Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born to and partial… Read Full Bio ↴Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born to and partially raised by Chinese parents in Paris and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from the Juilliard School and Harvard University, attended Columbia University, and has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world. He has recorded more than 92 albums and received 19 Grammy Awards.

In addition to recordings of the standard classical repertoire, Ma has recorded a wide variety of folk music, such as American bluegrass music, traditional Chinese melodies, the tangos of Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla, and Brazilian music. He has also collaborated with artists from a diverse range of genres, including Bobby McFerrin, Carlos Santana, Chris Botti, Diana Krall, James Taylor, Miley Cyrus, and Sting.

Ma has been a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2006. He has received numerous awards, including the Avery Fisher Prize in 1978, The Glenn Gould Prize in 1999, the National Medal of Arts in 2001, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, Kennedy Center Honors in 2011, the Polar Music Prize in 2012, and the Birgit Nilsson Prize in 2022. He was named as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2020. Aside from English, Ma is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and French.

Ma's primary performance instrument is the Davidov cello, made in 1712 by Antonio Stradivari

Ma's mother, Marina Lu, was a singer, and his father, Hiao-Tsiun Ma, was a violinist, composer and professor of music at Nanjing National Central University (now relocated in Taoyuan, Taiwan; predecessor of the present-day Nanjing University and Southeast University). They both migrated from the Republic of China to France during the Chinese Civil War. Ma's sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma, played the violin and piano professionally before obtaining a medical degree from Harvard and becoming a pediatrician. The family moved to New York City when Ma was seven.

From the age of three, Ma played the drums, violin, piano, and later viola, but settled on the cello in 1960 at age four. When three-year-old Yo-Yo said he wanted a big instrument, his father went to see Etienne Vatelot, a foremost violin maker in Paris who, after a chat, lent him a 1/16th cello. He jokes that his first choice was the double bass due to its large size, but he compromised and took up the cello instead. When his father realized that Yo-Yo was ready for a better teacher, a well-known cello instructor, Mme Michelle Lepinte, was selected. He began performing before audiences at age five and played for presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy when he was seven. At age eight, he appeared on American television with his sister in an event introduced by Leonard Bernstein. In 1964, Isaac Stern introduced them on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and they performed the Sonata of Sammartini. He attended Trinity School in New York but transferred to the Professional Children's School, where he graduated at age 15. He appeared as a soloist with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra in a performance of Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations.

Ma studied at the Juilliard School at age 19 with Leonard Rose and attended Columbia University, but dropped out. He later enrolled at Harvard College. Prior to entering Harvard, Ma played in the Marlboro Festival Orchestra under the direction of cellist, conductor and Ma’s childhood hero Pablo Casals. He spent four summers at the Marlboro Music Festival after meeting and falling in love with Mount Holyoke College sophomore and festival administrator Jill Hornor during his first summer there in 1972.

Even before that time, Ma gained fame and performed with many of the world's major orchestras. He has also played chamber music, often with pianist Emanuel Ax, with whom he has a close friendship from their days at Juilliard. Ma received his bachelor's degree in anthropology from Harvard in 1976, and in 1991 received an honorary doctorate from Harvard.

Yo-Yo Ma has been referred to by critics as "omnivorous" and possesses an eclectic repertoire. In addition to numerous recordings of the standard classical repertoire, he has recorded Baroque pieces using period instruments; American bluegrass music; traditional Chinese melodies, including the soundtrack to the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; the tangos of Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla; Brazilian music, recording traditional and contemporary songs composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Pixinguinha; a collaboration with Bobby McFerrin (where Ma admitted to being terrified by McFerrin's improvisation); and the music of modern minimalist Philip Glass, in such works as the 2002 Naqoyqatsi.

Ma is known for his smooth, rich tone, soulful lyricism, and virtuosity. He released a cello recording of Niccolò Paganini's Caprice No. 24 for solo violin and Zoltán Kodály's Solo Sonata.

On May 1, 2019, he performed at Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert. He said that his interest in astronomy motivated him to visit and perform there.

Ma's albums include recordings of cello concertos, sonatas for cello and piano, works for solo cello, and a variety of chamber music. He has also recorded in non-classical styles, notably in collaboration with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, Carlos Santana, Chris Botti, Chris Thile, Diana Krall, James Taylor, Miley Cyrus and Sting.

Second Time Around
Yo-Yo Ma Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

When she said, "Don't waste your words, they're just lies"

I cried she was deaf

And she worked on my face until breaking my eyes

And what else you got left

It was then that I got up to leave

But she said, "Don't forget

Everybody must give something back

For something they get"

I stood there and hummed, I tapped on her drum

I asked her how come

And she buttoned her boot and straightened her suit

Then she said, "Don't get cute"

So, I forced my hands in my pockets

And felt with my thumbs

And gallantly handed her

My very last piece of gum

She threw me outside, I stood in the dirt

Where everyone walked

And after finding that I forgotten my shirt

I went back and knocked

I waited in the hallway, she went to get it

And I tried to make sense

Out of that picture of you in your wheelchair

That leaned up against

Her Jamaican rum and when she did come

I asked her for some

She said, "No, dear", I said, "Your words aren't clear

You'd better spit out your gum"

She screamed till her face got so red

Then she fell on the floor

And I covered her up and then

Thought I'd go look through her drawer

And when I was through I filled up my shoe

And brought it to you

And you, you took me in, you loved me then

You never wasted time

And I, I never took much

I never asked for your crutch

Now, don't ask for mine

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Yo-Yo Ma's song "Second Time Around" are rich with emotion and poetic imagery, leaving room for personal interpretation. At the surface level, it tells the story of a failed relationship, where the singer is trying to make amends with his ex-partner. The lyrics, however, are not laid out in a straightforward narrative but consist of a series of fragmented scenes that serve to convey the complexity and anguish of the situation.

The poignant opening line, "When she said, 'Don't waste your words, they're just lies,' I cried she was deaf," describes how the singer's attempts to reconcile with his ex-partner are met with indifference or hostility. The lines, "And she worked on my face until breaking my eyes / And what else you got left," suggest that the singer is emotionally spent and has nothing left to offer.

As the story progresses, the lyrics reveal that the singer has a lingering attachment to his former lover. He returns to her home to retrieve a forgotten shirt and is drawn to a picture of her in a wheelchair, which symbolizes her vulnerability and the care that he once had for her. The singer continues to try to make amends with her but is met with further rejection and hostility.

The lyrics of "Second Time Around" are impressionistic and metaphorical, leaving space for the listener to fill in the gaps with their own interpretations. They speak to the universal human experience of love, loss, and longing, and the emotional pain that can come with trying to rebuild a broken relationship.

Line by Line Meaning

When she said, "Don't waste your words, they're just lies"
I was emotional when she told me not to speak because she said that everything I say is untrue.

I cried she was deaf
I was crying but she was not responding to my emotions.

And she worked on my face until breaking my eyes
She treated me poorly by making me cry so much that my eyes became swollen.

And what else you got left
I felt hopeless when she hurt me so badly and asked her what more she could take from me.

It was then that I got up to leave
I decided to walk out and leave the situation because I could not take it anymore.

But she said, "Don't forget, everybody must give something back for something they get"
As I was leaving, she reminded me that I should repay any kindness that I receive.

I stood there and hummed, I tapped on her drum, I asked her how come
I stayed a little longer and tried to make sense of the situation by asking her questions.

And she buttoned her boot and straightened her suit, then she said, "Don't get cute"
She got ready to leave and warned me not to try to be funny or charming.

So, I forced my hands in my pockets and felt with my thumbs
I put my hands in my pockets and nervously fidgeted with my thumbs.

And gallantly handed her my very last piece of gum
I offered her my last piece of gum in an attempt to make peace.

She threw me outside, I stood in the dirt, where everyone walked
She kicked me out and I was left standing outside, feeling lonely and exposed.

And after finding that I forgotten my shirt, I went back and knocked
When I realized that I had left my shirt inside, I went back to ask for it.

I waited in the hallway, she went to get it, and I tried to make sense out of that picture of you in your wheelchair that leaned up against
While waiting, I looked at a picture of you in a wheelchair and tried to understand the story behind it.

Her Jamaican rum, and when she did come, I asked her for some
When she returned, I asked her for some of her Jamaican rum.

She said, "No, dear", I said, "Your words aren't clear, you'd better spit out your gum"
She refused my request and I told her that she was not being clear in her communication.

She screamed till her face got so red, then she fell on the floor
She got angry and screamed so much that she fell down.

And I covered her up and then thought I'd go look through her drawer
I tried to make amends by covering her up and then went to look through her drawer.

And when I was through I filled up my shoe and brought it to you
I found something of value in her drawer and decided to give it to you as a gift.

And you, you took me in, you loved me then, you never wasted time
You showed me love and acceptance when I needed it most, and you never hesitated to help me.

And I, I never took much, I never asked for your crutch, now, don't ask for mine
I never asked for much from you and I do not want you to start depending on me in return.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BOB DYLAN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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