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).
When Day Is Done
Jimmy Durante Lyrics
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You were dearer than dear to me
From the moment you came
Evenings by your side I learned to love the night
But the loveliness of the night
Is no longer the same.
When day is done and shadows fall
When day is done
I think of all the joys we knew
That yearning, returning to hold you in my arms
Don't go, love
I know, love
Without you night has lost its charm
The opening lyrics of Jimmy Durante's When Day Is Done express the singer’s feelings of loss and heartache in the absence of a loved one. Durante's admission that his significant other was "dearer than dear" further accentuates the singer’s feelings of isolation without their beloved. Although Durante has memories of loving evenings spent with his partner, he acknowledges that the night is no longer the same without them. The loss of his lover has diminished the beauty of the night and rendered it incomplete.
The chorus, consisting of the repeated statement "When day is done," drives home the point that the absence of Durante's lover has left him pining for her. He dreams of his partner when the shadows fall and thinks of the joys they knew during happier times. The bridge of the song expresses Durante's unquenchable yearning for his lover’s embrace. He entreats her to stay and admits that without her, the night has lost its charm. Durante's melancholy lyrics and impassioned delivery are hallmarks of a love song that remains as relevant today as when it was first written.
Line by Line Meaning
Since you've gone away one thing is clear to me
I can see plainly now that you've left me
You were dearer than dear to me
There was no one more precious to me than you
From the moment you came
Ever since you came into my life
Evenings by your side I learned to love the night
Being with you in the evenings made me appreciate the beauty of the night
But the loveliness of the night
However, the beauty of the night
Is no longer the same.
Now seems less appealing without you by my side.
When day is done and shadows fall
When night comes and darkness creeps in
I dream of you
You occupy my thoughts
When day is done
When the sun sets
I think of all the joys we knew
I reminisce of our happy moments together
That yearning, returning to hold you in my arms
I long for the moment when we are together again and I can embrace you
Don't go, love
Please don't leave me
I know, love
I am aware and understand
Without you night has lost its charm
The night has lost its appeal in your absence
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: KATSCHER ROBERT, B.G. DESYLVA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind