James Columbus (Jay or Hootie) McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006… Read Full Bio ↴James Columbus (Jay or Hootie) McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American blues and swing pianist, bandleader, and singer.

McShann was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and began working as a professional musician in 1931, performing around Tulsa, Oklahoma and neighboring Arkansas. He moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1936, and set up his own big band, which featured Charlie Parker (from 1937 to 1942), Bernard Anderson, Ben Webster and Walter Brown. Although its book included both swing and blues numbers, the band played blues on most of its records; its most popular recording was "Confessin' the Blues." The group disbanded when McShann was drafted into the Army in 1944, and he was unable to successfully restart it when he got out.

After the war McShann began to lead small groups featuring blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon. Witherspoon started recording with McShann in 1945, and fronting McShann's band, had a hit in 1949 with "Ain't Nobody's Business." McShann then played in obscurity until 1969, when he became popular as a singer as well as a pianist, often performing with Claude Williams. He continued recording and touring through the 1990s. Well into his 80s McShann still performed occasionally, particularly in the Kansas City area and Toronto Ontario.

Crime-fiction writer Elmore Leonard featured McShann as a character in his 2005 novel, The Hot Kid.

On December 7, 2006, McShann died at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City.

But Beautiful
Jay McShann Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Love is funny or it's sad,
Or it's quiet or it's mad,
It's a good thing or it's bad,
But beautiful!

Beautiful to take a chance
And if you fall, you fall,
And I'm thinking I wouldn't mind at all.

Love is tearful or it's gay.
It's a problem or it's play,
It's a heartache either way,
But beautiful!

And I'm thinking if you were mine

I'd never let you go,
And that would be but beautiful I know.

Overall Meaning

Jay McShann's song "But Beautiful" is a masterful exploration of the many facets of love. Throughout the three verses, McShann muses on the contradictions and complexities of this most mysterious of human emotions. In the first verse, he notes that love can be funny or sad, quiet or mad, good or bad, but always beautiful. This sets the stage for the remainder of the song, which delves deeper into the different aspects of love.

In the second verse, McShann focuses on the risk inherent in loving, as well as the joy of taking that risk. He notes that love can be tearful or gay, a problem or play, a heartache or a blessing, but again, always beautiful. The idea of taking a chance on love and being willing to fall is a powerful one, and it speaks to the song's overarching theme of the need for courage in matters of the heart.

In the final verse, McShann brings his musings full circle by imagining what it would be like to love someone who reciprocates that love fully. He muses that if he had that kind of love, he'd "never let [them] go," and that this would be the height of beauty. This final verse is both poignant and hopeful, suggesting that despite all the pain and complexity of love, it is ultimately a force for good in the world.

Line by Line Meaning

Love is funny or it's sad,
Love can bring laughter or sadness.

Or it's quiet or it's mad,
Love can be calm or intense.

It's a good thing or it's bad,
Love can bring happiness or pain.

But beautiful!
But love is still beautiful despite its ups and downs.

Beautiful to take a chance
Taking a chance on love is a beautiful thing.

And if you fall, you fall,
If you take that chance and crash, that's okay.

And I'm thinking I wouldn't mind at all.
The fear of falling isn't enough to stop someone from taking a chance on love.

Love is tearful or it's gay.
Love can bring tears of joy or sadness.

It's a problem or it's play,
Love can be an issue or a fun game.

It's a heartache either way,
Love can be painful no matter what.

But beautiful!
But love is still beautiful despite the heartache.