In a sentimental mood
I can see the stars come through my room
While your loving attitude
Is like a flame that lights the gloom
This introduction sets the scene for the sentimental, blissful mood of the song. The stars coming through the speakers room add to the romantic feeling of the poem, and the simile put in place (a loving attitude like a flame that lights the gloom) shows the passion of one lover for the other.
On the wings of every kiss
Drifts a melody so strange and sweet
In this sentimental bliss
You make my paradise complete
This stanza starts off with a metaphor of a kiss with wings. The aforementioned description gives life, emotion, and meaning to the kiss, from the speaker's perspective, and gives it life. With the next line, "Drifts a melody so strange and sweet", comes the theme of the piece, the cascade of notes and then a lilt upwards and downwards in a Perfect 4th, a major tone, which is a strange sound over the E minor, a second in the key of D minor. (Quick music theory lesson: In a minor key, the second scale degree should be diminished). To top it all off, when these pitches are sounded, she says the word "strange". And when she says the word "sweet", the chord resolves to a relaxing major chord, a G5 resolving to just a plain old G major, simultaneously completing the Perfect 4th. Interestingly, whenever, the word "sentimental" is stated, an A7 is called for by the chord chart. The next couple lines involve romantic ideas in the speaker's mind, relating to his or her loved one.
Rose petals seem to fall
It's all I could dream to call you mine
My heart's a lighter thing
Since you made this night a thing divine
This is the bridge of the tune. The speaker is, at this point, incredulous that his or her lover has chosen this person. She is in a state of mind in which her lover is the center of her universe, having the ability to affect her in ways unexplainable to an outsider.
In a sentimental mood
I'm within a world so heavenly
For I never dreamt that you'd be loving sentimental me
This last stanza summarizes the tune in a recap explaining once more the speakers stupefied and ecstatic (and sentimental) feelings about how it could be possible that his or her lover has chosen the speaker. It even includes an oxymoron, that is, "within a world so heavenly" which really shows that the speaker is in absolute bliss. An interesting piece of information is that all the other times in which the word "sentimental" is sung, an A7 chord is used, though this time, the fourth scale degree is used, as the key changes to F major. Instead of the usual A7, a diatonic B7 is used, making a strange resolution to the seventh, E minor, which should be diminished, and then taking a strange twist with a final resolution on a strange chord--D major. This is a strange chord to end on, because it involves ending via a deceptive cadence, a cadence normally used to continue truckin' through operas. However, this cadence ends the tune, though it ends on a major version of the usually minor sixth, D major. Although, astounding female vocalist Ella Fitzgerald's voice can make anything sound good. Thus, it is a more interesting ending than it is strange.
This poem's words speak of concrete ideas in an abstract way, which adds to the blissful mood of the poem. The words themselves are organized so that the syllables are perfectly intertwined, causing them to float across the air into a listener's ear and thus becoming much easier to listen to. "In a Sentimental Mood" is an extremely relevant song today because, to me, love, care, passion, emotion and connectedness are the most important ideas in a relationship. All five of these ideas are both explicitly and implicitly present in this song. Love is Life.
A Presto,
Simon
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