Gene Lees, author, historian and lyricist, has died of a stroke at 82. Lees wrote English lyrics to many of Tom Jobim’s songs, including “Corcovado,” which he retitled, most exquisitely, “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars.” You can read his NY Times obit here:
My favorite Lees lyric is “Someone To Light Up My Life,” recorded by Frank Sinatra on the Sinatra & Company album. “Sometimes in stars or the swift flight of seabirds / I catch a moment of you” – what a beautiful line.
We’ll miss you, Gene. . . .
Go on your way with the cloudless blue sky above
May all your days be a wonderful song of love
Open your arms and sing of all the
hidden hopes you’ll ever treasure
And live out your life in peace
Where shall I look for the love to replace you
Someone to light up my life
Someone with strange little ways
Eyes like a blue autumn haze
Someone with your laughing style
And a smile that I know will keep haunting me endlessly
Sometimes in stars or the swift flight of seabirds
I catch a moment of you
Thats why I walk all alone
Searching for something unknown
Searching for something or someone to light up my life
I have never heard Antonio Carlos Jobim refered to as
Tom Jobim…………