Braff was a wonderfully characterful and melodic player with an immediately identifiable sound and unique tone on the cornet, an uncommon instrument in post-war jazz. He style was fundamentally based on that of earlier players including Louis Armstrong, Bobby Hackett and Bunny Berigan but he transcended these influences to always sounds fresh, sparky and somehow modern.
He was born in Boston and began playing in local clubs in the 1940s. In 1949, he was hired to play with the Edmond Hall Orchestra. He relocated to New York in 1953 where he was much in demand for band dates and recordings.
He died February 10, 2003, in Chatham, Massachusetts.
"Sure, they’ve made statements about my supposedly combining a modern approach with a feeling for traditional forms. Well, people say all sorts of things, because they want to categorise and label. I’ve only ever had two labels. Either it’s good or it stinks." - Ruby Braff speaking in 1968
My Heart Stood Still
Ruby Braff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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
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
The lyrics of Ruby Braff's "My Heart Stood Still" convey the intensity of love at first sight. The opening line is simple: "I took one look at you / That's all I meant to do." But it is this single look that stops the singer's heart: "And then my heart stood still." The following lines describe the physical reaction of the singer's body. Though his feet can still step and walk, and his lips can still move and talk, his heart's reaction is to remain fixed in the moment.
The song's chorus repeats these thematic ideas, changing a bit as it goes. It seems that no spoken word passed between the singer and his love interest, only a "clasp of hands." His heart "never lived at all / Until the thrill of that moment / When my heart stood still." Here, in the final iteration of the chorus, the idea of "thrill" is emphasized, the heart-stopping moment containing a shock of excitement.
Line by Line Meaning
I took one look at you
The moment I saw you, something special happened.
That's all I meant to do
I didn't plan on falling in love with you, but it happened in an instant.
And then my heart stood still
My heart skipped a beat and I couldn't believe what was happening.
My feet could step and walk
Physically, I was able to move around like normal.
My lips could move and talk
I could speak to you without any issue.
And yet my heart stood still
Despite everything else functioning normally, my heart was completely taken by you.
Though not a single word was spoken
We didn't have to say anything to understand each other.
I could tell you knew
I could see in your eyes that you felt the same way I did.
That unfelt clasp of hands
Even without physically touching, we shared a connection.
Told me so well you knew
The way we looked at each other said it all.
I never lived at all
Before meeting you, my life was incomplete.
Until the thrill of that moment
When I first saw you, everything changed.
When my heart stood still
I felt a connection with you that stopped me in my tracks.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind