Black was born as Solomon Schwartz on 14 June 1913 in Whitechapel, England. His parents were Polish and Romanian Jews. He began piano lessons at the age of seven. He was aged only 12 when his first composition was broadcast on BBC Radio and continued his early success by winning a Melody Maker arranging competition aged 15.
In the early 1930s he was employed as a jazz player and composer and had worked with Howard Jacobs, Joe Orlando, Lew Stone, Maurice Winnick and Teddy Joyce by the time he joined Harry Roy in 1936. He had also broadcast and recorded with several American musicians, including jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, who had first heard Black on late night radio shows with Lew Stone's band. When the two eventually met in London, the reviewer Edgar Jackson suggested they record together, and a notable collaboration is a duet version of Honeysuckle Rose.
During World War II, Black joined the Royal Air Force, and became involved in managing the entertainment of servicemen based at Wolverhampton. In 1944 he was appointed conductor of the BBC Dance Orchestra, and remained in the job for almost nine years, broadcasting as many as six nights a week.
By this time he had also begun recording under his own name for Decca. Now well involved with the film industry, he went on to compose, arrange and direct music for about 200 more films, notably after being appointed music director at Elstree Studios in 1958. He was also principal conductor of the Associated British Picture Corporation Orchestra and musical director composer of that organisation from 1958-1963.
Stanley Black's radio work kept him in contact with a large listening audience through his incidental music for shows such as Much Binding in the Marsh and the first two series of The Goon Show. He later presented his own programmes on radio and television, including Black Magic and The Marvellous World of Stanley Black.
In the early 1950s he regularly topped the Melody Maker lists of the most-heard musicians on radio. He was chosen to be included on Decca's first release of long-playing records in the UK in June 1950. This enabled him to continue his conducting, arranging and performing and resulted in a large number of albums. He was particularly popular in United States, as evidenced by his inclusion in the Billboard best-sellers lists.
During his life, he conducted many of Britain's major orchestras, and until the 1990s he was still directing regular broadcast sessions at the BBC studios, despite the onset of deafness in later life.
Stanley Black is remembered for writing numerous scores for radio, television and cinema, including the theme-tune for The Goon Show.
Other films he composed scores for include Laughter in Paradise (1951), The Naked Truth (1957), Blood of the Vampire (1958), Too Many Crooks (1958), The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961), West 11 (1963), The System (1964), Crossplot (1969), and the Cliff Richard musicals The Young Ones (1961) and his orchestral backing for Richard's follow up, Summer Holiday (1962), which won him an Ivor Novello Award. His work also became familiar to millions of cinema audiences as a consequence of his theme tune and music library for Pathé News, written in 1960.
He also recorded many classical works, including collections of Tchaikovsky and George Gershwin. In 1965 he won a Gramophone Award for his version of Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol. In addition, he arranged and conducted many commercially successful albums on LP and later CD like Tropical Moonlight, Cuban Moonlight, Black Magic, and series of Film Spectacular and Broadway Spectacular for Decca Records.
Lover Come Back To Me
Stanley Black Lyrics
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I let you
We broke the ties that bind
I wanted to forget you
And leave the past behind
Still, the magic of the night I met you
Seems to stay forever in my mind
And high above
The moon was new
And so was love
This eager heart of mine was singing
Lover where can you be
You came at last
Love had its day
That day is past
You've gone away
This aching heart of mine is singing
Lover come back to me
When I remember every little thing
You used to do
I'm so lonely
Every road I walk along
I walk along with you
No wonder I am lonely
The sky is blue
The night is cold
The moon is new
But love is old
And while I'm waiting here
This heart of mine is singing
Lover come back to me
When I remember every little thing
You used to do
I grow lonely
Every road I walk along
I walk along with you
No wonder I am lonely
The sky is blue
The night is cold
The moon is new
But love is old
And while I'm waiting here
This heart of mine is singing
Lover come back to me
The lyrics of Stanley Black's song "Lover Come Back To Me" tells the tale of a person who has lost a lover they once had, and is now consumed by the memories of their time together. The song is a poignant reflection on the heartache and longing that comes with losing someone dear to you. The lyrics are powerful and evoke the pain of separation and the longing for a reunion.
In the first verse, the singer admits to breaking the ties that bound them to their lover, but despite their attempts to forget the past and move on, the magic of the night they met remains etched in their mind. The second verse describes the time when they met each other, with the moon and the sky being new and the singer's heart singing with eagerness. Unfortunately, love had its day, and the person has gone away, leaving the singer with an aching heart that longs for their return.
The third and final verse finds the singer walking along every road with their former lover, even in their absence. The sky remains blue, and the night is cold, but the love they once shared is still old and present. While waiting for their lover's return, the singer's heart calls out, beckoning for their lover to come back to them.
Line by Line Meaning
You went away
You left me all alone
I let you
I allowed you to leave
We broke the ties that bind
We ended our relationship
I wanted to forget you
I desired to erase you from my memory
And leave the past behind
And move on with my life
Still, the magic of the night I met you
However, the enchantment of our first encounter
Seems to stay forever in my mind
Seems to linger in my thoughts indefinitely
The sky was blue
The sky appeared blue
And high above
And was far above me
The moon was new
The moon was in its first phase
And so was love
And our love was also new
This eager heart of mine was singing
My enthusiastic heart was filled with joy
Lover where can you be
My lover, where have you gone
You came at last
You finally arrived
Love had its day
Our love blossomed for a while
That day is past
That time has ended
You've gone away
You left me
This aching heart of mine is singing
My heart is in pain
Lover come back to me
Lover, please return to me
When I remember every little thing you used to do
When I recall all the things you used to do
I'm so lonely
I feel very lonely
Every road I walk along
Every path I go down
I walk along with you
I imagine you're walking beside me
No wonder I am lonely
No wonder I feel so lonely
The sky is blue
The sky still looks blue
The night is cold
The night feels chilly
The moon is new
The moon is still in its first phase
But love is old
However, our love is no longer new
And while I'm waiting here
And as I'm waiting
This heart of mine is singing
My heart is yearning
Lover come back to me
Lover, please come back to me
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN, II, OSCAR II HAMMERSTEIN, SIGMUND ROMBERG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind