STARDUST - Nat King Cole - And now the purple dusk of twilight time Steals across the meadows of my heart High up in the sky the little stars climb Always reminding me that we're apart You wander down the lane and far away Leaving me a song that will not die Love is now the stardust of yesterday The music of the years gone by Sometimes I wonder why I spend The lonely night dreaming of a song The melody haunts my reverie And I am once again with you When our love was new And each kiss an inspiration But that was long ago Now my consolation Is in the stardust of a song

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Stardust  

Nat King Cole

Album   :  Love is the Thing

Composed by Hoagy Carmichael 

Lyrics by Mitchell Parish 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19Huwemz7_8NatKingCole141fumi

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZJSLZ5Y_9QNatKingColeRoundMidnightTV

 

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 lyrics

And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart

You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by

Sometimes I wonder why I spend
The lonely night dreaming of a song
The melody haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
Now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song

Beside a garden wall
When stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale tells his fairy tale
A paradise where roses bloom
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain

"Stardust" is a popular song composed in 1927 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics added by Mitchell Parish in 1929. Carmichael recorded the song, originally titled "Star Dust", at the Gennett studio in Richmond, Indiana. The "song about a song about love",played in an idiosyncratic melody in medium tempo, became an American standard and is one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century with over 1,500 recordings. In 2004, Carmichael's 1927 recording of the song was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_(song)

“Stardust” — Nat King Cole

One of the most romantic songs of all time might never have been written if Hoagy Carmichael had stuck to practising law.

He’d been taught piano by his mother and while at college he supplemented his income by playing in bands. But one day, Hoagy Carmichael decided to put his law books on one side for good….and I’m very glad he did.

As you know, we like song lyrics around here. But although Hoagy Carmichael was a pretty decent lyricist himself, “Stardust” began life as an instrumental. (It also began life as “Star Dust”, but unless you’ve got time for an intricate grammar-based discussion, we’ll leave that thought there for now…)

Thankfully, Mitchell Parish came along and wrote some of the most beautiful lyrics in the English language to complement Hoagy Carmichael’s wonderful composition. “Stardust” was on its way to becoming one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, and one of the most popular songs of all time.

Although several singers had recorded it by the time he got the opportunity to put it on vinyl, and even though his own version wasn’t even the biggest hit version of “Stardust”, somehow Nat King Cole’s version of the song quickly became the standard.

I’ve got a great personal fondness for Willie Nelson’s version too, which you can find here… https://youtu.be/Hf5UvKjCDUU

Willie Nelson captures the sentiment well, but only really sings the chorus of this admittedly oddly-structured song. He give us a good sense of the feelings, but doesn’t set up the story for us first like Nat King Cole’s version which uses all of Mitchell Parish’s wonderful lyrics.

But “Stardust” was the perfect song for Nat King Cole. With his silky tone and great control, Nat King Cole made “Stardust” sentimental and reflective without being overly-emotional or maudlin.

It always comes across to me as a song from someone who’s not used to acknowledging his feelings…maybe they’re even a little gruff in person…but late one night, walking home alone he looks up at the night sky and something touches him deeply.

And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart

We could probably spend the rest of this article just on those two lines. Mitchell Parish certainly takes us on a journey, the like of which we haven’t been on before…

You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by

The stardust metaphor is wonderful.

https://medium.com/@NoWordsNoSong/stardust-nat-king-cole-c1bae9ce3a5f