The Meaning Of Beguine

[Flanders]

Arte Shaw’s instrumental is the greatest and the best known rendition of:

​

Among countless male and female vocalists Frank Sinatra did a rendition:

​

I must have heard renditions of Begin the Beguine a thousand time since I first heard it on the radio as a little gump. In all the times I heard it since then it never occurred to me to look up the definition of Beguine. Now, after more than 75 years I know what it means:

Beguine (noun)

Roman Catholic Church.
A member of any of several lay sisterhoods founded in the Netherlands in the 13th century.​

Now I have to figure out Cole Porter’s meaning:

When they begin the beguine
It brings back the sound of music so tender,
It brings back a night of tropical splendour,
It brings back a memory evergreen.

I'm with you once more under the stars,
And down by the shore an orchestra's playing
And even the palms seem to be swaying
When they begin the beguine.

To live it again is past all endeavour,
Except when that tune clutches my heart,
And there we are, swearing to love forever,
And promising never, never to part.

What moments divine, what rapture serene,
Till clouds came along to disperse the joys we had tasted,
And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted,
I know but too well what they mean;

So don't let them begin the beguine​

 

[Alex.]

Arte Shaw’s instrumental is the greatest and the best known rendition of:

​

Among countless male and female vocalists Frank Sinatra did a rendition:

​

I must have heard renditions of Begin the Beguine a thousand time since I first heard it on the radio as a little gump. In all the times I heard it since then it never occurred to me to look up the definition of Beguine. Now, after more than 75 years I know what it means:

Beguine (noun)

Roman Catholic Church.
A member of any of several lay sisterhoods founded in the Netherlands in the 13th century.​

Now I have to figure out Cole Porter’s meaning:

When they begin the beguine
It brings back the sound of music so tender,
It brings back a night of tropical splendour,
It brings back a memory evergreen.

I'm with you once more under the stars,
And down by the shore an orchestra's playing
And even the palms seem to be swaying
When they begin the beguine.

To live it again is past all endeavour,
Except when that tune clutches my heart,
And there we are, swearing to love forever,
And promising never, never to part.

What moments divine, what rapture serene,
Till clouds came along to disperse the joys we had tasted,
And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted,
I know but too well what they mean;

So don't let them begin the beguine​

"A Beguine is a ballroom dance similar to a rumba. Cole Porter, who invented the word Beguine, also wrote "Let's End The Beguine" for Beatrice Lillie in 1944."


Beguine (dance) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[skye]

Thank you for that Flanders

A classic in American musical history and one of the best compositions of Cole Porter!

It goes without saying that it has been recorded and danced by ....well, pretty much everybody, then and now.



Sheryl Crow - Begin the Beguine Shery

 

[Flanders]

"A Beguine is a ballroom dance similar to a rumba. Cole Porter, who invented the word Beguine, also wrote "Let's End The Beguine" for Beatrice Lillie in 1944."

To Alex.: Thanks for the update. My dictionary did not list the dance.

Now I can see that Porter’s lyrics make more sense with a dance than they did with lay sisterhoods.

Thank you for that Flanders

To skye: And thank you.