As a graduate of The Juilliard School’s ground-breaking Institute of Jazz Studies, Dease has engaged in an exciting sideman and solo career while balancing the responsibilities of a full-time student with performances from Alaska to Helsinki, Finland. Dease is formerly a member of the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, whose latest season began with a tour celebrating Jacquet’s 81st birthday to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and culminating with his record 17th featured appearance at the Midsummer’s Night Swing series at New York City’s Lincoln Center. Dease’s extensive performance roster has included gigs with Paul Simon, Alicia Keys, Luis Miguel, Wycliffe Gordon, Wynton Marsalis, Junior Mance and his Trio, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Juilliard Symphony, Shelly Berg and Slide Hampton, to name a few.
A sought-after writer and lyricist, Dease is also a gifted composer and arranger, and was commissioned to arrange and perform Christmas carols and other jazz arrangements by the Juilliard Trombone Choir directed by Joe Alessi and Virgina Allen. His works have been lauded by eminent composer Donald Brown and have been featured at the Ravinia Music Festival, The Kennedy Center, The Eastern Trombone Workshop and debuted internationally at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. Dease’s award- winning trombone ensemble, "Dease Bones" features many of his original works with arrangements of timeless standards and jazz staples.
Dease has a long-standing commitment to music education, accepting his first student at age 14. In addition to private lessons, Dease has been a senior faculty member of the Instrumental Music Fellowship at The Juilliard School, working with junior high students in the borough of Manhattan. His work with young musicians and audiences through clinics, lectures, workshops and master classes has brought him to such venues as The Michigan State University, Scranton University, Illinois State University, Augusta State University, Simpson College, Broward Comminity College and the Grammy award-winning John S. Davidson Performing Arts High School.
Speak Low
Michael Dease Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our summer day withers away
Too soon, too soon.
Speak low when you speak, love,
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift,
We're swept apart too soon.
Love is a spark lost in the dark,
Too soon, too soon,
I feel wherever I go
That tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here
And always too soon.
Time is so old and love so brief,
Love is pure gold and time a thief.
We're late darling, we're late,
The curtain descends, ev'rything ends
Too soon, too soon,
I wait darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me,
Speak love to me and soon.
In Michael Dease's song "Speak Low," the lyrics depict the fleeting nature of love and the urgency to hold onto it before it slips away. The first two lines, "Speak low when you speak, love, Our summer day withers away," reflects the idea that love has a limited lifespan and like a summer day, eventually fades away. The use of the word "speak low" implies the need to cherish love and hold it close, while also conveying a sense of intimacy and vulnerability between two people deeply in love.
The second and third stanzas evoke a feeling of helplessness in trying to hold onto love. "Our moment is swift, like ships adrift, We're swept apart too soon" implies the idea that love is uncontrollable and like ships adrift, can be taken away by fate or circumstance. The repetition of "too soon" emphasizes the idea that time is short and that love cannot be taken for granted.
The final stanza compares time and love, contrasting time as the "thief" and love as "pure gold." The use of "we're late" and "the curtain descends" brings a sense of finality and urgency to the song. The final lines, "Will you speak low to me, Speak love to me and soon" represent the desire to hold onto love, to cherish it, and to express it before it's too late.
Line by Line Meaning
Speak low when you speak, love,
We should speak softly, my love, as time is running out.
Our summer day withers away,
Our youthful and carefree time together is slipping away too quickly.
Too soon, too soon.
Our happiness is dissipating before our eyes, much too quickly.
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift,
Our romantic time together is fleeting and unsteady, like boats caught in the current.
We're swept apart too soon.
Our separation is imminent and happens too quickly.
Speak low, darling speak low,
My love, let's speak softly, for the flame of our love is already fading.
Love is a spark lost in the dark,
Love is a bright and brief flame that is quickly consumed and forgotten in the darkness of time.
Too soon, too soon,
Our love has already come to an end all too quickly.
I feel wherever I go
I am continually aware that the future is uncertain, and the sands of time are running out.
That tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here
The future is always quickly approaching, and the present becomes the past just as quickly.
And always too soon.
Time moves too quickly, and our moments of joy are always too short-lived.
Time is so old and love so brief,
Time is eternal and unyielding, while love is but a fleeting moment in the grand scheme of things.
Love is pure gold and time a thief.
Love is valuable and precious, while time is always stealing away our fleeting moments of happiness.
We're late darling, we're late,
We have waited too long, and our time together is now nearly over.
The curtain descends, ev'rything ends
Our moment together is coming to a close, and everything must come to an end eventually.
Too soon, too soon,
Our love has already come to an end all too quickly.
I wait darling, I wait
I am still waiting for one last moment of happiness with the one I love.
Will you speak low to me,
Can you still speak to me softly, with love?
Speak love to me and soon.
Please, speak to me kindly and lovingly, for our time together is now very brief.
Lyrics © Music Hub O/B/O GEMA, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind