Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jaz… Read Full Bio ↴Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a leader. A number of his compositions, including "St. Thomas", "Oleo", "Doxy", "Pent-Up House", and "Airegin", have become jazz standards. Rollins has been called "the greatest living improviser" and the "Saxophone Colossus".

Rollins was born in New York City to parents from the United States Virgin Islands. The youngest of three siblings, he grew up in central Harlem and on Sugar Hill, receiving his first alto saxophone at the age of seven or eight. He attended Edward W. Stitt Junior High School and graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in East Harlem. Rollins started as a pianist, changed to alto saxophone, and finally switched to tenor in 1946. During his high school years, he played in a band with other future jazz legends Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew, and Art Taylor.

As a saxophonist he had initially been attracted to the jump and R&B sounds of performers like Louis Jordan, but soon became drawn into the mainstream tenor saxophone tradition. The German critic Joachim Berendt described this tradition as sitting between the two poles of the strong sonority of Coleman Hawkins and the light flexible phrasing of Lester Young, which did so much to inspire the fleet improvisation of bebop in the 1950s. Other tenor saxophone influences include Ben Webster and Don Byas. By his mid-teens, Rollins became heavily influenced by alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. During his high school years, he was mentored by the pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, often rehearsing at Monk's apartment.

Rollins has played, at various times, a Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone and a Buescher Aristocrat. During the 1970s he recorded on soprano saxophone for the album Easy Living. His preferred mouthpieces are made by Otto Link and Berg Larsen. He uses Frederick Hemke medium reeds.

For All We Know
Sonny Rollins Lyrics

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For all we know
We may never meet again
Before we go
Make this moment live again
We won't say goodbye
Until the last minute
I'll hold out my hand
And my heart will be in it

For all we know
This might only be a dream
We come and we go
Like the ripples, like the ripples in the stream
So baby, love me, love me tonight
Tomorrow was made for some
Oh, but tomorrow
But tomorrow may never, never come
For all we know

Yes, tomorrow may never, never come
For all we know

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Sonny Rollins's song, "For All We Know," suggest a sense of uncertainty about the future and the fleeting nature of time. The opening verse, "For all we know, we may never meet again before we go," highlights the possibility that this encounter may be the last. Consequently, the lyricist implores the listener to "Make this moment live again," advocating for the importance of cherishing the present moment. The refrain "For all we know" is repeated throughout the song, underscoring the fact that we never truly know what the future holds.

The second verse, "We come and we go like the ripples in the stream," paints an image of impermanence and ephemerality. The singer is acutely aware that life is a transitory experience, and the people in our lives may fade away like the ripples in the stream. In light of this awareness, the lyricist begs the subject of the song to love them, to make this moment count, as tomorrow is not promised. The finality of this message is reinforced by the repetition of "tomorrow may never come."

Line by Line Meaning

For all we know
We are uncertain about what the future holds

We may never meet again
We may not get a chance to see each other again

Before we go
Before our time together ends

Make this moment live again
Let's enjoy and cherish the present moment

We won't say goodbye
We won't express farewell just yet

Until the last minute
We'll continue to be together until the very end

I'll hold out my hand
I'll extend my support towards you

And my heart will be in it
I'll do it with all my love and compassion

This might only be a dream
This moment might be temporary and unreal

We come and we go
Our lives are like the natural process of birth and death

Like the ripples, like the ripples in the stream
We affect others with our lives in the same way the ripples affect the stream