Jay has gained worldwide attention as both performer and teacher. She has a… Read Full Bio ↴Jay has gained worldwide attention as both performer and teacher. She has appeared at major venues including Lincoln Center, Sweet Basil, Town Hall, the Kennedy Center, Jazz Alley, and the North Sea and Montmartre Festivals. She has taught at Universitat fur Musik in Austria, Bud Shank Jazz Workshop, and at City College and the New School in New York City. She has co-taught with Sheila Jordan at the Vermont Jazz Workshop, Jazz in July in Mass., Banff Center in Canada and was on the jazz faculty of Cornish College of the Arts for 20 years.
Her book, Sing Your Story: a Practical Guide for Learning and Teaching the Art of Jazz Singing, was published by Advance Music in 2001.
Jay has performed and recorded throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe with leading jazz and new music artists including Muhal Richard Abrams, Steve Reich, Julian Priester, Stanley Cowell, Kirk Nurock, Gary Bartz, George Cables, Jane Ira Bloom, Jerry Granelli as well as with the a cappela group Vocal Summit; Urszula Dudziak, Bobby McFerrin, Jeanne Lee, Norma Winstone. Her current projects, covering both standards and original music, integrate poetry and electronics into her music. Her projects reflect the diversity of her art and her live performances, which range from duo to sextet, are unique events that draw from all of these collaborations.
Jay's artistic versatility, so highly regarded by fellow artists, is apparent in her discography.

http://www.jayclayton.com/Reviews.html

Young and Foolish
Jay Clayton Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Young And Foolish
Why Is It Wrong To Be
Young And Foolish
We Haven't Long To Be
Soon Enough The Carefree Days
The Sunlit Days Go By
Soon Enough The Bluebird Has To Fly
We Were Foolish

One Day We Fell In Love
Now We Wonder
What Were We Dreamin' Of
Smiling In The Sunlight
Laughing In The Rain
I Wish That We Were Young And Foolish Again
Smiling In The Sunlight

Laughing In The Rain
I Wish That We Were Young And Foolish Againin

Overall Meaning

In "Young and Foolish" by Jay Clayton, the singer is questioning why it is seen as a negative thing to be young and foolish. They seem to be reminiscing on a past love and the carefree days of youth, wishing they could go back to that time when they were free to fall in love and make mistakes without judgement. The lyrics bring up the fleeting nature of youth, with lines like "we haven't long to be," and how quickly time passes with lines like "soon enough the carefree days, the sunlit days go by." The regret of growing older and losing the innocence of youth is obvious in the last few lines, where they wish they could return to a time when they could smile in the sunlight and laugh in the rain without a care in the world.

Overall, the song captures the nostalgic yearning for youth and the simplicity and carefree nature of those days, contrasting it with the sometimes harsh realities of adulthood where judgement and responsibilities abound.

Line by Line Meaning

Young And Foolish
Being young and foolish is not a fault but a part of life, a natural stage of growing up.

Why Is It Wrong To Be
The notion that being young and naive is negative or disgraceful is flawed and incorrect.

Young And Foolish
Being young and foolish is not a fault but a part of life, a natural stage of growing up.

We Haven't Long To Be
The time of youth and naivete is fleeting and will not last forever, it is important to make the most of it.

Soon Enough The Carefree Days
The days of youth will not last forever, soon life will become more serious and demanding.

The Sunlit Days Go By
The bright and happy days of our youth pass by quickly and cannot be recovered.

Soon Enough The Bluebird Has To Fly
Just like the bluebird who must leave the nest and face the world, there comes a time when we must leave our carefree youth behind us and grow up.

We Were Foolish
As young people, we made mistakes and did not always make the best decisions due to our lack of experience and wisdom.

One Day We Fell In Love
One of the rites of passage of youth is falling in love and experiencing the intense emotions that come with it.

Now We Wonder
As adults looking back, we may question our youthful decisions and wonder if we made the right choices.

What Were We Dreamin' Of
We may reflect on our youthful dreams and aspirations that seemed so important at the time, and wonder if they were worth pursuing.

Smiling In The Sunlight
Youth is often associated with carefree happiness and laughter, symbolized here by the image of a smile in the sunlight.

Laughing In The Rain
Another symbol of youthful happiness and joy is laughing in the rain, an act of pure spontaneity and exhilaration.

I Wish That We Were Young And Foolish Again
Looking back on our youth, we may wish to experience those carefree days again, despite the mistakes we made and the challenges we faced.

Smiling In The Sunlight
Youth is often associated with carefree happiness and laughter, symbolized here by the image of a smile in the sunlight.

Laughing In The Rain
Another symbol of youthful happiness and joy is laughing in the rain, an act of pure spontaneity and exhilaration.

I Wish That We Were Young And Foolish Again
Looking back on our youth, we may wish to experience those carefree days again, despite the mistakes we made and the challenges we faced.

Writer(s): HAGUE ALBERT, HORWITT ARNOLD B

Contributed by James M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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