Autumn Leaves

The chill is in the air. The last of those lingering summer-like days, swaddling afternoons with unseasonably warm temperatures, are behind us. The color is draining from the autumn leaves. The leaves are falling. At least they leave us with a good soundtrack.

I recently discovered Eric Clapton’s extra-melancholy version of the already-melancholy “Autumn Leaves,” a jazz standard made popular by singers including Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf, and Eva Cassidy.

The original “Les feuilles mortes” was written in 1945 by French poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert with music by Hungarian composer Joseph Kosma. The song debuted in the movie Les Portes de la nuit, starring Yves Montand.

Special thanks to Johnny Mercer for the translation that we English speakers know, and a title that’s so much more hopeful than the original: Literally, “The Dead Leaves.”

"Autumn Leaves"
The falling leaves drift by my window
 The falling leaves of red and gold
 I see your lips, the summer kisses
 The sunburned hands I used to hold
Since you went away the days grow long
 And soon I'll hear old winter's song
 But I miss you most of all my darling
 When autumn leaves start to fall