Burrell made his first recording in 1951, with Dizzy Gillespie. After moving from Detroit to New York City in 1956, he recorded with a wide range of prominent musicians, including John Coltrane, Benny Goodman, Gil Evans, Stan Getz, Billie Holiday, Milt Jackson, Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Smith, Stanley Turrentine, and Cedar Walton. He also led his own groups since 1951.
In the 1970s he began leading seminars about music, particularly Duke Ellington's (Burrell has a music degree from Wayne State University). A highly popular performer, he has won several jazz polls in Japan and the United Kingdom as well as the United States.
He has recorded about 40 LPs, including Midnight Blue (1961), Blue Lights, Guitar Forms, Sunup To Sundown (1990), Soft Winds (1993), Then Along Came Kenny (1993), and Lotus Blossom (1995).
Burrell now serves as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA.
How High the Moon
Kenny Burrell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How faint the tune
Somewhere there's heaven
How high the moon
There is no moon above
When love is far away too
Till it comes true
That you love me as I love you
Somewhere there's music
How near, how far
Somewhere there's heaven
It's where you are
The darkest night would shine
If you would come to me soon
Until you will, how still my heart
How high the moon
Somewhere there's music
How faint the tune
Somewhere there's heaven
How high the moon
The darkest night would shine
If you would come to me soon
Until you will, how still my heart
How high the moon
In Kenny Burrell's song "How High the Moon," the lyrics are infused with longing and desire. The song speaks to the idea of distance, but also the power of love to bridge that distance. The opening lines, "Somewhere there's music, how faint the tune, somewhere there's heaven, how high the moon," set the tone for the song. The music is distant, but it still has a powerful effect on the singer. The image of heaven being high in the sky serves as a metaphor of how far the singer feels from their lover.
The second verse takes the listener deeper into the singer's longing. The "darkest night" could be transformed into something bright if only their lover would return to them. The singer's heart is still, waiting for the return of the person they love. This is a classic sentiment in love songs, but Burrell's arrangement and the simple, yet powerful lyrics make it particularly poignant.
Overall, the song speaks to the universality of the desire for love and connection. The metaphor of the distant music and high moon perfectly captures this feeling of longing and the power of love to overcome distance.
Line by Line Meaning
Somewhere there's music
There is a place where music exists and can be heard
How faint the tune
The melody may be weak or indistinct, but it still exists somewhere
Somewhere there's heaven
There is a place akin to paradise or blissfulness that can be found
How high the moon
This ideal place of joy is elevated, lofty, and beyond reach
There is no moon above
The night sky is dark and bereft of any celestial light
When love is far away too
If you are not near me or have no affection for me, then everything seems gloomy
Till it comes true
Unless my desire is fulfilled and you reciprocate my love for you
That you love me as I love you
Only then will the moon and stars shine bright in the firmament of my heart.
How near, how far
This profound feeling of love can be both close to or remote from us at times
It's where you are
The place of ideal happiness is where the person we love is present
The darkest night would shine
Even the blackest of nights would seem lit up and beautiful if you were here with me
If you would come to me soon
If you could only be near me sooner, everything would be all right
Until you will, how still my heart
My heart is heavy and quiet until the day when you finally arrive
How high the moon
Then I will be ecstatically happy, and nothing will be too impossible to achieve
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Morgan Lewis, Nancy Hamilton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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