James Last (Hans Last, * April 17, 1929 in Bremen, † June, 9, 2015 in Flori… Read Full Bio ↴James Last (Hans Last, * April 17, 1929 in Bremen, † June, 9, 2015 in Florida) was a German composer and big band leader with a large fan base in Europe and world-wide. Last's trademark was arranging pop hits in a big-band style; his series of "party albums" is equally well-known. Over the course of his career, he has sold well over 100 million albums.

Last learned how to play piano as child, switching to bass as a teenager. He joined Hans-Gunther Oesterreich's Radio Bremen Dance Orchestra in 1946, when he was 17 years old. In 1948, he became the leader of the Becker-Last Ensemble, which performed for seven years. During that time, he was voted as the best bassist in the country by a German jazz poll for three consecutive years, from 1950-1952. After the disbandment of the Becker-Last Ensemble, he became the in-house arranger for Polydor Records, as well as for a number of European radio stations. For the next decade, he helped arrange hits for artists like Helmut Zacharias and Caterina Valente.

Last released his first album "Non-Stop Dancing" in 1965. The record of brief renditions of popular songs, all tied together by an insistent dance beat and joyous crowd noises. It was a hit and helped make him a major European star. Over the next four decades, Last has released over 190 records, including several more volumes of Non-Stop Dancing. On these records, he varies his formula by adding different songs from different countries and genres, as well as guest performers like Richard Clayderman and Astrud Gilberto.

Though his concerts and albums are consistently successful — especially in England, where he had 52 hit albums between 1967-1986, which made him second to Elvis Presley in terms of number of charting records — he has only had two hit singles with "The Seduction," the theme from American Gigolo (1980) and Biscaya from the album "Biscaya".

He has won numerous polls and prizes, for example Billboard magazine's "Star of the year" trophy in 1976, and has been honored for his lifework with the German ECHO prize in 1994.

The song "The Lonely Shepherd", written by Last and performed by Gheorghe Zamfir and the James Last Orchestra, was featured in the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's film "Kill Bill Vol. 1" (2003).

Personally, he divides his time between Florida and Germany. He gives much credit to his wife and son, who helps with the music.

Blue Tango
James Last Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Here am I with you in a world of blue
And we're dancing to the tango we loved when first we met
While the music plays, we recall the days
When our love was a tune that we couldn't soon forget
As I kiss your cheek, we don't have to speak
The violins, like a choir, express the desire
We used to know not long ago
So just hold me tight in your arms tonight

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to James Last And His Orchestra's song Blue Tango speak to the depth of love that two people share. The use of the color blue sets the tone for the mood of the song - a sense of melancholy or sadness. However, amidst the blue world, the couple finds solace and joy in dancing to the tango they had first danced to when they met. Their memories are evoked as they move to the music, remembering the days when their love was new and exciting.

The lyrics reveal the power of music to transcend time and bring back memories of powerful emotions. Their love was once like a beautiful melody that they could not forget, now represented by the tango they are dancing to. The violins serve as a choir, expressing the love and desire that they used to know and still feel. As they hold each other tight and share a kiss, they don't have to speak because the music speaks for them. The Blue Tango is a symbol of the everlasting love that they share.

Line by Line Meaning

Here am I with you in a world of blue
I am here with you feeling down and sad.

And we're dancing to the tango we loved when first we met
We are dancing to the tango that we enjoyed when we first met, to relive those happy memories.

While the music plays, we recall the days
As we dance to the music, we remember the past and reminisce about the time we spent together.

When our love was a tune that we couldn't soon forget
Our love was like a song that we loved so much that we couldn't forget.

As I kiss your cheek, we don't have to speak
We don't need to talk as we understand each other so well that a simple kiss conveys our feelings.

The violins, like a choir, express the desire
The violins express our longing and desire for each other like a choir singing a love song.

We used to know not long ago
We had this love not long ago which we reminisce today.

So just hold me tight in your arms tonight
All that we need tonight is to hold each other tightly as we experience the warmth and love in each other's embrace.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: COLE PORTER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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