Kathleen Battle (born August 13, 1948, Portsmouth, Ohio, USA) is an African… Read Full Bio ↴Kathleen Battle (born August 13, 1948, Portsmouth, Ohio, USA) is an African-American soprano known for her agile and light voice and her silvery, pure tone. One of the most prominent recitalists and opera singers of her generation, she is admired for her wide ranging recital repertoire and performances of the operas of Georg Friedrich Händel and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid 70s. She made her opera debut in 1975 and by the early 1980s had become a favorite at many of the world's best opera houses within the soubrette repertoire. Battle expanded her repertoire into light lyric soprano and lyric coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1985, Michael Walsh of Time magazine called her "the best lyric coloratura in the world". Although she no longer appears in operas, Battle remains active in concert and recital performances.

As a child and young adult, Battle was both a good student and a good singer, but her ambitions were not grand. She was awarded a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in Ohio, but she chose to major in music education rather than risk a performance career. In 1971, with both bachelor's and master's degrees, Battle set out to teach music to Cincinnati's inner-city youth. While teaching 5th and 6th grade music, she continued to study voice privately, which resulted in an audition with Thomas Schippers (then conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra). He was so moved by Battle's remarkable voice that he hired the almost totally inexperienced singer to perform at the 1972 Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.

Ellington:L Prelude to a Kiss
Kathleen Battle Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

If you hear
A song in blue
Like a flower crying
For the dew
That was my heart serenading you
My prelude to a kiss

If you hear a song that grows

From my tender sentimental woes
That was my heart trying to compose
A prelude to a kiss

Though it's just a simple melody
With nothing fancy
Nothing much
You could turn it to a symphony
A Shubert tune with a Gershwin touch

Oh how my love song gently cries
For the tenderness within your eyes
My love is a prelude that never dies
A prelude to a kiss

Though it's just a simple melody
With nothing fancy
Nothing much
You could turn it to a symphony
A Shubert tune with a Gershwin touch

Oh how my love song so gently cries
For the tenderness within your eyes

My love is a prelude that never dies
A prelude to a kiss

Overall Meaning

The song "Prelude to a Kiss" by Kathleen Battle is a classic love ballad that describes the deep emotions of someone in love. The singer describes her heart as a tender and sentimental object that serenades and composes melodies to express her love for someone. The song starts with an invitation to listen to a song that has a blue touch, much like a flower crying for the dew. The phrase "song in blue" is a metaphor for the sadness and melancholy that come with longing for love. The tender sentimental woes the singer is talking about in the song are the feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and vulnerability that usually follow someone in love.

The song also describes the simplicity and humility of the love the singer feels. The melody is simple, and there is nothing fancy about it, but the emotions conveyed by it are deep and heartfelt. The lyrics suggest that the love song can turn into a symphony with a Gershwin touch if the lover wants to express it differently. The last verse expresses the longing for tenderness and the desire for the love to last forever. The love is a prelude that never dies, and the singer's heart is always ready to express the emotions in sweet melodies.

Line by Line Meaning

If you hear
If you listen carefully

A song in blue
A sad and melancholic song

Like a flower crying
As if a flower that needs water to survive

For the dew
To wet its petals

That was my heart serenading you
My heart singing to you

My prelude to a kiss
My introduction to a kiss, my way of showing my affection

If you hear a song that grows
If you hear a song that develops over time

From my tender sentimental woes
From my emotional struggles

That was my heart trying to compose
That was my heart attempting to create a song

A prelude to a kiss
An introduction to a kiss, a way of expressing my love

Though it's just a simple melody
Even though the song is not complex