Giddins and DeVeaux on Duke Ellington

"According to Ellington, his 1930 tune 'Mood Indigo' [available on this recording] was inspired by a plaintive scene. While having his back rubbed between shows, he described it to a newspaper reporter: '"It's just a little story about a little girl and a little boy. They're about eight and the little girl loves the little boy. They never speak of it, of course, but she just likes the way he wears his hat. Every day he comes by her house at a certain time and she sits in her window and waits." Duke's voice dropped solemnly. The masseur, sensing the climax, eased up, and Duke said evenly, "Then one day, he doesn't come." There was silence until Duke added, "'Mood Indigo' just tells how she feels."' That was the explanation given to casual observers, and an instance of Ellington's quick-witted verbal dexterity. He invented things like that all the time. In fact, the melody for 'Mood Indigo' came to Ellington from Barney Bigard (who had probably acquired it from his New Orleans teacher, Lorenzo Tio). But Ellington made it his own by adding a memorable bridge and casting the whole thing in a daringly original arrangement" (Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux, Jazz, p. 227).