Lush Life
Navigating Life's Jazz: Natalie Cole's Lush Insights
Lyrics
I used to visit all the very gay places
I used to frequent lively and joyful places.
Those come what may places
Places where anything could happen, regardless of consequences.
Where one relaxes on the axis of the wheel of life
Describing places where one can unwind and find meaning in life's cycle.
To get the feel of life
To experience and understand the essence of life.
From jazz and cocktails.
Derived pleasure from both jazz music and cocktails.
The girls I knew had sad and sullen gray faces
The women the speaker knew seemed unhappy and marked by traces of past joy.
With distant gay traces
Indicating that the joy they once had has faded or been erased.
That used to be there you could see where they'd been washed away
Implies a visible absence of past happiness on their faces.
By too many through the day
Suggesting that their joy has been washed away by life's challenges.
Twelve o'clock tales.
Referring to tales or stories told around midnight.
Then you came along with your siren of song
The introduction of someone who has a captivating singing voice.
To tempt me to madness!
To entice or lead the speaker to a state of madness.
I thought for a while that your poignant smile was tinged with the sadness
The initial belief that the singer's smile held a touch of sadness, possibly connected to a deep love for the speaker.
Of a great love for me.
Questioning if the singer's love was significant.
Ah yes! I was wrong
An acknowledgment of a previous misjudgment.
Again,
Admitting a repeated error in judgment.
I was wrong.
Again recognizing the mistake.
Life is lonely again,
Expressing a return to loneliness in life.
And only last year everything seemed so sure.
Reflecting on a recent past when everything seemed certain.
Now life is awful again,
Life has become unpleasant again.
A thoughtful of hearts could only be a bore.
Suggesting that having a considerate heart can be monotonous.
A week in Paris will ease the bite of it,
A visit to Paris is seen as a remedy for the pain.
All I care is to smile in spite of it.
The speaker's only concern is to maintain a cheerful demeanor despite difficulties.
I'll forget you, I will
Declaring an intention to forget the singer.
While yet you are still burning inside my brain.
Despite the attempt to forget, the singer's memory lingers in the speaker's mind.
Romance is mush,
Belittling the concept of romance as sentimental and stifling.
Stifling those who strive.
Criticizing romantic ideals that hinder personal growth.
I'll live a lush life in some small dive
Expressing a desire to live a luxurious life in a humble setting.
And there I'll be, while I rot
The speaker envisions residing in a dive while deteriorating mentally or emotionally.
With the rest of those whose lives are lonely, too..
Identifying with others whose lives are also marked by loneliness.
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