Durante was born in New York City, the third of four children born to Mitch Durante (1855 –1929) and Margaret Durante (1858–1936). A product of working-class New York, Durante dropped out of school in the eighth grade to become a full-time ragtime pianist, working the city circuit and earning the nickname "Ragtime Jimmy," before he joined one of the first recognizable jazz bands in New York, the Original New Orleans Jazz Band. Durante was the only member of the group who didn't hail from New Orleans. His routine of breaking into a song to deliver a joke, with band or orchestra chord punctuation after each line became a Durante trademark. In 1920, the group was renamed Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band.
Durante became a vaudeville star and radio attraction by the mid-1920s, with a music and comedy trio called Clayton, Jackson and Durante. (Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson, probably Durante's closest friends, often reunited with Durante professionally.) By 1934, he had a major record hit, his own novelty composition "Inka Dinka Doo," and it became his signature song for practically the rest of his life. A year later, Durante starred in the Billy Rose stage musical, Jumbo, in which a police officer stopped him while leading a live elephant and asked him, "What are you doing with that elephant?" Durante's reply, "What elephant?", was a regular show-stopper.
He began appearing in motion pictures at about the same time, beginning with a comedy series pairing him with silent film legend Buster Keaton and continuing with such offerings as The Wet Parade (1932), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942, playing Banjo, a character based on Harpo Marx), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962, based on the 1935 musical) and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).
Hi-Lili Hi-Lo
Jimmy Durante Lyrics
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Singing a song of love
On every tree there sits a bird
And every one I ever heard
Could break your heart without a word
Singing a song of love
A song of love is a sad song,
A song of love is a song of woe
Don't ask me how I know
A song of love is a sad song
For you have loved and it's so
You sit at the window and watch the rain,
Hi-Lili, Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo
Tomorrow you'll probably love again,
Hi-Lili, Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo.
Hi-Lili, Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo
A song of love is a song of woe
A song of love is a sad song
For you have loved and it's so
You sit at the window and watch the rain,
Hi-Lili, Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo
Tomorrow you'll probably love again,
Hi-Lili, Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo
The lyrics of Jimmy Durante's song "Hi-Lili Hi-Lo" speak about the pain of love and heartbreak. The opening verse begins with the image of a bird singing a song of love. The repetition of this line with slight variations emphasizes the ubiquity of love and heartbreak. The lyricist is suggesting that we cannot escape the pain of love; it surrounds us and affects us deeply. The following verse speaks directly to the emotional power that music can hold, stating that every song of love has the power to break your heart without even using words. The idea that music can connect to our emotions and break our hearts is powerful, and the chorus reinforces this by repeating the phrase "A song of love is a sad song" several times.
The second verse begins with the same line as the first, "A song of love is a sad song", and adds "for you have loved and it's so." This line is saying that even though love is painful, we still seek it out and enter into it, and as such, we cannot escape the sadness that comes with it. The image of sitting at a window watching the rain is a classic symbol of sadness and melancholy, and the line "tomorrow you'll probably love again" suggests that despite the pain of heartbreak, we will continue to seek love and open ourselves up to its risks.
In conclusion, "Hi-Lili Hi-Lo" is a poignant song about the pain of love and the emotional power of music. The song suggests that despite the sadness that love can bring, we cannot help but seek it out and continue to love.
Line by Line Meaning
On every tree there sits a bird
There is always a source of love and beauty around you, you just have to look for it.
Singing a song of love
The love and beauty around us is always present, and can take many forms.
And every one I ever heard
Every source of love and beauty is unique, but all are capable of touching our hearts.
Could break your heart without a word
The purest forms of love and beauty can be overwhelming, and even bring us to tears.
A song of love is a sad song,
Love is both beautiful and painful, and can fill our hearts with both joy and sadness.
Hi-Lili, Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo
This refrain represents the bittersweet nature of love and the highs and lows of emotion that come with it.
A song of love is a song of woe
The pain that can come with love is an integral part of experiencing it, and not something to be avoided.
Don't ask me how I know
Experiencing love and all its complexities is a personal journey that can't be fully explained or rationalized.
For you have loved and it's so
The pain of love is universal and something that all who have loved must go through.
You sit at the window and watch the rain,
When the pain of love feels overwhelming, sometimes all we can do is sit and contemplate our feelings.
Tomorrow you'll probably love again,
Despite the pain, the hope and beauty of love is always there, waiting to be discovered again.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BRONISLAW KAPER, HELEN DEUTSCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind