Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer.
Read Full Bio ↴Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer.

Born in Montreal, Canada, Peterson began learning trumpet and piano from his father at the age of five, but by the age of seven, after a bout of tuberculosis, he concentrated on the piano. Some of the artists who influenced Peterson during the early years were Teddy Wilson, Nat "King" Cole, James P. Johnson, and the legendary Art Tatum, to whom many have tried to compare Peterson in later years. In fact, one of his first exposures to the musical talents of Art Tatum came early in his teen years when his father played an Art Tatum record to him and Peterson was so intimidated by what he heard that he didn't touch the piano for over a week.

He soon developed a reputation as a technically brilliant and melodically inventive jazz pianist, and became a regular on Canadian radio. His United States introduction was at Carnegie Hall, New York City in 1949 by Norman Granz; owing to union restrictions his appearance could not be billed.

Some of his musical associates have included Lester Young, Ray Brown, Ben Webster, Herb Ellis, Ed Thigpen, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Louis Armstrong, Stéphane Grappelli, Ella Fitzgerald, Clark Terry, Joe Pass, Count Basie, and Stan Getz. An important step in his career was joining impresario Norman Granz's labels (especially Verve records) and Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic package, with which he was able to play with the major jazz artists of the time. Granz was also his manager for most of Peterson's career. Some cognoscenti assert that Peterson's best recordings were made for the MPS label in the late 'sixties and early 'seventies. For some years subsequently he recorded for Granz's Pablo Records after the label was founded in 1973 and in more recent years for the Telarc label.

In 1993, Peterson suffered a serious stroke that weakened his left side and sidelined him for two years. However he overcame this setback and went back to touring, recording, and composing on a limited basis. In 1997 he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award. He died on December 24th, 2007 of kidney failure.

You Turned the Tables on Me
Oscar Peterson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You turned the tables on me
And now I'm falling for you;
You turned the tables on me
I can't believe that it's true
I always thought when you brought
The lovely present you bought
Why hadn't you brought me more,
But now if you'd come

I'd welcome anything
From the five and ten cent store,

You used to call me the top
You put me up on a throne
You let me fall with a drop
And now I'm out on my own.
But after thinking it over and over,
I got what was coming to me

Just like the sting of a bee
You turned the tables on me.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Oscar Peterson's "You Turned the Tables on Me" convey a story about a person who falls in love despite their initial intentions to keep their distance from the other person in the relationship. The song is about someone who had once held all the power and control but now finds themselves at the mercy of the other person. The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "You turned the tables on me," emphasizing the sudden shift in power dynamics that the singer is experiencing.

The opening lines of the song, "You turned the tables on me and now I'm falling for you," sets the tone for the rest of the lyrics. The singer is experiencing a complete reversal of fortune, and it is only now that they realize how much power the other person holds over them. The next line, "I can't believe that it's true," reinforces the sense of disbelief that the singer is feeling. They never expected to find themselves in this situation, and yet it has happened.

The lyrics go on to describe how the other person's actions have caused the singer to reevaluate their own behavior. They had once been critical of the other person's gift-giving abilities, but now they would welcome anything from them, even something from the five and ten cent store. The chorus repeats, and the next verse describes how the other person had once held the singer in high regard, but now the singer is left feeling abandoned and alone.

The song's lyrics convey the theme of love and power dynamics, where power can shift suddenly in a relationship. The lyrics express how the sudden shift of power in a relationship can cause a person to reassess their own behavior and actions.

Line by Line Meaning

You turned the tables on me
You've completely changed the dynamics of our relationship and now I am experiencing the opposite of what I used to feel.

And now I'm falling for you;
I have feelings for you that I didn't expect to have.

I can't believe that it's true
It's hard for me to accept that my emotions have changed so drastically.

I always thought when you brought The lovely present you bought Why hadn't you brought me more,
In the past, I thought you didn't care enough to bring me better gifts.

But now if you'd come I'd welcome anything From the five and ten cent store,
Now that I have feelings for you, I am willing to accept anything from you - even small, inexpensive things.

You used to call me the top You put me up on a throne You let me fall with a drop And now I'm out on my own.
You used to hold me in high regard, but then you brought me down and left me on my own.

But after thinking it over and over, I got what was coming to me Just like the sting of a bee
After reflecting on our relationship, I realized that I deserved this change in dynamics. It was a harsh lesson learned, like the sting of a bee.

You turned the tables on me.
Once again, you changed our relationship in a way that I couldn't have predicted.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CARLIN AMERICA INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LOUIS ALTER, SIDNEY D. MITCHELL

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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