And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart

This time of year always seems a natural time for me to think about how we’re all just stardust. Everything we are, everything we will become is all wound up in the stardust that we are.

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

It’s also a time when memories of times past crowd out the present if you let them.

Love is now the stardust
Of yesterday
The music
Of the years
Gone by

I’ve been ‘emptying the dustbin’ every night lately. That’s how I see dreams, just emptying the dustbin of life. But sometimes a glimmer of wisdom can come out of dreams. Lately, I’ve been dreaming about the nature of love.

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, and now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song.
Beside the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale tells his fairy tale
Of paradise where roses grew.
Though I dream in vain, in my heart you will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love’s refrain.

“Stardust” says all that can be said about love. Of course even though it’s about love lost, it’s also about a wonderful love, a real love. The singer wouldn’t be lost in a ‘reverie’ if that love hadn’t been something wonderful. I can picture Hoagy Carmichael playing the piano and singing this song. He was long and lanky. He might have a Chesterfield dangling out the side of his mouth.

Though I dream in vain, in my heart you will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love’s refrain.

Thanks Hoagy.

* Music and Lyrics: Hoagy Carmichael