Album: Stardust, And Much More (1927)

Charted: 24 79

License This Song 

• 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 nights 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 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. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 18

• Vinal Reynolds from 13 Wildflower Lane Whitneyville, MaineI am 81 years old and a US Navy veteran of 20 years, 1961-1981. My wife and I met in high school when she was 15 and I was 17. Eventually, I enlisted in the Navy and left in July of 1961. We married while I was on a weekend liberty from my ship in Newport, RI in Oct., 1962. I hitch hiked home in Oct., 1962. I would come and go through the years and each time got home it was like renewing our relationship all over again. Here, nearly 62 years later, we are still in love and this song speaks so much to our relationship. Nat King Cole puts so much emotion in it for me. I love this song!
• Howard from Sydney, AustraliaI'm 68 and agree with all comments about Stardust being an exceptional song. Hello to Dave from Dublin. It was recorded in about 1938, while Coleman Hawkins lived in Paris, with Stephane Grappelli on piano and Django on guitar. However, may I also suggest Stephane's 1970 version of Stardust as the most beautiful rendition I've ever heard. Accompanied by Alan Clare on piano, it's very moving and Hoagy hopefully heard it in his lifetime. BUT if searching on Spotify note it's (Take 2).
• Joel GThe best version in my opinion is the Mills Brothers.. The intro of a horn is actually their voice.
• Finley Eversole from Writer And TeacherI'm now 89. This is the song I played constantly as a teenager, performed by Artie Shaw.
• Memy from UkI heard this song around 1970’s. It was sung by a female artist who I can’t remember. I think her first
  name was Terry.
• Offgrid9 from Washington StateAnother memory of hearing my mother sing this lovely song -- the first time I heard it, I thought the first line referred to "dust", not dusk. Even after I learned the correct lyrics, I have continued to sing it as, "And now the purple dust of twilight time...". It just feels right to me. I'm not criticizing Mitchell Parish, these are the best lyrics of any song I've ever heard...but dusk and twilight are nearly exact synonyms, so the two words in the same line seemed redundant to me. Whereas the image in my mind of a moving cloud of purple dust, slowly crossing the "meadows of my heart...", that image seemed to me to be a perfect analogy, a metaphor for the deepening twilight time.
• Offgrid9 from Washington StateMy mother was a relatively unknown singer with a couple of bands in the 1930's. She met Mitchell Parish at a club, and he liked her rendition of Stardust, but he advised her to sing one line differently...he said his original lyrics were, "...you WANDERED down the lane and far away...", but virtually every singer sang it as, "...you WANDER down the lane. He advised her to carefully enunciate "wandered", and insert a very brief pause before the next word, "down", to emphasize the correct lyrics. He said he thought the first few recorded singers had inadvertently created the elision through carelessness (he called it "lazy mouth"), and that later singers had just learned the words wrong.
  
  Today I searched through more than a dozen lyrics sites, and couldn't find a single one that said "wandered". Too bad.
• Marilynn Brown from Fairfield, CaOut of all the songs recorded by Nat King Cole, Stardust is my favorite. I will even admit I love this song so much, I have played it over and over again as it just emotionally impacts me. I never get tired of hearing it. I was interested in who wrote it and decided to research it. I was not born when Mr. Carmichael wrote it and the words were added. Such an interesting story about this song that adds to my infatuation with it.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn June 1st 1957, Nat 'King' Cole appeared on the NBC-TV music variety special 'Five Stars* for Springtime'...
  At the time he had two records on Billboard's Top 100 chart; "Stardust" was at #79 and "When Rock and Roll Come to Trinidad" was at #92...
  "When Rock and Roll Come to Trinidad" would peak at #48, while #79 would be the peak position for his covered version of "Stardust"...
  * The four other 'Stars' that appeared on the special were Gordon McRae, Ricky Nelson, Andy Williams, and Patti Page.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn March 14th 1964, Nino Tempo & April Stevens performed "Stardust" on the ABC-TV program 'American Bandstand'...
  At the time the song was at #34 on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; the following week it would peak at #32 {for 1 week} and spent 6 weeks on the Top 100...
  Between July 1962 and July 1967 the brother & sister duo had eight Top 100 records; with one making the Top 10 and that one reached #1, "Deep Purple"* for 1 week in 1963...
  They just missed having a second Top 10 record when "Whispering" peaked at #11 in 1964...
  * When "Deep Purple" moved in to the #1 spot, it replaced "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, which had been at #1 for five weeks.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn September 18th 1957, the CBS-TV network's 'The Big Record Show' had its national debut {it was the network's answer to ABC-TV's 'American Bandstand'}...
  The show's hostess was Patti Page and it lasted for one season with 35 episodes...
  Billy Ward and his Dominoes performed "Stardust" on the show; at the time the song was at #14 on Billboard's Top 100 chart and at #19 on Billboard's Best Sellers chart...
  {See the next post below}.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn June 11th 1957, "Stardust" by Billy Ward and his Dominoes entered Billboard's Top 100 chart; eventually it peaked at #12 and spent almost a half-year on the chart (24 weeks)...
  It reached #5 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart and #13 in the United Kingdom...
  The year before in 1956 the group peaked at #13 with "St. Therese of the Roses", with the great Jackie Wilson singing lead...
  R.I.P. Mr. Ward, born Robert L. Williams, 1921 - 2002 and Mr. Wilson, born Jack Leroy Wilson, Jr. 1934 - 1984.
• Brian from Desmoines, IaAs I've grown up (57), I've started to reject the music of my youth and prize old standards. Yes, music my parents would have liked. This is clearly the best rendition of the best song ever. Instrumentals, voice, etc. I love the first two verses and the song is damaged without them.
  This song has even been in my dreams! Can't say that about any other song.
  Brian
• Christopher from Desert Center, Ca"Stardust" is the most often recorded piece of music written by an American composer, having been recorded by over 1,600 bands, orchestras, singers ... probably even zither-ists, I guess.
  ( Source: Smithsonian Institution [except for the comment about the "zither" )
• Guy from Woodinville, WaMost people, including Ringo, record the song without the first two introductory verses, which are sung to a different melody.
• Guy from Woodinville, WaI'm gonna get laughed at, but I like Ringo Starr's take, on his first post-Beatles album, Sentimental Journey. It was basically my introduction to the song, so it has stuck with me. The entire album of old standards, earnestly recorded, is great! He went to his family members and asked them what their old favorites were.
• Dave from Dublin,The most beautiful treatment of this song I ever heard was by Stephane Grappelli/Django Reinhardt/Le Hot Club de France. It's upbeat but played very delicately, and the players pass the melody around. Not sure what year they recorded it, but I have it on an anthology album that covers late '30s to early '40s.
• Frank from Valley Stream, NyI love this song sung by Billy Ward & His
  Dominoes, with Eugene Mumford singing lead.

More Songfacts:

Dark HorseKaty Perry

Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" was co-written by Sarah Hudson, who was a member of the pop group Ultraviolet Sound. Though Sarah isn't related to Katy (whose real name is Katy Hudson), she is the first cousin of another famous person with the same name, the actress Kate Hudson.

That'll Be The DayBuddy Holly

Buddy Holly got the title for his hit song "That'll Be The Day" from a phrase John Wayne repeats in the 1956 movie The Searchers.

TitaniumDavid Guetta

Sia Furler wrote "Titanium" and wanted to give the tune to Katy Perry. She turned it down, so David Guetta recorded it instead using Sia's original demo guide vocal. It became a big hit, especially in the UK, where it went to #1.

I Just Called To Say I Love YouStevie Wonder

"I Just Called To Say I Love You" is Stevie Wonder's best-selling single worldwide. It topped the Hot 100, AC, R&B and UK charts all in the same week.

Cathy's ClownThe Everly Brothers

The first single to simultaneously top the UK and US charts was The Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown" in May 1960.

Crazy KidsKesha

Kesha (known at the time as Ke$ha) was still pretty wild when she released her song "Crazy Kids" in 2012. It's about one of her birthday parties that got a little out of hand.

Editor's Picks

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Francis Rossi of Status QuoSongwriter Interviews

Doubt led to drive for Francis, who still isn't sure why one of Status Quo's biggest hits is so beloved.

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Thomas DolbySongwriter Interviews

He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.

Zac HansonSongwriter Interviews

Zac tells the story of Hanson's massive hit "MMMbop," and talks about how brotherly bonds effect their music.

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.