John Coltrane (tenor sax), McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums). From the album Ballads (1963).
There are people who play with the feelings of others. They date several people of the opposite sex at once without caring about the consequences, just for fun. They play with others without committing to anything. These are the people who sooner or later have problems because they cannot find themselves. Life for them is a simple coming and going of unexpected events that make them lose control. Sometimes they realize their mistake and rectify it, but other times the carousel continues forever.
Jones comes in with his drums. Garrison follows with the double bass. Tyner also joins in. Coltrane appears telling of a dialogue he had had with a girl he had met at a bar. He told her that a half love did not interest him if her heart did not surrender to him and that in love there is no middle ground. But he also asked her not to turn her lips to his cheek or he would falter. Her sensual way of looking and the contact with her hands weaken him and his heart could give way. If he fell under the spell of her voice, he could be swept away by the hangover. Therefore, he is fully decided: all or nothing at all. When Coltrane ends, Tyner gradually stops playing, then Garrison and finally Jones.
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