John Weldon Cale (5 December 1938 – 26 July 2013), known as JJ Cale or J.… Read Full Bio ↴John Weldon Cale (5 December 1938 – 26 July 2013), known as JJ Cale or J.J. Cale, was a Grammy Award-winning American singer, musician, and songwriter. Cale was one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has often been described as "laid back".

His songs have been performed by a number of other musicians including "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton,"Cajun Moon" by Randy Crawford, "Clyde" and "Louisiana Women" by Waylon Jennings, "Magnolia" by Jai, "Bringing It Back" by Kansas, "Call Me the Breeze" and "I Got the Same Old Blues" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, "I'd Like to Love You, Baby" by Tom Petty, "Travelin' Light" and "Ride Me High" by Widespread Panic, "Tijuana" by Harry Manx, "Sensitive Kind" by Carlos Santana, "Cajun Moon" by Herbie Mann with Cissy Houston, and "Same Old Blues" by Captain Beefheart.

Cale was born on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was raised in Tulsa and graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1956. Along with a number of other young Tulsa musicians, Cale moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, where he first worked as a studio engineer.
The Leathercoated Minds was a 1966-67 psychedelic studio-based band masterminded largely by Snuff Garrett and J J Cale. The band produced one album, A Trip down the Sunset Strip, co-produced by Cale and Garrett
Finding little success as a recording artist, he later returned to Tulsa and was considering giving up the music business until Clapton recorded "After Midnight" in 1970. His first album, Naturally, established his style, described by Los Angeles Times writer Richard Cromelin as a "unique hybrid of blues, folk and jazz, marked by relaxed grooves and Cale's fluid guitar and laconic vocals. His early use of drum machines and his unconventional mixes lend a distinctive and timeless quality to his work and set him apart from the pack of Americana roots-music purists."

Some sources incorrectly give his real name as "Jean-Jacques Cale". In the 2006 documentary, To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J.J. Cale, Cale talks about Elmer Valentine, co-owner of the Sunset Strip nightclub Whisky à GoGo, who employed him in the mid-1960s, being the one that came up with the "JJ" moniker to avoid confusion with the Velvet Underground's John Cale. Rocky Frisco tells the same version of the story mentioning the other John Cale but without further detail.

His biggest U.S. hit single, Crazy Mama, peaked at #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972. During the 2006 documentary film To Tulsa and Back Cale recounts the story of being offered the opportunity to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand to promote the song, which would have moved the song higher on the charts. Cale declined when told he could not bring his band to the taping and would be required to lip-sync the words to the song.

Cale died on Friday, July 26, 2013, at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, California, after suffering a heart attack.

Starbound
J.J. Cale Lyrics

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When you and I are ready,
No longer earthly-bound
We'll travel through
The crystal night, starbound
Heaven holds a mystery,
Wrapped inside a sound
Through the eyes of time,
Starbound, you and I

A floating star is what we are
Suspended in space
Outward-bound it's
The only home we've found
To save the human race
Speed is now their captain,
Kings that lost their crown
Motion is our master, starbound

Starbound
Starbound

Overall Meaning

The opening lines of J.J. Cale's "Starbound" present a vision of a powerful and transformative love that elevates two individuals beyond their earthly limitations. The lyrics suggest that the singer and their love interest are on a journey towards transcendence, leaving behind their earthly concerns and travelling through the "crystal night". The phrase "starbound" implies a sense of direction, representing the couple's unstoppable ascent towards the heavens. The song also features a sense of mystery surrounding the concept of heaven, which is said to be "wrapped inside a sound". Here, J.J. Cale suggests that there may be something unknowable or intangible about the divine, but that it can nonetheless be perceived through sound and music.

The second verse moves on to describe the singers as "floating stars" that are "suspended in space". This image depicts them as ethereal and otherworldly, mirroring the refrain's emphasis on their journey towards the heavens. The couple is said to be "outward-bound", depicting them as explorers of sorts, searching for a new home and a way to "save the human race". This line adds an element of social commentary to the song, suggesting that the couple's love may have the power to save humanity from itself. The final lines of the song assert that "motion is our master" and that the couple is "starbound". These lyrics confirm that the singer and their love interest have fully embraced their transformative journey and are now moving towards a greater understanding of the divine.

Line by Line Meaning

When you and I are ready,
When we are prepared to embark on a journey

No longer earthly-bound
We will no longer be confined to the earthly realm

We'll travel through
We will journey through

The crystal night, starbound
We will travel through the clear night sky, guided by the stars

Heaven holds a mystery,
There is a mystery that lies within the heavens

Wrapped inside a sound
This mystery is contained within the music of the universe

Through the eyes of time,
We will see this mystery unfold as time progresses

Starbound, you and I
Together, we will journey through the stars

A floating star is what we are
We are like stars, free-floating in space

Suspended in space
We are suspended, weightless in the void

Outward-bound it's
Our destination lies beyond the confines of Earth