Before his international acclaim as a pop vocalist, Nathaniel Adams Coles b… Read Full Bio ↴Before his international acclaim as a pop vocalist, Nathaniel Adams Coles built an indelible reputation as a jazz pianist in the groundbreaking combo, The King Cole Trio. Born into a musical family, young Nat Coles (later changed to Cole) recorded with his older brother, Edward, in 1936 for the Decca label. The four sides cut by Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers gave the general public its first glimpse of Nat's gentle yet lively piano riffs. After touring with a revival show of Eubie Blake's revue Shuffle Along, Cole settled in Los Angeles, playing various nightclubs as a soloist. In 1937, club owner Bob Lewis suggested that Cole assemble a small band to work at his Swanee Inn on North La Brea. The group's unorthodox instrumentation and size - they had no drummer and, at the time, big bands were the rage - featured Wesley Prince on bass and the innovative phrasings of electric guitarist Oscar Moore. The Trio's blend of jump blues and jazzy instrumentals with bouncy vocal stylings was a collective effort, while Cole occasionally took the lead on standard ballads. After an uneventful 1939 session for the Davis & Schwegler recording company in Hollywood, The Trio accompanied Lionel Hampton on two recording dates the following summer. Their association with Hampton helped, and that winter The Trio signed with Decca. Their 1940-41 sessions for the label yielded sixteen songs and captured the attention of fellow musicians, fans and a handful of critics. Later that fall, The Trio sounded right at home with drummer Lee Young on a four-song session for the Ammor label. In 1942, Cole recorded with Red Callender and saxophonist Lester Young for the Philo/Aladdin label, Oscar Moore with Cole at the piano. Image courtesy of the Dave Dexter, Jr. Collection.producing a handful of recordings that became benchmarks in their individual careers. Signing with Capitol Records in 1943, The Trio consisted of Cole, Moore, and Johnny Miller, who had settled in as the permanent bassist. Moore left the fold in 1947 and Irving Ashby replaced him. Capitol Records featured The Trio less and less after that, while Cole was singled out as a vocalist often backed by lush string orchestras. By the 1950's, Cole's reputation as a singer had reached a wide pop audience and, upon his death in 1965, his place in music history was forever cemented. His fellow jazz peers, however, never forgot his equally unique touch on the piano and the influence his early trio work had on later performers such as Oscar Peterson, Red Garland, and Tommy Flanagan.

Lush Life
The Nat King Cole Trio Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I used to visit all the very gay places
Those come what may places
Where one relaxes on the axis of the wheel of life
To get the feel of life
From jazz and cocktails.

The girls I knew had sad and sullen gray faces
With distant gay traces

That used to be there you could see where they'd been washed away
By too many through the day
Twelve o'clock tales.

Then you came along with your siren of song
To tempt me to madness!
I thought for a while that your poignant smile was tinged with the sadness
Of a great love for me.

Ah yes! I was wrong
Again,
I was wrong.

Life is lonely again,
And only last year everything seemed so sure.
Now life is awful again,
A thoughtful of hearts could only be a bore.

A week in Paris will ease the bite of it,
All I care is to smile in spite of it.

I'll forget you, I will
While yet you are still burning inside my brain.

Romance is mush,
Stifling those who strive.
I'll live a lush life in some small dive

And there I'll be, while I rot
With the rest of those whose lives are lonely, too.

Overall Meaning

The Nat King Cole Trio's song Lush Life is a hauntingly beautiful ballad filled with melancholy and resignation. The lyrics detail the experiences of someone who used to frequent the "very gay places" filled with jazz and cocktails but now finds themselves alone and desperate. The singer speaks of the sad and sullen faces of the girls they used to know; faces that once displayed traces of happiness but have been washed away by the struggles of everyday life. The arrival of someone new, with a "siren of song", tempts the singer with thoughts of love, but they soon realize that this was just a delusion, and life is as lonely as ever.

The final verse speaks of the singer's acceptance of their lonely fate, as they plan to live a "lush life" in some small dive, away from the pressures of romance and society. The lyrics of Lush Life are a reflection on the transience of life, the joys and sorrows that come and go, and the importance of finding meaning and purpose in the midst of it all.

Line by Line Meaning

I used to visit all the very gay places
I used to frequent bars and clubs that were lively and full of energy.

Those come what may places
Regardless of what happened, these places were always open and welcoming.

Where one relaxes on the axis of the wheel of life
In these places, people could unwind and enjoy the experience of living.

To get the feel of life
They went there to experience and soak up life around them.

From jazz and cocktails.
They enjoyed the music as well as the drinks.

The girls I knew had sad and sullen gray faces
The women he knew had solemn, dejected expressions on their faces.

With distant gay traces
Despite their expression, you could see glimpses of joy and gaiety from their past.

That used to be there you could see where they'd been washed away
Those traces of happiness had disappeared, by too much sadness and pain.

By too many through the day
From the countless difficulties and pains faced during the day.

Twelve o'clock tales.
Stories and experiences gained from a life of struggle and hardship.

Then you came along with your siren of song
Suddenly, someone new came with enchanting music.

To tempt me to madness!
To the point of obsession and mania, to become enchanted by the music.

I thought for a while that your poignant smile was tinged with the sadness
He thought at first that the woman singing had a sad story behind her smile.

Of a great love for me.
A love that could connect them both deeply.

Ah yes! I was wrong
However, he was wrong to project his perception onto her.

Again,
It was another instance where he was mistaken.

I was wrong.
None of his projections turned out to be true.

Life is lonely again,
Being alone and feeling lonely is once again prominent in his life.

And only last year everything seemed so sure.
Not long ago, his life seemed stable and secure.

Now life is awful again,
He is experiencing a phase of discontent and dissatisfaction.

A thoughtful of hearts could only be a bore.
Having a sensitive and reflective heart is only disturbing and distressing.

A week in Paris will ease the bite of it,
Going to Paris for a week will make this feeling more bearable.

All I care is to smile in spite of it.
He doesn’t really care what happens, he just wants to keep a façade and be happy.

I'll forget you, I will
He is determined to move on and forget about the woman who created such an illusion in his mind.

While yet you are still burning inside my brain.
However, even though he wants to forget, the woman’s memory is still present in his mind and keeps recurring.

Romance is mush,
He doesn't believe in the clichéd idea of romance anymore and considers it unrealistic.

Stifling those who strive.
He thinks that the idea of romance only prevents people from pursuing their dreams and moving forward in life.

I'll live a lush life in some small dive
He will live his life in indulgence, in small, unremarkable places.

And there I'll be, while I rot
He will remain in this small, trivial existence, decaying and deteriorating as time passes.

With the rest of those whose lives are lonely, too.
He will be accompanied only by those whose lives are as unremarkable and solitary as his own.

Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Billy Strayhorn

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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