Donaldson attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro in the early 1940s. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was trained at the Great Lakes bases in Chicago, where he was introduced to bop music in the lively club scene there. At the war's conclusion, he returned to Greensboro, where he worked club dates with the Rhythm Vets, a combo composed of A and T students who had served in the U.S. Navy. The band recorded the soundtrack to a musical comedy featurette, "Pitch a Boogie Woogie," in Greenville, North Carolina, in the summer of 1947. The movie had a limited run at black audience theatres in 1948 but its production company, Lord-Warner Pictures, folded and never made another film. "Pitch a Boogie Woogie" was subsequently restored by the American Film Institute in 1985 and re-premiered on the campus of East Carolina University in Greenville the following year. Donaldson and the surviving members of the Vets performed a reunion concert after the film's showing. In the documentary made on "Pitch" by UNC-TV, "Boogie in Black and White", Donaldson and his musical cohorts recall the film's making—he originally believed that he had played clarinet on the soundtrack. A short piece of concert footage from a gig in Fayetteville, North Carolina, is included in the documentary.
Donaldson's first jazz recordings were with the Charlie Singleton Orchestra in 1950 and then with bop emissaries Milt Jackson and Thelonious Monk in 1952, and he participated in several small groups with other jazz luminaries such as trumpeter Blue Mitchell, pianist Horace Silver and drummer Art Blakey.
In 1953, he also recorded sessions with the trumpet virtuoso Clifford Brown, and Philly Joe Jones.
He was a member of Art Blakey's Quintet and appeared on some of their best regarded albums, including the two albums recorded at Birdland in February 1954 Night at Birdland.
Donaldson has recorded in the bop, hard bop, and soul jazz genres. For many years his pianist was Herman Foster.
He was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame on October 11, 2012.
The Man I Love
Lou Donaldson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Brought such a flame to me
And let it die
And if another love should find my heart
It will remind my heart of your goodbye
With every new love you
In others eyes, its you I see
If I love again
Though its someone new
If I love again
It'll still be you
In someone else's firm embrace
I'll close my eyes but see your face
If I love again
I'll find other charms
But I'll make believe, you are in my arms
And though my lips whisper
"I love you"
My heart will not be true
I'll be loving
Every time I love again
Lou Donaldson's song "If I Love Again" deals with the idea of finding new love while still holding on to memories of a past love. The singer is grappling with the experience of moving on from somebody that he cared about deeply, but is struggling to let go. The first verse starts by questioning why this past love came into his life in the first place, bringing a passionate feeling with it only to let it die. This feeling of loss and betrayal is echoed throughout the song, as the singer comes to terms with the idea that he'll never fully move on.
The next few verses further emphasize this idea of struggling to move on, as the singer notes that every new love he experiences will remind him of the past love. They'll see the old love's face in the eyes of a new flame, unable to truly let go. The idea of holding onto the past is even more fully realized in the lines "And though my lips whisper 'I love you', my heart will not be true. I'll be loving every time I love again". The singer is acknowledging that they will never be able to fully commit to a new love, as they'll always be comparing it to the old love.
Overall, the song portrays a realistic, but melancholy view of love. It recognizes that sometimes we can't just move on from past loves and that they'll continue to haunt us even as we move on to new ones.
Line by Line Meaning
I often wonder why he came to me
I ponder about why he chose me
Brought such a flame to me
Brought passion into my life
And let it die
He let the passion diminish
And if another love should find my heart
If I fall in love again
It will remind my heart of your goodbye
I will recall our farewell
With every new love you
With every new love interest
Will come back to me
Your memory will still linger
In others eyes, its you I see
I visualize you in their place
If I love again
If I love someone else
Though its someone new
Despite being someone new
It'll still be you
It'll still feel like it's you
In someone else's firm embrace
In the arms of someone else
I'll close my eyes but see your face
In my mind, I'll see your face
If I love again
If I give love another chance
I'll find other charms
I'll discover other qualities to adore
But I'll make believe, you are in my arms
But I'll pretend you're still holding me
And though my lips whisper
Even if I say
"I love you"
"I love you"
My heart will not be true
But my heart won't be sincere
I'll be loving
I'll be loving
Every time I love again
Every time I fall in love anew
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MURRAY JACK, BEN OAKLAND, JACK MURRAY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Peter Palaj
Great cover artwork.