Stacey Kent (born March 27, 1968 in South Orange, New Jersey) is a Grammy-n… Read Full Bio ↴Stacey Kent (born March 27, 1968 in South Orange, New Jersey) is a Grammy-nominated American jazz vocalist, who debuted in 1997 with Close Your Eyes.

Kent attended Newark Academy in Livingston, New Jersey. She graduated with a Degree in Comparative Literature from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and moved to England after her graduation. While studying at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she met tenor saxophonist, Jim Tomlinson, whom she married on 9 Aug 1991.

Discography:
"Close Your Eyes" (1997), "The Tender Trap" (1998), "Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire" (2000),
"Dreamsville" (2001), "Brazilian Sketches" (2001), "In Love Again: The Music of Richard Rodgers" (2002),
"The Boy Next Door" (2003), "Collection" (2001), "Collection II" (2003), "Collection III" (2006),
"Breakfast On The Morning Tram" (2007), "Breakfast on the Morning Tram" (2008, limited edition boxset CD/DVD),
"Raconte-Moi..." (2010) , "Hushabye Mountain" (2011) , "THE CHANGING LIGHTS" (2013)

Kent has also featured in Tomlinson's 2006 album, The Lyric, which won "Album of the Year" at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards.

Awards: British Jazz Award (2001) and BBC Jazz Award for Best Vocalist (2002).

Kent's album, Breakfast on the Morning Tram, was a nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 51st Grammy Awards (2009).

Trivia: Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro wrote the liner notes to Kent's 2003 album, The Boy Next Door, and also co-wrote four of the songs on the 2007 album, Breakfast on the Morning Tram.

Sites: Discogs

East Of The Sun
Stacey Kent Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I wish that we could live up in the sky
Where we would find a place away up high
We'd live among the stars, the sun, the moon
Just you and I.

East of the sun and west of the moon,
We'll build a dream house of love, dear.
Near to the sun in the day,

Near to the moon at night,
We'll live in a lovely way, dear,
Living on love and pale moonlight.

Just you and I,
Forever and a day,
Love will not die,
We'll keep it that way,
Up among the stars we'll find
A harmony of life to a lovely tune,

East of the sun and west of the moon, dear,
East of the sun and west of the moon.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Stacey Kent's song "East of the Sun" express a desire to escape the mundane realities of life and live in an idyllic world of love and harmony. The first stanza sets the stage for this utopian vision, with the singer wishing to live "up in the sky" away from the cares of the world below. The idea of living among the stars, the sun, and the moon speaks to a sense of otherworldliness and transcendence, where the ordinary constraints of time and space no longer apply.

The second stanza further expands upon this vision, painting a picture of a dream house of love that the singer and their beloved will build together "east of the sun and west of the moon." This phrase, which is also the title of a Norwegian folktale, suggests a place that is beyond the familiar world of everyday experience. The repeated lines "near to the sun in the day, near to the moon at night" indicate a sense of balance and connectedness, as well as a willingness to be guided by the rhythms of nature. The final lines of the song reinforce the idea of eternal love, with the singer pledging to keep the flame burning bright "forever and a day."

Overall, the lyrics to "East of the Sun" present a romanticized vision of love, one that transcends the mundane world and seeks a higher plane of existence where harmony and beauty reign supreme.

Line by Line Meaning

I wish that we could live up in the sky
I long to be in a place that’s free from the physical and emotional limitations of life on earth.

Where we would find a place away up high
We would be able to escape the mundane and reach new heights together.

We'd live among the stars, the sun, the moon
We’d exist in a world apart where the celestial bodies are our neighbors.

Just you and I.
Together, we’d be free to roam and explore this new world without interference.

East of the sun and west of the moon,
We’ll be in a land beyond human understanding - where nature and magic meet!

We'll build a dream house of love, dear.
We’ll construct a magical palace where our love will bloom and flourish.

Near to the sun in the day,
We’ll thrive in the sun’s life-giving energy and bask in its warmth.

Near to the moon at night,
We’ll be mesmerized by the radiant, mystical beauty of the moon.

We'll live in a lovely way, dear,
Our love will influence every moment of our lives and saturate every action and breath we take.

Living on love and pale moonlight.
Our passion will give us the strength and sustenance needed to thrive, even in the moon’s ethereal glow.

Just you and I,
Our love will be all-encompassing, and our partnership will be unbreakable.

Forever and a day,
Until eternity itself ceases to exist, our love will never fade away.

Love will not die,
Our bond is unbreakable, and it will triumph over everything, even death.

We'll keep it that way,
We are both fully committed to our love for one another and will stand by each other until the end of time.

Up among the stars we'll find
The heavens will be our playground, where we will discover new and surprising facets of our love.

A harmony of life to a lovely tune,
Our love will be the melody that guides our every step on this journey through the skies.

East of the sun and west of the moon, dear,
Our love will overcome and transcend all physical barriers, and nothing can stand in our way.

East of the sun and west of the moon.
Together, we will explore the unknown and venture into the mysterious - continuing to dream and hope for new and exciting possibilities.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Brooks Bowman

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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