the rest of the rhapsody.
Line by Line Meaning
When I hear that Serenade in blue
Whenever I listen to that musical composition called Serenade in blue
I'm somewhere in another world, alone with you
I feel as though I am transported to a different realm of existence where it is just the both of us
Sharing all the joys we used to know
Reliving all the moments of happiness we once experienced together
Many moons ago
A long time ago
Once again your face comes back to me
I am once again reminded of your face
Just like the theme of some forgotten melody
Just like a melody from the past that has slipped from my memory
In the album of my memory
Stored safely in the recording of my memories
It seems like only yesterday
Feels as though it happened recently, so fresh in my mind
The small cafe, a crowded floor
The tiny coffeehouse with barely enough room to move around
And as we danced the night away
The hours passed by with the rhythm of the music as we swayed and moved in sync
I hear you say forever more
I recollect the moment you promised an eternal future together
And then the song became a sigh
Eventually, the music transformed into a sound of grief
Forever more became goodbye
The never-ending cherished moments we shared became mere memories, a thing of the past
Cause you remained in my heart, but
You may be missing in this life, but the essence of you remains very evident in my heart
Tell me darling in there still a spark?
My love, do you still have burning feelings for me?
Or only lonely ashes of the flame we knew
Or have all our emotions faded away leaving just a sad memory of what we had?
Should I go on whistling in the dark, Serenade in blue
Should I continue with my hopeless longing for the past, depicted by the melody of Serenade in blue?
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HARRY WARREN, MACK GORDON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@artshifrin3053
NOTHING FROM THIS PERFORMANCE IS MISSING. IT'S ALL THAT WAS
RECORDED. IT IS NOT THE DURATION OF THE DEBUT VERSION HEARD
BY THE AUDIENCE AT ITS DEBUT. THE ARRANGEMENT WAS TRUNCATED TO COMPLY WITH VICTOR'S 'NO SETS' POLICY. IS IT KNOWN (LATER INTERVIEWS, DIARIES, etc.) WHETHER OR NOT GERSHWIN & WHITEMAN OBJECTED TO THE CUT? WOULD THE DECISION MAKERS @ VICTOR HAVE EVEN CARED?
THINK OF THIS HAVING BEEN A 3 SIDED SET! THE FOURTH COULD'VE
BEEN THE VERY IMPRESSIVE EMBOSSING (I'VE SEEN THEM ON RED SEALS) OF THE NIPPER LOGO ON SIDE 4.
SUBSEQUENTLY, THE '27 VERSION WAS RELEASED ON A SINGLE SIDE
OF ONE OF THEIR EARLY 30s 10" DIAMETER 33.33 RPM "PROGRAM TRANSCRIPTIONS". IT WAS AMONGST OTHER DUBS OF PREVIOUSLY ISSUED (ELECTRICALLY RECORDED) 78s. THIS 'PRE-LP' UNDERTAKING WAS A CALAMITY FOR VICTOR. EXCEPT, FOR THE FUNERAL PARLOR MARKET.
I AM NOT KIDDING. THEY'RE LISTED AS SUCH IN THEIR LATER CATALOGS:
CONTAINING OF COURSE, SOMBER MUSIC. VICTOR'S EARLY 30s "PROGRAM
TRANSCRIPTION" UNDERTAKING IT WAS THE REVERSE INSPIRATION FOR COLUMBIA, WHICH DID IT CORRECTLY WITH LP FORMAT: DEBUTED WHEN I
WAS, IN 1948.
SOME OF YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN THIS 'RHAPSODIC SCREW UP' OF A SUBSEQUENT PRESSING RUN OF THE 1927 VERSION. SOMEONE AT THE FACTORY 'GRABBED' 2 NON-MATCHING METAL PARTS: ONE FROM '24 & THE OTHER FROM '27. ON A HIGHER FIDELITY (EVEN NON - ELECTRIC ORTHOPHONIC ONES) PHONOGRAPH THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SOUND QUALITY HAD TO, EXCEPT FOR A LISTENER WITH IMPAIRED HEARING* BE INTRIGUING, ANNOYING, ETC. OF COURSE, THEY WERE WITHDRAWN. THEY ARE COLLECTIBLE.
THIS FARCE WAS A RESULT OF THE COMPANY'S (COLUMBIA TOO) MASTERS DESIGNATION PRACTICE. EXAMPLE: THEN THE MASTER # OF A PLANNED CATALOGUED RELEASE** (NOT THE SAME #) WOULD BE NUMERICAL. THEN, FOLLOWED BY A HYPHEN, THE TAKE #. IF, TO GET IT "RIGHT", MULTIPLE TAKES MIGHT BE DONE ON SUCCESSIVE DAYS, EVEN WEEKS. THE MASTER #s WERE RETAINED. THE TAKE DESIGNATIONS WERE TYPICALLY INCREMENTED NUMERICALLY & OR ALPHABETICALLY. THE CRITERIA FOR DOING ALTERNATES WERE AESTHETICS, PERFORMANCE ERRORS, EQUIPMENT FAILURE & OR DAMAGE TO THE METAL ***PARTS. THUSLY THE HYBRID PRESSING
OCCURRED.
WAS THE MISMATCH INTENTIONAL? BY A DISGRUNTLED, INEBRIATED, SLEEP DEPRIVED, ILL OR NEOPHYTE EMPLOYEE? THAT'D BE AN INTERESTING VICTOR MEMO.
SOME COMPANY'S MASTER #s OFTEN INCLUDED ABBREVIATIONS INDICATING
IN WHICH STUDIOS INCLUDING WHERE THE RECORDINGS WERE MADE.
VARIATIONS OF THESE PRACTICES OCCURRED ON OUR "THIRD ROCK
FROM THE SUN".
* HEARING IMPAIRED: I AM NOT MOCKING THIS DISORDER, MY RIGHT EAR
HAS BEEN DEAF SINCE I WAS ABOUT 6...I'VE NEVER HEARD STEREO...
BUT I CAN SEE IT ON AN OSCILLOSCOPE
**MASTERING AND MAKING "78s" AND OTHER SPECIAL PURPOSE DISKS:
EXCEPT FOR THE VERY EARLY DAYS OF THE INDUSTRY, MASTER & CATALOG
#S WERE IDENTICAL. FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT IS REFERRED TO AS A "PRE-MATRIX" DISK & I SUPPOSE, CYLINDERS INDICATES ONLY ONE #. WHEN STAMPERS & MOULDS WORE OUT & SALES REQUIRED IT, THEN PERFORMERS HAD TO MAKE NEW REPEAT RECORDINGS THAT MIGHT HAVE HAD THE SAME TITLES, BUT WITH. VARIATIONS OF CONTENT: SACRED, DANCE, VERBAL RECITATION. THEY COULD BE DONE IN THE SAME STUDIO ON THE SAME DAY, BUT COMPRISE DIFFERENT CATALOG SECTIONS.
***NOT INCLUDING THE PIONEERING DISKS OF EMIL BERLINER, THESE
STEPS COMPRISED THE TYPICAL MANUFACTURING PROCESS:
1)ORIGINAL --- ERRONEOUSLY STILL CALLED "WAX", THE STUFF'S A FORM OF SOAP - IT'S STILL USED AS A VERB (WAX & WAXING). UNTIL A SPECIAL PURPOSE LIGHT TRACKING ARM & PICKUP (DESIGNED BY BELL LABS IN THE 1920s BECAME AVAILABLE, ) THE "WAX" WAS HEATED TO MAKE IT MORE MALLEABLE, THUS LESS PRONE TO CHIPPING & DISTORTION THAT WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE OCCURRED. THE MATERIAL WAS TYPICALLY, SUBSEQUENTLY MELTED FOR REUSE. --- HAD POSITIVE GROOVES ---
2) AN ELECTRO-PLATED 'COPY' --- (HAD INVERTED GROOVES) WOULD BE MADE FROM (1)
3) AN ELECTRO-PLATED 'COPY' 'FROM (2) --- HAD POSITIVE GROOVES
AS WITH (1) , WARRANTED CAREFUL HANDING AND PLAYING : DERIVED
FROM (2)
4a) . AN ELECTRO-PLATED 'COPY' 'FROM (3) HAD NEGATIVE GROOVES ---
USED TO STAMP THE FINAL PRODUCT: PLAYABLE DISKS. MULTIPLE
CLONES OF 4 COULD LIKELY ENSURE THAT A SIGNIFICANT QUANTITY
THE PRACTICAL ADVANTAGE OF THIS STRATEGY WAS TO VERY LIKELY
NOT DEPLETE THE SUPPLY OF STAMPERS, ESPECIALLY OF A 'BIG HIT'. 1 ENABLED 2, 2 ENABLED 3, 3 ENABLED 4, 4 ENABLED PROFIT AND COPIES
THAT WE CAN STUDY AND ENJOY NOW, IN 2021 AND HOPEFULLY HEREAFTER
FINAL NOTES. HOORAY !!!
EXCEPTING ANALOG WIRE AND TAPE ---
4b FOR MASTERING: IN GERMANY, TRI-ERGON RECORDED
ITS ORIGINALS, OBVIOUSLY IN REAL TIME, ON OPTICAL FILM. IT WASN'T PLAYED DIRECTLY TO THE DISK CUTTERS. THE FILMS PLAYED BACK
SLOWER THAN REAL TIME. THEIR TRANSPORTS, VIA STEP-UP
GEARS RAN THE TURNTABLES AT REQUIRED RPMs FOR DIFFERENT
WORLD - WIDE MARKETS. ALSO, THE FILM MASTERS COULD BE EDITED
WITHOUT DUBBING AND CONSEQUENT LOSSES OF AUDIO QUALITY.
4c BY 1939, LACQUER (NOT ACETATE!) COATED DISKS WERE USED TO
CUT MASTERS @ 33.33 RPM. A 16" DIAMETER DISK HAD A NOMINAL
MAXIMUM DURATION OF 16 MINUTES. FIVE TAKES OF TYPICAL 10"
CONSUMER PRESSINGS COULD BE ACCOMODATED. COMPARING
ALTERNATE TAKES WAS THEREFORE LOGISTICALLY STREAMLINED.
AS A RESULT OF PHYSICS & ELECTRONICS, THE DUBS FROM THE LACQUERS
COULD HAVE RESULTS SUPERIOR THAN WHAT HAD RESULTED FROM
THE PREVIOUS METHOD. SIMULTANEOUSLY MASTERING MORE THAN
ONE LACQUER PROTECTED THE ORIGINALS FROM WHICH THE 78 RPM MASTERS WOULD BE DUBBED. WHEN 17"
LACQUERS BECAME AVAILABLE, THEN OBVIOUSLY, THE DURATIONS
WERE INCREASED. ALSO, AT THE OUTER - MOST GROOVES, THE
HIGH FREQUENCIES RECORDED & PLAYED BACK BETTER THAN ON THE
SMALLER DIAMETERS (PHYSICS).
I'M BUZZED OUT FROM COMPOSING AND PROOF READING THIS
I REGRET WHATEVER ERRORS ARE WITHIN.
@dgmelvin
What a wonderful transfer of this iconic record. I have two copies but neither are good enough to warrant a transfer. Thanks for posting this!
@the78prof72
My pleasure, Daniel.
@coolcatz2681
Your icons look classic 😊
@coolcatz2681
I'm a fan of classics, too!
@kendra.e7929
Happy 100th Anniversary Of Rhapsody in Blue.
February - 12 - 1924.
100 Years.
Thank You George Gershwin.
@martinbryan3716
Thank you, indeed! You left us way too early.
@kendra.e7929
@@martinbryan3716 You're Welcome.
@mossryder
love the chuckling clarinet in the beginning, after the intro lick. Lost in most later recordings.
@thewkovacs316
a huge mistake. piece was meant to invoke the joy of the jazz age and introduce jazz as a serious art. the choice of many to make it more symphonic negates what gershwin meant to do.
@msphoenix269
Don't know how true this is, but seen elsewhere: Fun fact: the clarinet solo at the very beginning of the track was basically the musician (virtuoso Ross Gorman) doing an "improvised joke" at a rehearsal of the first concert ever in which this song would be played. Much to his surprise, instead of laughs or discontent from Gershwin, Gorman was met with his immediate approval.
Actually, even though it was a "jokeful" and "improvised" addition to his original composition, Mr. Gershwin loved it so much he chose to modify the clarinet part so it would always be played that way.