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.
Les Moulins De Mon Coeur
Toots Thielemans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that's turning running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!
Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!
Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?
Lovers walking along a shore and leave their footprints in the sand
Is the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragment of a song
Half remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over you were suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair!
Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
As the images unwind, like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind!
The lyrics to Toots Thielemans's song "Les Moulins De Mon Coeur" are a beautiful and introspective exploration of the mind's endless spinning and circling of memories, thoughts, and emotions. The imagery used throughout the song, such as comparing the mind to a never-ending spiral or a carousel running rings around the moon, perfectly captures the ceaseless nature of our internal experiences. The verses also touch on themes of time's passing and the bittersweet nature of nostalgia, with lines like "Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?" and "When you knew that it was over you were suddenly aware that the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair." The chorus, with its repeating phrase "Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind," serves as a poignant reminder of the cycles and patterns that shape our inner lives.
Overall, "Les Moulins De Mon Coeur" is a haunting and evocative song that invites listeners to reflect on the intricate workings of their own minds and the memories and emotions that shape their experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Life can often feel cyclical and repetitive, as if we're stuck in a loop with no clear beginning or end.
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
This cycle seems to keep going, with no pause or break to allow us to catch our breath.
Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon
This cycle can feel unstoppable, like a snowball rolling down a hill or a balloon carried away by the wind.
Like a carousel that's turning running rings around the moon
The cycle may be dizzying, like a carousel that seems to spin in never-ending circles around the moon.
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
Time moves relentlessly forward, like the hands of a clock ticking past each minute.
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
We are all small parts of a larger world that is constantly in motion, like an apple spinning through space.
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!
These cycles can also exist within our own thoughts, like the patterns we see in the blades of a windmill.
Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own
Our thoughts can lead us down unexpected paths, like a tunnel that seems to lead to another tunnel.
Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone
Sometimes these paths can be dark and unknown, leading us to places we've never been before.
Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream
Our memories can be hazy and confusing, like trying to remember a dream where a door kept spinning in circles.
Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream
Our actions can have consequences that ripple outwards, like the ripples that spread from a pebble thrown into a stream.
Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head
Our everyday experiences can be noisy and distracting, with jingling keys and jangling thoughts vying for our attention.
Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?
Sometimes it feels like time moves too fast, and we wonder if we could have done anything differently to slow it down.
Lovers walking along a shore and leave their footprints in the sand
Love can create lasting memories, like the footprints left in the sand by lovers walking along the shore.
Is the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand?
Our thoughts can sometimes play tricks on us, making us hear things that aren't really there.
Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragment of a song
Our memories can be triggered by even the smallest things, like a picture or a snippet of a familiar tune.
Half remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong?
Our memories can be incomplete and disjointed, leaving us wondering about the people and places we once knew.
When you knew that it was over you were suddenly aware
Sometimes endings can sneak up on us, leaving us feeling blindsided and unsure of what to do next.
That the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair!
Even the natural cycles of the world can remind us of lost love and bittersweet memories.
As the images unwind, like the circles that you find
As we reflect on our lives and memories, we may start to see patterns and cycles unfolding before us.
In the windmills of your mind!
But ultimately, these patterns exist in our own thoughts, like the windmills turning in our minds.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind