Roy David Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989) was a jazz trumpe… Read Full Bio ↴Roy David Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989) was a jazz trumpet player in the Swing era. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, resulted in him sometimes being seen as the link between Louis Armstrong-era swing music and Dizzy Gillespie-era bebop. Roy's rhythmic power to swing a band was a dynamic trademark of the Swing Era.

Eldridge was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His nickname was Little Jazz. Eldridge played in the bands of Fletcher Henderson, Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw before making records under his own name. He also played in Benny Goodman's and Count Basie's Orchestras, and co-led a band with Coleman Hawkins.

Stardust
Roy Eldridge Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by.

Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
The melody
Haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song

Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale
Tells his fairytale
Of paradise, where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain

My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain.

Overall Meaning

The song Stardust by Roy Eldridge is a beautiful ode to lost love and longing. The opening lyrics set a wistful, melancholy tone as the purple dusk of twilight represents the sadness and sorrow of being apart from a loved one. The imagery of the little stars climbing high up in the sky functions to constantly remind the singer of their distance from their lover. The second verse brings up the singer's thoughts on how they spend their lonely nights, dreaming of a song, and the melody haunts their reverie. The phrase "my consolation is in the stardust of a song" reveals that though they remain apart, the singer can still find solace in memories of their love.

The bridge takes us into a scene of the singer imagining holding their lover in their arms under bright stars, with a nightingale singing a fairytale and roses blooming in paradise. Unfortunately, the singer realizes that this is a dream they will never be able to fully realize. However, the stardust melody remains as a poignant memory of love's refrain.

Overall, Roy Eldridge's Stardust is a beautiful tribute to lost love which highlights the power of music to evoke deep memories of the past.

Line by Line Meaning

And now the purple dusk of twilight time
The evening time has arrived and the sky has turned purple.

Steals across the meadows of my heart
The feeling of sadness has taken over my heart.

High up in the sky the little stars climb
The stars are shining brightly in the sky.

Always reminding me that we're apart
Being far apart from my loved one, the stars remind me of our separation.

You wander down the lane and far away
My loved one has wandered far away from me.

Leaving me a song that will not die
The memories of our love and the song we shared will stay with me forever.

Love is now the stardust of yesterday
Our love is now a distant memory.

The music of the years gone by.
The music reminds me of the time when our love was strong.

Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
I often ponder on how I spend my lonely nights.

The lonely nights
The nights spent alone without my loved one.

Dreaming of a song
Thinking about the song we shared in the past.

The melody
The tune of the song still echoes in my head.

Haunts my reverie
The song inhabits my daydreams.

And I am once again with you
In my imagination, I can be with my loved one once again.

When our love was new
When we had just fallen in love.

And each kiss an inspiration
Every kiss was a new inspiration for our love to blossom.

But that was long ago
Those moments are now distant in time.

And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
The only solace I have is in the memories of our love which are now like stardust.

Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
Whenever the stars are shining brightly, I think of you.

You are in my arms
In my imagination, I hold my loved one in my arms.

The nightingale
The nightingale bird.

Tells his fairytale
The nightingale sings about his story, just like in a fairytale.

Of paradise, where roses grew
The nightingale sings about a place of paradise, where roses grew.

Though I dream in vain
Even though my dreams of being with my loved one might not come true.

In my heart it will remain
My love for my loved one will always live in my heart.

My stardust melody
The memories of our love are now like stardust and it's melody in my head.

The memory of love's refrain.
The memories of our love will always linger in my mind.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER GENTRY, JOHN HUTCHINSON DEAN, MATTHEW EVERITT, SIMON IAN WHITE, STUART BLACK

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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