Born in West Virginia, saxophonist Marion Meadows – w… Read Full Bio ↴Marion Meadows
Born in West Virginia, saxophonist Marion Meadows – whose ethnic mix is Native American, African American and Caucasian – he grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, where he began playing clarinet and studying classical music at eight years old. His passion for different types of music led him to appreciate numerous jazz musicians, including Stanley Turrentine, Sidney Bichet, Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins, and he naturally gravitated to the soprano sax in his high school years. Fortunately for the smooth jazz fans who have embraced his sweet and funky soprano sound over the last decade, Meadows decided to take a few very important trips to Europe during his junior and senior years. He had dreamed of being either a veterinarian or zoologist, and assumed he would enroll in college as a pre-med major. Playing the sax was just a hobby until he saw the way audiences reacted to him and his student cohorts in Holland, Italy and Austria.
“The first trip was with my high school band and the second was a graduation gift to me and a few other guys playing over there in a big band setting,” he says. “It was exciting seeing positive newspaper articles about my playing in Italy, receiving all sorts of accolades and feeling the excitement of interaction with the crowd. It was a tremendous rush, and lit the fire.”
After studying jazz with Anthony Truglia, Meadows attended Berklee College of Music, where he majored in arranging and composition. He later went to the SUNY Purchase School for the Arts, where he studied under Ron Herder. “I got a lot of sideman jobs in college, and I have always said I got a graduate degree playing clubs,” adds Meadows, who perfected his craft studying with Joe Henderson, Dave Liebman and Eddie Daniels. “Not long after I finished school, (well-known jazz drummer) Norman Connors recorded my song ‘Invitation’ and then asked me to join his band. I later produced his Passion album with him. Things just fell into place.”
Meadows first hit the airwaves in 1991 with For Lovers Only, but his career really began one day in the late ‘80s at New York’s Grand Central Station. He had been a sideman with Connors for three years with only vague notions of eventually going solo. Then one day, as the oft-told story goes, he was waiting for a train, pulled out his horn and began playing under the huge dome. His sweet sound caught the attention of fellow traveler, TV composer Jay Chattaway, who was so impressed that he hooked Meadows up with legendary keyboardist Bob James. James signed Meadows to a deal with his TappanZee label, and though Meadows’ first recording went unreleased, the experience put him on the road to his eventual success.
Meadows hooked up with numerous artists and musicians and became a well known sideman in his own right, recording or performing over the years with Brook Benton, Eartha Kitt, Phyllis Hyman, Jean Carne, The Temptations, Michael Bolton, Angela Bofill, Will Downing and Native American flute player Douglas Spotted Eagle, among many others. In the late ‘80s, Meadows stretched his usual pop/jazz boundaries as a member of a New York avant-garde band called the Aboriginal Music Society. He was performing in Japan when he got the call that RCA Records was interested in signing him to a solo deal, based on his first album which he had recorded and financed himself. Meadows became a staple of the smooth jazz format with his subsequent recordings, which include Keep It Right Here (1993), Forbidden Fruit (1994) and Body Rhythm (1996).
After moving from his home in Connecticut to Phoenix, Arizona, Meadows signed with Heads Up International and released Another Side of Midnight (1999). A contemporary tribute to city life, his label debut was considered by critics to be his strongest work to date. His subsequent heads Up discography has been equally successful on an artistic as well as commercial level: Next To You (2000), featured a mix of R&B-influenced jazz coupled with sensual Latin rhythms; In Deep (2002), a neo-soul blend of jazz, R&B and hip-hop, brimmed with sophisticated arrangements and impressive tenor/soprano playing; Players Club (2004) paid tribute to Meadows’ fellow musicians with a seamless mix of contemporary jazz and soulful R&B. All four Heads Up recordings have been well received by his ever-growing, always loyal fans. Dressed To Chill, scheduled for release on May 23, 2006, is the latest chapter in Meadows’ satisfying tradition of cool sophistication.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of projects, both my own and group efforts,” says Meadows, “and my main objective is to keep growing as an artist and engage the fans who have invested so much emotion in my music and my career. Aside from that wonderful sense of live communication, the real magic for me happens in the studio when I put on those headphones and begin to play. That’s where the ideas just start to flow. Everything else in my musical life comes out of that moment.”
Save the Best for Last
Marion Meadows Lyrics
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Sometimes the sun goes 'round the moon
I see the passion in your eyes
Sometimes it's all a big surprise
'Cause there was a time when all I did was wish
You'd tell me this was love
It's not the way I hoped or how I planned
But somehow it's enough
And now we're standing face to face
Isn't this world a crazy place
Just when I thought our chance had passed
You go and save the best for last
All of the nights you came to me
When some silly girl had set you free
You wondered how you'd make it through
I wondered what was wrong with you
'Cause how could you give your love to someone else
And share your dreams with me
Sometimes the very thing you're looking for
Is the one thing you can't see
And now we're standing face to face
Isn't this world a crazy place
Just when I thought our chance had passed
You go and save the best for last
Sometimes the very thing you're looking for
Is the one thing you can't see
Sometimes the snow comes down in June
Sometimes the sun goes 'round the moon
Just when I thought our chance had passed
You go and save the best for last
You went and saved the best for last
Marion Meadows's song "Save the Best for Last" is a touching love song about two people who initially did not end up together, but eventually found their way back to each other. The song speaks of how sometimes in life, things don't always work out the way we plan them to, and sometimes we may end up with unexpected surprises. The first verse speaks of how sometimes in life, things can happen that are unlikely, such as snowfall in June or the sun going around the moon. Similarly, the singer is surprised to find love in unexpected circumstances, as it was not the way they hoped or planned it. However, despite these surprises, somehow it is still enough.
The second verse speaks of how the two people had a history together, with the singer being there for the other person through various romantic challenges. At the time, they wondered how the other person could give their love to someone else when perhaps they were more compatible. Yet, the chorus speaks of how life can be unpredictable and that sometimes the very thing we are looking for is the one thing we can't see. The song ends with the two people standing face to face, amazed at how life can be crazy but grateful that they saved the best for last.
Line by Line Meaning
Sometimes the snow comes down in June
Unexpected things happen sometimes, even when they seem unlikely
Sometimes the sun goes 'round the moon
Unexpected things happen sometimes, even when they seem impossible
I see the passion in your eyes
I can tell how much you care about me by looking into your eyes
Sometimes it's all a big surprise
Sometimes things happen that we don't expect
'Cause there was a time when all I did was wish
I used to hope and dream that you would love me
You'd tell me this was love
I wanted you to say that you loved me
It's not the way I hoped or how I planned
Our relationship isn't exactly what I expected, but it's still good enough
But somehow it's enough
Despite our relationship not being what I hoped, it still fulfills me
And now we're standing face to face
We are standing right in front of each other
Isn't this world a crazy place
Isn't it amazing how unexpected things happen in life?
Just when I thought our chance had passed
I had given up on us, but then something changed
You go and save the best for last
You saved the best part of our relationship for later, even though I had given up on it
All of the nights you came to me
Every time you came to me when you were feeling down
When some silly girl had set you free
When another girl had broken up with you
You wondered how you'd make it through
You were unsure how you would get over the breakup
I wondered what was wrong with you
I was concerned about your wellbeing and wondered why you kept going through this cycle
'Cause how could you give your love to someone else
I couldn't understand how you could love someone else when you seemed to be so perfect for me
And share your dreams with me
You told me everything about your life and shared your hopes and dreams with me
Sometimes the very thing you're looking for
Sometimes the thing that you're searching for the most
Is the one thing you can't see
Is the one thing that is right in front of you, but you are blind to it
You went and saved the best for last
You waited until later to show me the best part of our relationship
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Round Hill Music Big Loud Songs, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Phil Galdston, Jon Lind, Wendy Waldman-Parker
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Craig Scott
on Suede
Smooth ...........................