A jazz standard by Toots Thielemans is "Bluesette," where he used whistling and guitar in unison. He worked both as a bandleader and as a sideman, including many projects with composer/arranger Quincy Jones. He performed on many film soundtracks, such as Midnight Cowboy, Cinderella Liberty, Jean de Florette, The Sugarland Express, The Yakuza, Turkish Delight, the 1972 version of The Getaway, French Kiss, Dunderklumpen!, and in various television programs, including Sesame Street, whose closing credits (which did not list him accordingly) featured his performance, on harmonica, of the show's theme, the Belgian television series Witse, and in the Netherlands, for the Baantjer series.
Thielemans started his career as a guitar player. In 1949 he joined a jam session in Paris with Sidney Bechet, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach and others. In 1951 he went on tour with Bobbejaan Schoepen.
He moved to the United States in 1952 where he was a member of Charlie Parker's All-Stars. He played and recorded with names like Ella Fitzgerald, The George Shearing Quintet, Quincy Jones, Bill Evans, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Astrud Gilberto, Elis Regina and others.
A jazz standard by Toots Thielemans is "Bluesette" where he used whistling and guitar in unison. Bluesette became a major 1962 world-wide hit for him and this still much beloved and requested piece has been re-recorded by him and commercially released on records/CDs many times over both in various studio versions and live on-stage performances performed in several different countries. His trademark harmonica playing can also be heard in movie scores such as Breakfast at Tiffany's (where his plaintive "Moon River" solo in the opening scene brilliantly establishes the film's mood of romance noir), Midnight Cowboy, Bagdad Café, French Kiss, and in various TV programs like Sesame Street, the Belgian TV series Witse and the Dutch TV series Baantjer. His professional whistling and harmonica playing can be heard on Old Spice radio and TV commercials that have been made over the years. In 1983 he contributed to Billy Joel's album An Innocent Man, and his trademark harmonica can be heard on "Leave a Tender Moment Alone."
In the 90s Thielemans embarked on theme projects that included world music. In 1998 he released the a French flavoured album titled "Chez Toots" that included the Les Moulins De Mon Coeur (The Windmills of My Heart) featuring guest singer Johnny Mathis. This CD continues to sell well.
Today Jean "Toots" Thielemans remains a strong favorite among jazz aficionados and professional critics alike. His music CDs continue to delight (many of which were recorded in the 2000s) and have introduced him to entire new generations of keen fans.
Apart from his popularity as an accomplished musician, he is well liked for his modesty and kind demeanor. In his native Belgium, he is also popular for describing himself as a Brussels "ket", which means "street kid" in old Brussels slang. He received a joint honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) and in 2001 Thielemans was ennobled a baron by King Albert II of Belgium.
In 2005 he was nominated for the title of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian). In the Flemish version he ended 20th place, in the Walloon version he ended 44th place.
Thielemans may have had a significant impact on The Beatles, (John Lennon in particular), during the group's pre-fame formative years. When performing in a 1959 Hamburg Germany with the pre-fame Beatles, John Lennon (sometimes with fellow Beatle George Harrison in tow) would often go over to the club where Toots was performing (at a noontime venue) as a member of The George Shearing Quintet. Lennon evidently was taken with Toot's harmonica playing and also for the guitar Toots was playing, an electric American made Rickenbacker with a short play neck. Based on the sound Lennon heard, he decided to purchase a natural alder wood "alderglo" colored three pickup Rickenbacker 1958 model 325 Capri guitar with a short scale as former Beatle and friend, George Harrison would recall to various interviewers many years later. (This iconic famous guitar often fondly referred to as the "Holy Grail" of all guitars, which was customized and tinkered with many times over the years by Lennon including being re-painted to jetglo black in September 1962, is the very same guitar that he played on The Beatles first and third appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show during February 1964).
Toots Thielemans died peacefully in his sleep on August 22, 2016 after being hospitalized for a fall a month earlier.
Destination Of My Heart
Toots Thielemans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It was the sweetest melody
I know I lost heaven 'cause you were the song
Since you and I have drifted apart
Life doesn't mean a thing to me
Please come back, sweet music, I know I was wrong
You know that we were meant to be more than just friends, just friends
I let a song go out of my heart
Believe me, darlin', when I say
I won't know sweet music until you return some day
I let a song go out of my heart
Believe me, darlin', when I say
I won't know sweet music until you return some day
Toots Thielemans's song "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart" is a song about regret and lost love. The first stanza "I let a song go out of my heart, it was the sweetest melody..." can be interpreted as the singer having let go of something that was very precious to them. The song in question was a representation of the love they shared with their partner, and now that they have lost that love, they feel the pain of the separation. The second stanza, "Since you and I have drifted apart, life doesn't mean a thing to me..." shows the emptiness that comes from losing a loved one. The singer is asking their former partner, who was the missing piece that made life fulfilling, to come back to their world so they can be complete again. They realize that they were wrong for letting their relationship slip away, and are now regretting their actions.
The line "Am I too late to make amends? You know that we were meant to be more than just friends, just friends" shows the desperation of the singer who is realizing too late the value of their partner. They want to make amends and would rather be more than just friends. The last line of the song, "I won't know sweet music until you return someday" puts the entire song into context. The song was the love shared by the couple, and now that it's gone, the singer feels as if the sweet music has left their life. They can't enjoy life without their love, and they are hoping and praying for their partner's return.
Line by Line Meaning
I let a song go out of my heart
I lost the love that made my heart sing
It was the sweetest melody
The love I lost was the most beautiful thing in my life
I know I lost heaven 'cause you were the song
I lost my paradise because you were the love of my life
Since you and I have drifted apart
Our love has faded away and we have grown apart
Life doesn't mean a thing to me
Without your love, my life is meaningless
Please come back, sweet music, I know I was wrong
Please come back to me, my love. I know I made a mistake and took our love for granted
Am I too late to make amends?
Is it too late for us to fix what went wrong?
You know that we were meant to be more than just friends, just friends
Our love was more than just friendship. It was meant to be something deeper and more meaningful
Believe me, darlin', when I say
Trust me, my love, when I tell you
I won't know sweet music until you return some day
I won't be truly happy until you come back to me and our love is rekindled
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Duke Ellington, Henry Nemo, John Redmond, Irving Mills
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
GrahamChapman
Take a moment and remember those we lost 2016:
David Bowie: The artist who followed his own soul, the icon that the rest of society followed, the legend himself; he forever left the stage on January 10th, 69 years old, after a long dance with cancer; being a creative man to the very end, he left us Lazarus and Blackstar as parting gifts.
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman: Actor and director, probably best known as Snape in the Harry Potter movies, the Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood: King of Thieves and Hans Gruber in Die Hard; was taken away on January 14th, 69 years old, by cancer.
Dan Haggerty: Or, as you probably knew him, Grizzly Adams; died January 15th, 74 years old, as yet another victim of cancer.
Glenn Frey: The co-founder of The Eagles; passed away January 18th, aged 67, from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.
Ettore Scola: Golden Globe-awarded Italian screenwriter and film director, the creator of A Special Day and We All Loved Each Other So Much; passed away January 19th, aged 84.
Colin Vearncombe: Was lost on January 26, aged 53, in a car accident; but there's "No need to laugh or cry, It's a wonderful, wonderful life."
Frank Finlay: One of Britain's most distinguished actors, was both one of The Three Musketeers and Iago in Othello; entered the peaceful sleep on January 30th, aged 89.
Intizar Hussain: Award-winning author, widely recognised as one of the greatest Urdu writers in history; died February 2nd, aged 92.
Joe Alaskey: Yet another man who lent his voice to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Sylvester the Cat and Duck Dodgers (in the 24½th Century); passed away February 3rd, 62 years old, while wrestling a cancer.
Maurice White: Fell on February 3rd, aged 74, after having battled Parkinson's disease since 1994; he was the founder of the R&B funk band Earth, Wind & Fire.
Daniel Gerson: Contributor for Pixar and co-writer of both Monsters Inc., Monsters University and Big Hero 6; brain cancer took him away from us on February 6th, aged 49.
Denise "Vanity" Matthews: The protege of Prince, who would follow her just a little bit more than a month later; died on February 15th, aged 57.
George Gaynes: Lovable actor who became known as the absent-minded Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy, Henry Warnimont in Punky Brewster and John Van Horn in Tootsie; passed away on February 15th after many, many years (96 of them) in our midst.
Harper Lee: Pulitzer prize-awarded novelist who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a book that earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature; passed away on February 19th, 89 years old.
Anthony "Tony" Burton: Hit the floor on February 26th, age 78; he was the trainer of both Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa, won Flint Golden Gloves light heavyweight titles before briefly fighting professionally.
George Kennedy: Two-fold Golden Globe nominated actor, both for portraying Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke and Joe Patroni in Airport; went off-screen never to return on February 28th, aged 91.
Tony Dyson: R2-D2's dad and the creator of robotics and props for Superman II, Moonraker, and Dragonslayer; went offline March 4th, aged 68.
Raymond Samuel Tomlinson: Computer programmer, inventor of the email and popularizer of the @-sign; logged off for good on March 5th, 74 years old.
Akira Tago: Japanese psychologist, author and the Puzzle Master behind the Professor Layton series; he passed away on March 6th, 90 years old.
Michael Simon White: Theatrical impresario and the film producer behind The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Annie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Hound of the Baskervilles; he took his final bows March 7th, 80 years old.
Sir George Martin: (No, not that one, despite all the people that man has killed off he's still afoot.) "The Fifth Beatle" and the one who helped the Beatles achieve global success as the head of the Parlophone record label; he died on March 8th, aged 90.
Ken Adam: Four-fold Academy Awarded production designer and art director, he worked on the sets for Barry Lyndon, The Madness of King George, Dr Strangelove's cavernous War Room, Fort Knox vaults of Goldfinger, the iconic volcano hideaway of You Only Live Twice and Bond's gadget-filled Aston Martin. Other memorable inventions included Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the gothic home of 1993's Addams Family Values and the Cold War atmosphere of 1965's The Ipcress File; he passed away on March 10th, aged 95.
Sylvia Anderson: Producer and writer, Thunderbirds' co-creator and also worked on Joe 90, Captain Scarlet and Stingray; she passed away March 15th, aged 88.
Frank Sinatra Jr: Sadly probably most famous for being the son of Frank Sinatra; died on March 16th, aged 72, from a heart attack.
Imre Kertész: Nobel Prize-awarded author who wrote The Holocaust as Culture, A Breath-long Silence, While the Fire Squad is Reloading Their Guns and A Language in Exile. Survived not only Nazi camps as a teen but also Stalin's dictatorship in his homeland immediately after World War II; peacefully passed away March 31st, aged 86.
Douglas Wilmer: Picture, in you head, Sherlock Holmes' profile. The hat, the nose, the pipe, the chin. You've got it? You're not picturing Sherlock's profile. You're picturing the profile of Douglas Wilmer, THE Sherlock Holmes, who passed away March 31st, aged 96. He also appeared alongside Christopher Lee in the Fu Manchu movies and with Roger Moore in 1960s TV adventure series The Saint and in the James Bond film Octopussy.
Kouji Wada: Japanese rock singer, best known for performing theme songs for several installments of the Digimon anime television series; the Immortal Butterfly woke up from his dream on April 3rd, 42 years old.
Erik Bauersfield: Admiral Ackbar, sprung death's own trap and passed away April 3rd, 93 years old.
Merle Haggard: American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band the Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound; between the 1960s and the 1980s, he had 38 number-one hits on the US country charts, several of which also made the Billboard all-genre singles chart; he passed away on April 6th, aged 79.
Touru Ouhira: Japanese narrator and voice actor, best known as the voice actor of Gaimon in One Piece and Tokugawa Ieyasu in Basilisk as well as the dub voices of Black Pete in various Disney productions, The Mayor of Halloween Town in The Nightmare Before Chirstmas and Darth Vader in Star Wars; he passed away on April 12th, 86 years old.
Guy Hamilton: The director behind The Third Man and Oliver! as well as the James Bond titles Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun. He also directed adaptions of Agatha Christie's works, the first of which was The Mirror Crack'd, followed by Evil Under The Sun. He passed on April 20th, aged 93. "Leave your brains under the seat and we'll go for a great, big ride."
Prince Rogers Nelson: The formerly alive former artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince and the creator of memorable works such as When Doves Cry, Kiss and Purple Rain which won him an Oscar for Best Original Song Score; he got through this thing we call life on April 21st, age 57. "Don't forget to dance!"
Papa Wemba: The "King of Rumba" collapsed on stage April 24th, aged 66... give him your regards, because if you cannot respect a man who smuggles people from the Democratic Republic of Congo into France by disguising them as members of his band then you're a lost cause.
Ken Maeda: A recognized multi-talented comedian, impressionist, actor and choreographer; he was best known as the voice of Kaoru-chan in the 6th TV series Fresh PreCure!, the choreographer behind the PreCure TV anime ED songs and as one of very few Japanese entertainers who were openly gay; he passed away April 26th, 44 years old.
Marie Madeleine Berthe Lebeau: French film actress and the last surviving credited cast member of Casablanca; she died on May 1st after breaking her thigh bone.
Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd: Swedish painter and sculptor, probaly best known for his sculpture "Non-violence": a revolver tied in a knot; he begun resting in peace on May 3rd, 81 years old. "Take Care of the Earth."
Dennis Ebacher
Rest in peace, Toots. You were one of the most amazing musicians to ever walk the earth. Definitely underrated.
Philipp Edward
Toots what a genius. Why must we die:-(
Stede Bassett
Toots was not underrated, he was world renowned and performed with the best. He received the highest recognition amongst the best musicians and composers in the world
Planet G
He was the way
Didier LE FOULER
R.I.P Monsieur le Baron. Le plus grand musicien à mon avis. Il est plus facile de nommer les personnes avec lesquels il n'a pas collaborer qu'avec les plus importants artistes. Irremplaçable
Live Sessions at Le Bar Bat NYC
!!!!!
chelobes
Just an unbelievable song. Sting at his best, Dominic soulful, the cellist elegant, and Toots... he is just incredible. Very moving.
richdys
Toots. Toots. Toota. Greatest Jazz Harmonica player of all time and arguably one of the greatest jazz instumentalists on any instrument. The passage at the end starting around 4:24 is just beyond words.
Claassen
So beautiful !
Javier Alva
Toots simplemente increíble, tus sonidos están en mis pasos R.I.P