At the age of 21, she joined Arthur Klugman's traveling show, Coloured Jazz and Variety, on a tour of South Africa. When the production failed, she found herself stranded on the road where she was fortunate enough to meet legendary South African saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi. In 1959, she returned to Capetown where she took her place on the city’s by-then flourishing jazz scene. There she would meet pianist Dollar Brand (aka Abdullah Ibrahim), whom she would later marry. They began working together and in that same year she recorded what would have been the first jazz LP in South Africa's history. Titled My Songs for You, with accompaniment by Ibrahim’s trio, the recording of mostly standards was sadly never released.
In the aftermath of South Africa’s Sharpeville Massacre of 1960, Benjamin and Ibrahim decided to join the growing South African exile community in Europe. The couple, along with bassist Johnny Gertze and drummer Makhaya Ntshoko, settled in Zurich, Switzerland and worked throughout Germany and Scandinavia, meeting some of the greatest American jazz players, including Don Byas, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Drew, Ben Webster, Bud Powell, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk. The artist who would have the greatest impact on Benjamin’s life, however, was the inimitable Duke Ellington.
Benjamin met Duke while he was in Zurich in 1963. Standing in the wings during most of his band’s performance, once the concert ended she insisted that Duke hear her husband’s trio at the Club Africana, a local jazz spot where the couple worked fairly regularly. Duke obliged, but insisted that Benjamin sing for him. He adored her voice and promptly arranged for the couple to fly to Paris and record separate albums for Frank Sinatra’s Reprise label. Ibrahim’s record, Duke Ellington Presents The Dollar Brand Trio, was released the following year and subsequently helped him build a following in Europe and the United States. Unfortunately, Benjamin’s recording, despite its excellence and guest appearances by both Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, inexplicably remained unreleased. (The lost date was finally put out in 1996 by Enja Records, under the title A Morning in Paris.)
Benjamin maintained a friendly relationship with Ellington, who remained an enthusiastic supporter of her singing. In 1965, Duke arranged to have her perform with his band in the U.S. at the Newport Jazz Festival. At one point, he asked her to join his band permanently, but she declined because it would have taken her away from Ibrahim, whom she had married in February of 1965. Throughout the 1960’s Benjamin and Ibrahim moved back and forth between Europe and New York City, where they struggled to make it in the jazz world. For Benjamin, who had yet to release a recording of her own, gigs were few and far between. She spent much of the period as a staunch supporter of her husband and raising their son, Tsakwe.
The year 1976 marked a turning point for Benjamin. She and Ibrahim returned to South Africa to live; she gave birth to her daughter, Tsidi; and went into the studio and recorded African Songbird, the first album under her own name to be released. The LP, made up entirely of original compositions, not only unveiled her considerable talent as a composer, but revealed her interest in South Africa’s freedom struggle. In 1979, she launched her own record label, Ekapa, to produce and distribute her and Ibrahim’s music. Between 1979 and 2002, she released eight of her own albums: Sathima Sings Ellington, Dedications, Memories and Dreams, Windsong, Lovelight, Southern Touch, Cape Town Love, and Musical Echoes.
Each of these recordings received critical acclaim hailing Benjamin’s individuality and vocal talents. Dedications was nominated for a Grammy in 1982. A mix of original compositions and standards, the records reveal the full range of her talents as a singer, songwriter and bandleader. Indeed, she had brought together some of the most talented musicians in America to accompany her, including saxophonist Carlos Ward, pianists Kenny Barron, Larry Willis and Onaje Allan Gumbs, bassist Buster Williams and drummers Billy Higgins and Ben Riley.
Bringing together her two worlds - Cape Town and New York City - has been an essential element of Benjamin’s music. She’s recorded in both places. For the most part, she has used American musicians for her U.S. recordings and South African musicians when in her native land. However, for her most recent CD, Musical Echoes, she decided to bring the American pianist and collaborator, Stephen Scott, to Cape Town to record with two South Africans, bassist Basil Moses and drummer Lulu Gontsana. The result is a true synthesis of both worlds, incorporating American jazz styles with trademark Cape Town rhythms.
Recently, Sathima has begun to receive the kinds of accolades befitting an artist of her stature. In October of 2004, South African president Thabo Mbeki bestowed upon her the Order of Ikhamanga Silver Award in recognition for her “excellent contribution as a jazz artist” in South Africa and internationally, as well as for her contribution “to the struggle against apartheid.” And in March of 2005, the prestigious art group, Pen and Brush, Inc., presented her with a Certificate of Achievement for her work as a performer, musician, composer, and “activist in the struggle for human rights in South Africa.” Sathima is featured in the March 2006 issue of Jazztimes.
Sathima’s next album, SongSpirit, is due to be released on October 17th. A compilation record, it includes tracks from her earlier albums, starting with A Morning In Paris and going through Musical Echoes, plus a previously unreleased duet with Abdullah Ibrahim from 1973.
I Only Have Eyes for You
Sathima Bea Benjamin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can't see anyone but you
Sha bop sha bop
Are the stars out tonight
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright
I only have eyes for you dear
But I can't see a thing in the sky
I only have eyes for you
I don't know if we're in a garden
Or on a crowded avenue
You are here and so am I
Maybe millions of people go by
But they all disappear from view
And I only have eyes for you
The lyrics of Sathima Bea Benjamin's song "I Only Have Eyes for You" speak of a type of love that consumes an individual, to the point where all they can see is their beloved. The line "my love must be a kind of blind love" suggests that the singer is in such an intense love with their partner that their view of the world becomes narrowed to their lover, and they quite literally cannot see anything else but them. The repetition of the phrase "I only have eyes for you" throughout the song emphasizes this view, and this is further reinforced by lines such as "the stars may be out tonight, but I don't know if it's cloudy or bright."
The song communicates a sense of tunnel vision, as if the only thing that matters in the world is the presence of the beloved. The singer notes that they don't even know if they're in a garden or on a crowded avenue because the presence of the beloved eclipses everything else in the environment, to the point where everything else fades away. This intense love is further emphasized by the line, "maybe millions of people go by, but they all disappear from view," suggesting that the singer's attention is so focused on their partner that everything else becomes insignificant.
Overall, "I Only Have Eyes for You" speaks of an all-consuming love that completely envelops the senses, rendering the rest of the world invisible and irrelevant.
Line by Line Meaning
My love must be a kind of blind love
The love that I have for you is so strong that it blinds me from seeing anyone else.
I can't see anyone but you
My attention is only focused on you and no one else can catch my eye.
Sha bop sha bop
N/A
Are the stars out tonight
I am unaware of the night sky, I only have eyes for you.
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright
I am so consumed by thoughts of you that I am unaware of weather conditions.
I only have eyes for you dear
I am completely devoted to you and you are the only one I see.
The moon may be high
Regardless of the sky's appearance, I am only focused on you.
But I can't see a thing in the sky
My love for you is so strong that I don't see anything else, even the moon in the sky.
I don't know if we're in a garden
I am so consumed by thoughts of you that I am not aware of our surroundings.
Or on a crowded avenue
It doesn't matter where we are, my love for you is all-consuming.
You are here and so am I
The presence of both of us is enough for me and everything else fades in the background.
Maybe millions of people go by
Even if a large number of people are in my vision, their presence is insignificant because you are present.
But they all disappear from view
My love for you overshadows everything else and all other people fade out.
And I only have eyes for you
I am completely devoted to you and you are the only one I see.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Al Dubin, Harry Warren
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind