You don't know what love is
You Don't Know What Love Is is a pop song written by Gene De Paul (music) and Don Raye (lyrics) and released by MCA Music in 1941 . It developed into the jazz standard in the 1950s .
Features of the song
The ballad is dedicated to the classic theme of lovesickness. “There is talk of the sleepless eyes of the abandoned person and of sore lips that taste of tears and no longer find any taste in kissing.” The melody of the 32 bars of song verses is in the song form A1 – A2 – B – A2 composed. "The simple, mainly in secondary - and Terzschritten moving melody is melancholy." The chord progressions are simple. "The message of the text - you don't know what love is until you have learned the meaning of the blues - initially does not correspond to any blues elements in the music."
Origin of the song
Like I'll Remember April (1942), You Don't Know What Love Is was written by the songwriting team Gene De Paul and Don Raye for Abbott and Costello films ; actress Carol Bruce sang the song in the 1941 Universal film Keep 'Em Flying , which also starred Dick Foran and Martha Raye . However, You Don't Know What Love Is was removed from the film prior to the release of Keep 'Em Flying ; Carol Bruce then sang it in the 1942 film Behind the Eight Ball .
Reception of the song
Although the song was barely successful in the US charts, it was occasionally recorded by big bands and their singers in the 1940s (including Ella Fitzgerald , Harry James , Billy Eckstine / Earl Hines , Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong ). But "until 1954 the piece played practically no role in jazz." That changed with Miles Davis , who recorded the piece with his quartet in 1954 ( Walkin ' ). Now the ballad developed into a jazz standard. The discographer Tom Lord lists over 1000 versions of the song in the field of jazz . He took u. a. Jimmy Raney , Chet Baker , Thad Jones , Hank Jones on. Sonny Rollins' interpretation on his prestige album Saxophone Colossus (1956) is considered classic, as is that of Dinah Washington (in an arrangement by Quincy Jones in 1955) and that of Billie Holiday on her penultimate album Lady in Satin (1958). John Coltrane's version on his album Ballads "is a lyrical gem, designed with a fascinating rubato ."
In later years cover versions of the song were made by Elvis Costello , Cassandra Wilson ( Blue Light 'til Dawn , 1993), Charlie Haden / Kenny Barron on Night and the City (1996), Jay Clayton / Fred Hersch ( Beautiful Love , 1995) and Chucho Valdés ( New Conceptions , 2003).
literature
- Hans-Jürgen Schaal (Ed.): Jazz standards. The encyclopedia. 3rd, revised edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel u. a. 2004, ISBN 3-7618-1414-3 .