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

The One I Love
Paul Desmond Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

When days are long and nights are lonely
And all my daydreams have gone astray
I think about the one and only
Who's bound to find me some golden day

The one I love is coming along some day
And I'll have none except the one I love
He/She may be near or ever so far away

But I'll have none except the one I love

And though our meeting is left to chance
Until our meeting
I still will have my dream romance

And through the night I pray to the moon above
To please be kind and find the one I love

Overall Meaning

In Paul Desmond's classic song, "The One I Love," the lyrics speak of the longing for a significant other who is yet to be found. Amidst the long days and lonely nights, the singer reminisces about past daydreams and hopes for a future partner that will eventually come along- the "one and only" who will bring joy and light to their life. The lyrics embody a sense of hope and optimism in the face of loneliness, emphasizing that the search for true love is worth the wait.

Furthermore, the lyrics suggest that the singer's love interest may be near or far away, but the love they seek is for one person only- the one they truly love. The singer's hopefulness that they will find their dream romance is an integral theme of the song. The lyrics address the concept of fate, acknowledging that their meeting is left to chance, but until they meet, they will continue to dream and pray to the moon above to be kind and bring them the one they love.

"The One I Love" is a timeless classic, with enchanting and calming instrumentals combined with lyrics that speak to the soul. The song leaves one with a sense of peacefulness and curiosity for what fate holds in store.

Line by Line Meaning

When days are long and nights are lonely
During those times when my days seem to drag on forever, and my nights are spent in solitude

And all my daydreams have gone astray
When all my hopes and aspirations for the future have failed to materialize

I think about the one and only
My mind turns to that one person who means everything to me

Who's bound to find me some golden day
Someone who is destined to bring joy and happiness into my life

The one I love is coming along some day
I am confident that the person I love will appear in my life at some point in the future

And I'll have none except the one I love
I will accept no one else besides the person who has captured my heart

He/She may be near or ever so far away
The person I love could be close by or located far away from me

But I'll have none except the one I love
Regardless of their current location, I will settle for no one except my true love

And though our meeting is left to chance
Even though the possibility of us coming together is determined by fate alone

Until our meeting
While we are still searching for one another

I still will have my dream romance
I will continue to fantasize about the perfect love story between us

And through the night I pray to the moon above
During the evening hours, I look up to the night sky and plead with the moon to help me find my beloved

To please be kind and find the one I love
I implore the moon to show mercy and bring the one I love into my life

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bronislaw Kaper, Gus Kahn, Walter Jurmann

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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