Paul Desmond (1924-1977) was a U.S jazz saxophonist.

Desmond was bor… Read Full Bio ↴Paul Desmond (1924-1977) was a U.S jazz saxophonist.

Desmond was born Paul Emil Breitenfeld in San Francisco, California on 25th November 1924. He came to prominence with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which lasted from 1951 until 1967. Desmond wrote their biggest hit, "Take Five".

Desmond's alto saxophone tone and technique owed nothing to the great alto player of the time, Charlie Parker; instead his was a clear, light, floating sound and highly melodic playing style. Much of the success of the classic Brubeck quartet was due to the superposition of his fragile, airy sound over Brubeck's sometimes relatively heavy, polytonal piano work.

Desmond died on 30th May 1977.

Paul Desmond is widely recognized for his genius as a melodic improviser and as the benchmark of cool jazz sax players. His warm, elegant tone was one that he admittedly tried to make sound like a dry martini. He and Art Pepper were virtually the only alto players of their generation not directly influenced by Charlie Parker. Desmond was influenced by Lester Young, but took it further, into melodic and harmonic worlds never before traveled by reedmen -- especially in the upper registers. Desmond is best known for his years with the Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959-1967) and his infamous composition "Take Five." He met Brubeck in the late '40s and played with his Octet. The Quartet formed toward the end of 1950 and took final shape with Eugene Wright and Joe Morello a few years later. Jazz at Oberlin and Take Five were considered essential purchases by college students of the era, but Jazz Impressions of Japan was its most innovative recording. Desmond played his loping, slow, ordered, and intricate solos in direct contrast to the pianist's obsession with large chords, creating a myriad of textures for melodic and rhythmic counterpoint unlike any heard in jazz. His witty quotations from musicals, classical pieces, and folk songs were also a watermark of his artistry. When the Quartet split in 1967, Desmond began an intermittent yet satisfying recording career. It included dates with Gerry Mulligan for Verve, various sessions with Jim Hall, and a concert with the the Modern Jazz Quartet. He played his last gigs with the Brubeck Quartet at reunions before dying of lung cancer. Desmond's recordings for RCA have gotten box-set treatment and Mosaic issued one of the complete sessions with Hall. There are also reissues from A&M and CTI, though recordings on Artist House and Finesse remain regrettably out of print. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi

My Heart Stood Still
Paul Desmond Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I took one look at you
That's all I meant to do
And then my heart stood still

My feet could step and walk
My lips could move and talk
And yet my heart stood still

Though not a single word was spoken
I could tell you knew
That unfelt clasp of hands
Told me so well you knew
I never lived at all
Until the thrill of that moment
When my heart stood still

I took one look at you
That's all I meant to do
And then my heart stopped right there

My feet could step and walk
My lips could move and talk
And yet my heart stood still

Though not a single word was spoken
I could tell you knew
That unfelt claps of hands
Told me so well you knew
I never lived at all

Until the thrill of that moment
When my heart stood still

Overall Meaning

The song "My Heart Stood Still" by Paul Desmond is a beautiful and romantic ballad that describes the moment when the singer fell in love. The first two lines of the refrain "I took one look at you, that's all I meant to do" signifies that the singer was not actively seeking love or looking for companionship, but when he saw a particular person, his heart stopped and everything else fell away. The phrase "My heart stood still" is repeated throughout the song - this line emphasizes how powerful the moment was for him. Despite being able to move around and speak, the singer felt frozen by the strong emotions he felt.

The second refrain emphasizes how the love was felt and not spoken about. The "unfelt clasp of hands" and "unfelt claps of hands" highlight the idea that the singer and the other person involved knew about their mutual love without needing to vocalize it. The last line of the song "I never lived at all, until the thrill of that moment, when my heart stood still" underlines that the moment of falling in love felt so important and meaningful that it was as if everything before that moment did not matter.

Overall, the song is an appreciation of the intensity and suddenness of falling in love. It's a declaration of how powerful love can be and how it can bring light and happiness in life.

Line by Line Meaning

I took one look at you
As soon as I saw you

That's all I meant to do
I didn't intend to do anything else

And then my heart stood still
I was so captivated by you that my heart stopped beating normally

My feet could step and walk
Physically I was able to move

My lips could move and talk
I was able to speak and express myself

And yet my heart stood still
But I was still consumed by my overwhelming feelings for you

Though not a single word was spoken
We didn't even need to talk to understand each other

I could tell you knew
I could sense that you felt the same

That unfelt clasp of hands
Even though we didn't actually touch hands

Told me so well you knew
I knew you understood the connection we shared

I never lived at all
Before that moment, my life felt incomplete