Merrill's recording career has spanned six decades and she is popular with fans of jazz in Japan and Italy (where she lived for many years) as well as in her native United States. She has recorded and performed with some of the most notable figures in the American jazz scene.
Youth and early career in the states
Merrill was born in 1930 to Croatian immigrant parents. She began singing in jazz clubs in the Bronx at the age of fourteen. By the time she was sixteen, Merrill had taken up music full time. In 1952, Merrill made her recording debut when she was asked to sing "A Cigarette For Company" with the Earl Hines Band; the song was released on their Xanadu album. Etta Jones made her debut on the same album.
At this time she was married to musician Aaron Sachs. They divorced in 1956.
As a result of the exposure she received from "A Cigarette for Company" and two subsequent singles recorded for the Roost record label, Merrill was signed by Mercury Records for their new EmArcy label.
In 1954, Merrill recorded her first (and to date most acclaimed) LP, an eponymous record featuring legendary jazz trumpet player Clifford Brown and bassist/cellist Oscar Pettiford, among others. It was to be one of Brown's last recordings, as he was killed in a car accident just two years later. The album was produced and arranged by Quincy Jones, who was then just twenty-one years old. The success of Helen Merrill prompted Mercury to sign her for an additional four-album contract.
Merrill's follow-up to Helen Merrill was the 1956 LP, Dream of You, which was produced and arranged by bebop arranger and pianist Gil Evans. Evans' work on Dream of You was his first in many years. His arrangements on Merrill's laid the musical foundations for his work in following years with Miles Davis.
Success abroad
After recording sporadically through the late 1950s and 1960s, Merrill spent much of her time touring Europe, where she enjoyed more commercial success than she had in the United States. She settled for a time in Italy recording an album there, and doing live concerts with jazz notables Chet Baker, Romano Mussolini, and Stan Getz. Merrill returned to the U.S. in the 1960s, but moved to Japan in 1967 after touring there. Merrill developed a following in Japan that remains strong to this day. In addition to recording while in Japan, Merrill became involved in other aspects of the music industry, producing albums for Trio Records and hosting a show on a Tokyo radio station.
Later career
Merrill returned to the US in 1972 and has continued recording and regular touring since then. Her later career has seen her experiment in different music genres. She has recorded a bossa nova album, a Christmas album and a record's worth of Rodgers and Hammerstein, among many others.
Two albums from Merrill's later career have been tributes to past musical partners. In 1987, Merrill and Gil Evans recorded fresh arrangements of their classic Dream of You; the new recordings were released under the title Collaboration and became the most critically acclaimed of Merrill's albums in the 1980s.
In 1987 she co-produced a CD "Billy Eckstine sing with Benny Carter" and sing in duet with Mr.B two ballads.
In 1995 she recorded Brownie: Homage to Clifford Brown as a tribute to the late trumpeter.
One of Merrill's millennium released recordings draws from her Croatian heritage as well as her American upbringing. Jelena Ana Milcetic, a.k.a. Helen Merrill (2000), combines jazz, pop and blues songs with several traditional Croatian songs sung in Croatian.
Helen Merrill has been married three times, first to musician Aaron Sachs, second time to UPI vice president the late Donald J Brydon, and third to arranger-conductor the late Torrie Zito. She has one child, a son, Allan P Sachs, also a singer, who is professionally known as Alan Merrill.
Falling In Love With Love
Helen Merrill Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Falling in love with love is playing the fool
Caring too much is such a juvenile fancy
Learning to trust is just for children in school
I fell in love with love one night when the moon was full
I was unwise with eyes unable to see
I fell in love with love, with love everlasting
Falling in love with love is falling for make-believe
Falling in love with love is playing the fool
Just caring too much is such a juvenile fancy
Learning to trust is just for children in school
Well, I fell in love with love one night when the moon was full
I was unwise with eyes unable to see
I fell in love with love, with love everlasting
But love fell out with me
The song "Falling in Love With Love" by Helen Merrill is a poignant portrayal of the dangers of romanticizing love. The opening verse suggests that falling in love with love is akin to falling for an illusion, or "make-believe." The singer then warns that caring too much can be a juvenile fancy, implying that the reckless pursuit of love can lead to heartbreak and disappointment. The lines "Learning to trust is just for children in school" also suggest that those who fall in love with love are still in the realm of childishness, trying to experience the feeling without the maturity to handle it.
In the second verse, the lyrics are much more personal. The singer reveals that she too fell in love with love when the moon was full, and her infatuation blinded her to the reality. The use of the metaphor "eyes unable to see" further emphasizes this idea. However, despite her love being "everlasting," it eventually failed, leaving her alone and disillusioned.
The repetition of the refrain, "Falling in love with love is falling for make-believe / Falling in love with love is playing the fool," reinforces the central theme of the song. The lyrics suggest that those who fall in love with the idea of love rather than a person or a commitment are doomed to failure, heartbreak, and disappointment.
Line by Line Meaning
Falling in love with love is falling for make-believe
Loving the idea of love is not really loving at all. It's like loving something that doesn't really exist.
Falling in love with love is playing the fool
When someone falls in love with love, they are acting foolish because they are not really in love with a person or anything tangible.
Caring too much is such a juvenile fancy
Caring too much about love is a childish notion because it is based on idealistic and romanticized ideas rather than reality.
Learning to trust is just for children in school
Trusting in love is something that only children in school are taught. It is not something that can be easily learned or practiced in the real world.
I fell in love with love one night when the moon was full
The artist is recalling a specific moment when they fell in love with the idea of love. It was a magical moment, but not based in reality.
I was unwise with eyes unable to see
At that moment, the singer was blinded by their love for love and could not see that it was not real.
I fell in love with love, with love everlasting
The singer fell in love with the idea of love as something that would last forever. But they soon realized that love is not everlasting.
But love fell out with me
The artist's love for love was not reciprocated, and they were left feeling disappointed and alone.
Lyrics © Roba Music Verlag GMBH, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, CTM Publishing, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Nathalia Saavedra Soler
I weave with brightly colored strings
To keep my mind off other things;
So, ladies, let your fingers dance
And keep your hands out of romance
Lovely witches
Let the stitches
Keep your fingers under control
Cut the thread but leave
Your whole heart whole
Marry maids can sew and sleep;
Wives can only sew and weep!
Falling in love with love is falling for make believe
Falling in love with love is playing the fool;
Caring too much is such a juvenile fancy
Learning to trust is just for children in school
I fell in love with love one night when the moon was full
I was unwise with eyes unable to see
I fell in love with love, with love everlasting
But love fell out with me
Falling in love with love is falling for make believe
Falling in love with love is playing the fool;
Caring too much is such a juvenile fancy
Learning to trust is just for children in school
[ADRIANA]
I fell in love with love one night when the moon was full
I was unwise with eyes unable to see
I fell in love with love, with love everlasting
But love fell out with me
Willis.Wills
Quincy sure stepped up his game with the arrangement on this compared to his recording a year earlier on 'Quincy's Home Again', not that the earlier version was lacking.
viewst321
When I was young in the late1950s we listened to this album over and over again and the songs became part of everyone's repertoire, especially the solos by Brown and Pettiford. This and You'd be So Nice set the standard for the kind of swing we were looking for. Thanks for posting!!
60otaku4
You're welcome, viewst321-san!!
Otaku4 (^_^)/
Rick Adle
Helen Merrill doesn't necessarily have the prettiest voice, but she has the quality that you can listen over and over and not get tired of her.
This rendition is so good it should be illegal. Rodgers and Hart, Merrill, and one of the greatest trumpet players in jazz history trying not to attract attention to himself.
Troy
So many pretty voices. But hers seems to be unforgettable. Not sure if not technically beautiful, but surely incomparable.
Jean-José Mesguen
I love your statement "one of the greatest trumpet players in jazz history trying not to attract attention to himself." This is exactly what a lot of good jazz virtuosos forget : the real thing is making real music, not a brilliant performance.
chris dennehy
@Jean-José Mesguen Brownie died way too young.
Nathalia Saavedra Soler
I weave with brightly colored strings
To keep my mind off other things;
So, ladies, let your fingers dance
And keep your hands out of romance
Lovely witches
Let the stitches
Keep your fingers under control
Cut the thread but leave
Your whole heart whole
Marry maids can sew and sleep;
Wives can only sew and weep!
Falling in love with love is falling for make believe
Falling in love with love is playing the fool;
Caring too much is such a juvenile fancy
Learning to trust is just for children in school
I fell in love with love one night when the moon was full
I was unwise with eyes unable to see
I fell in love with love, with love everlasting
But love fell out with me
Falling in love with love is falling for make believe
Falling in love with love is playing the fool;
Caring too much is such a juvenile fancy
Learning to trust is just for children in school
[ADRIANA]
I fell in love with love one night when the moon was full
I was unwise with eyes unable to see
I fell in love with love, with love everlasting
But love fell out with me
gian paolo Puglisi
Great performance !
Thanks
miee lapies
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