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.
Stardust
Jay McShann Lyrics
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Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
The melody
Haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale
Tells his fairytale
Of paradise, where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain.
The song "Stardust" by Jay McShann is a melancholic tune that speaks to the loneliness one experiences after the end of a love affair. It utilizes the imagery of the purple dusk of twilight to illustrate the pain of separation. The singer is reminded of the distance between themselves and their former lover whenever the little stars climb high up in the sky. The ordinary act of their lover wandering down the lane now serves as a reminder of the pain of separation by leaving behind a song that will not die. The sentimentality of the song suggests that love, although gone, leaves behind an imprint that can linger for years to come.
The singer expresses their longing for their former lover through their reoccurring dreams. The melody of a song from their past love affair haunts their reverie, and they are transported back to a time when their love was new, and each kiss an inspiration. But the memory of their love is all that remains of a love that has long since passed. It is now the stardust of a song that serves as their only consolation. The song concludes with the singer expressing their resignation to the fact that, although they may still dream in vain, the memory of their love will forever remain in their heart as a stardust melody, the memory of love's refrain.
Line by Line Meaning
And now the purple dusk of twilight time
The evening sky is turning purple indicating that it's twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart
The peacefulness of this time is spreading across the singer's heart in a calming manner
High up in the sky the little stars climb
The singer sees the stars climbing in the sky, indicating that the night has begun
Always reminding me that we're apart
The presence of stars reminds the artist that they are separated from someone they love
You wander down the lane and far away
The person the artist loves is leaving and going away from them
Leaving me a song that will not die
Despite the person being gone, they left a memory of a song that will stay strong in the singer's heart
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The love that was once present is now just a distant memory, represented symbolically as stardust
The music of the years gone by.
That past love is now just a memory, represented by the music that was created from it
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The artist ponders how they spend their time
The lonely nights
The artist is spending their nights alone
Dreaming of a song
The singer is dreaming of a song that represents their past love
The melody
The melody of the song that represents the artist's past love is very strong and memorable
Haunts my reverie
The melody of this song is always present in the singer's memories and thoughts
And I am once again with you
The melody of the song conjures up memories of being with the person the singer loves in the past
When our love was new
These memories are from when their love was new and just beginning
And each kiss an inspiration
Each kiss the artist and the person they loved shared was an inspiration to the artist
But that was long ago
These memories are from a long time ago
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
Now, the singer finds comfort in the memories of their past love, represented symbolically as stardust
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
The singer is thinking of a time when they were with the person they love, near a garden wall and under the starry sky
You are in my arms
During this memory, the artist is holding the person they love in their arms
The nightingale
A bird called the nightingale is present in this memory
Tells his fairytale
The nightingale is singing a song that sounds like a fairy tale
Of paradise, where roses grew
The nightingale's song is about a paradise where roses grew, symbolizing the beauty and perfection of the singer's love
Though I dream in vain
The artist knows that this memory is just a dream and cannot be a reality again
In my heart it will remain
However, even though it was just a dream, the memory of this moment will always remain in the singer's heart
My stardust melody
The memory of this moment is represented by the same stardust that symbolizes the singer's love
The memory of love's refrain.
This moment represents a beautiful memory of the singer's love, and the melody of the song that reminds them of it is its refrain
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER GENTRY, JOHN HUTCHINSON DEAN, MATTHEW EVERITT, SIMON IAN WHITE, STUART BLACK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind