Cugat was born Francisco de Asis Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeo in Girona, Spain. With his family, he immigrated to Cuba when he was five. He trained as a classical violinist and played with the Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional in Havana.
Sometime between 1915 and 1918, Cugat moved to New York, where he played with a band called "The Gigolos" during the tango craze. Later, he went to work for the Los Angeles Times as a cartoonist (Cugat's caricatures were later nationally syndicated).
In the late 1920s, sound began to be used in movies, he put together another tango band that had some success in early short musical films. By the early 1930s, he began appearing with his group in feature films. Cugat took his band to New York to open the new Waldorf Astoria Hotel and it became the hotel's resident group.
He shuttled between New York and Los Angeles for most of the next thirty years, alternating hotel and radio dates with movie appearances.
In 1940, he recorded the song Perfidia with singer Miguelito Valdés which became a big hit. Cugat followed trends closely, making records for the conga, the mambo, the cha-cha-cha, and the twist when each were in fashion. His first marriage in 1952 was to singer, Abbe Lane, they performed together until they divorced in 1964. He married salsa dancer Charo on August 7, 1966; the two were the first couple to marry in the newly opened Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.
Cugat did not lose sleep over artistic compromises: "I would rather play Chiquita Banana and have my swimming pool than play Bach and starve."
Cugat died of heart failure at age 90 in Barcelona in his native Catalonia, Spain.
Misirlou
Xavier Cugat and His Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Natives kneel in prayer by their caravans.
There, silhouetted under and eastern star,
I see my long lost blossom of shalimar
You, Misirlou, Are the moon and the sun, fairest one.
We'll find our Kismet, answering love's command.
You, Misirlou, are a dream of delight in the night.
To an oasis, sprinkled by stars above,
Heaven will guide us, Allah will bless our love.
The lyrics of Xavier Cugat's song Misirlou depict a scene of exoticism and romance, set in a Middle Eastern desert. The first two lines paint a picture of the dusk setting in, with shadows creeping across the purple sands, and the natives kneeling in prayer around their caravans. Then the focus shifts to a silhouetted figure standing under an eastern star, who turns out to be the singer's "long lost blossom of shalimar", presumably a love interest that has been separated from him for some time. The chorus features the singer addressing this person as "Misirlou", which means "Egyptian girl" in Turkish, and praising her beauty and allure as that of the moon and the sun.
The second verse mentions old temple bells calling across the sand, and the singer and Misirlou setting off to find their "kismet" or destiny, guided by love's command. The final verse describes the couple making their way to an oasis, with heaven and Allah blessing their love. The imagery used in the song is evocative of a bygone era of Orientalist fantasies, and has been popular in Western music since the early 20th century. The lyrics of Misirlou offer a romanticized vision of a faraway land, imbued with exotic charm and a sense of adventure.
Line by Line Meaning
Desert shadows creep across purple sands.
As the night falls in the desert, shadows slowly start to cover the purple sand.
Natives kneel in prayer by their caravans.
The locals in the area are kneeling next to their caravans and praying as part of their daily rituals.
There, silhouetted under an eastern star,
A figure is standing in front of an eastern star, casting a shadow of their silhouette.
I see my long lost blossom of shalimar
The figure in front of the star is someone who the singer has not seen in a long time, and considers them their lost love.
You, Misirlou, Are the moon and the sun, fairest one.
The person the song is talking about, Misirlou, is considered to be both the moon and the sun - the most beautiful and radiant one.
Old temple bells are calling across the sand.
The old bells from the nearby temple are ringing, echoing through the sand.
We'll find our Kismet, answering love's command.
The song expresses hope that the couple will find their destiny, and that love will lead them there.
You, Misirlou, are a dream of delight in the night.
Misirlou is a beautiful dream that brings happiness in the night.
To an oasis, sprinkled by stars above,
The couple will travel to an oasis that is being sprinkled by stars in the sky.
Heaven will guide us, Allah will bless our love.
The singer believes that their journey towards love is guided by heaven and blessed by Allah.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Fred Wise, Jose Pina, Milton Leeds, Nicholas Roubanis, Sidney Russell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MooPotPie
Epic orchestration!!!
@LECITIZENTEN
🐐
@elenitarodrigues7092
Magicccc ...!!!!
@loop66
Bravo, sir.
@jb007944
magnific
@gabequezada2066
I swear to god I feel like im in that 70's spiderman cartoon or an old Johnny Quest adventure..
@sardanapalos1
Well done.
@Nik-Metro67
💎💎💎💎🎧🎧🐼🐼🎧🎧💎💎💎💎💯💯🥇🥇💯💯🎁🎁💯💯🌹🌹💯💯✌✌. Η πατρότητα του τραγουδιού κατά την δημοφιλέστερη εκδοχή ανήκει στον Αλεξανδρινό καλλιτέχνη Σαγιέντ Νταρβίς (17/3/1892 – 15/9/1923), που θεωρείται ο πατέρας της σύγχρονης αιγυπτιακής μουσικής. Έχει συνθέσει 26 μιούζικαλ-οπερέτες και περισσότερα από 250 τραγουδιών και είναι ο συνθέτης του εθνικού ύμνου της Αιγύπτου....
@adidelapatru1466
say "what again"! I double dare you!
@euzomo
¿Xavier Cugat? ¿what record?