Few female jazz singers matched the hard-swinging and equally hard-living Anita O'Day for sheer exuberance and talent in all areas of jazz vocals. Her improvising, wide dynamic tone, and innate sense of rhythm made her more than just another big-band canary. At a time when most female vocals tended to emphasize the sweet timbres of their voice, she chose to emphasize a path blazed by the one major jazz singer who emphasized message over medium - Billie Holiday. Like Holiday, O'Day combined the soaring freedom of jazz instrumentalist with the storytelling lyricism of a poet.
After making her solo debut in the mid-'40s she incorporated bop modernism into her vocals and recorded over a dozen of the best vocal LPs of the era.
During the late Forties, she recorded two dozen sides, mostly for small labels. The quality of these singles varies: O'Day was trying to achieve popular success without sacrificing her identity as a jazz singer. Among the more notable recordings from this period are "Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip", "Key Largo", "How High the Moon", and "Malaguena". O'Day's drug problems began to surface late in 1947, when she and husband Carl Hoff were arrested for possession of marijuana and sentenced to 90 days in jail. Her career was back on the upswing in September of 1948, when she sang with Count Basie at the Royal Roost in New York City, resulting in five airchecks. What secured O'Day's place in the jazz pantheon, however, are the seventeen albums she recorded for Verve between 1956 and 1962.
Her first album, Anita O'Day Sings Jazz (reissued as The Lady Is a Tramp), was recorded in 1956 for the newly established Verve Records (it was also the label's first LP). The album was a critical success and further boosted her popularity. In October of 1952 O'Day was again arrested for possession of marijuana, but found not guilty. The following March, she was arrested for possession of heroin. The case dragged on for most of 1953; O'Day was finally sentenced to six months in jail. Not long after her release from jail on February 25, 1954, she began work on her second album, Songs by Anita O'Day (reissued as An Evening with Anita O'Day). She recorded steadily throughout the Fifties, accompanied by small combos and big bands. In person, O'Day was generally backed by a trio which included the drummer with whom she would work for the next 40 years, John Poole.
As a live performer O'Day also began performing in festivals and concerts with such musicians as Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Dinah Washington, George Shearing, Cal Tjader, and Thelonious Monk. She appeared in the documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival which increased her popularity. The following year O'Day made a cameo appearance in The Gene Krupa Story , singing "Memories of You". Late in 1959 she toured Europe with Benny Goodman; according to her autobiography, when Goodman's attempts to upstage her failed to diminish the audience's enthusiasm, he cut all but two of her numbers from the show.
After the Goodman fiasco, O'Day went back to touring as a solo artist. She recorded infrequently after the expiration of her Verve contract in 1962 and her career seemed over when she nearly died of a heroin overdose in 1968. After kicking the habit, she made a comeback at the 1970 Berlin Jazz Festival. She also appeared in the films Zig Zag (1970) and The Outfit (1974). She resumed making live and studio albums, many recorded in Japan, and several were released on her own label, Emily Records.
O'Day spoke candidly about her drug addiction in her 1981 memoir, High Times, Hard Times.
Her version of the standard, "Sing, Sing, Sing" was remixed by RSL and was included in the compilation album Verve Remixed 3 in 2005.
2006 saw her first album release in 13 years, entitled Indestructible!.
'S Wonderful/They Can't Take That Away From Me
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Though by tomorrow you're gone;
The song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote,
The melody lingers on.
They may take you from me, I'll miss your fond caress.
But though they take you from me, I'll still possess.
The way you wear your hat
The memory of all that
No, no, they can't take that away from me
The way your smile just beams
The way you sing off key
The way you haunt my dreams
No, no, they can't take that away from me
We may never, never meet again
On the bumpy road to love
Still, I'll always, always keep the memory of
The way you hold your knife
The way we danced till three
The way you changed my life
No, no, they can't take that away from me
No, they can't take that away from me
We may never, never meet again
On the bumpy road to love
Still, I'll always, always keep the memory of
The way you hold your knife
The way we danced till three
The way you changed my life
No, no, they can't take that away from me
No, they can't take that away from me
Can't take that away
Can't take that away from me
The lyrics of Anita O'Day's "S Wonderful/They Can't Take That Away From Me" express a deep longing for a lover who is about to leave, but at the same time, it also conveys a sense of hope and an acceptance of the situation. Despite the impending separation and the fact that their romance may not continue, the singer expresses a belief that their love will endure, as expressed in the lyrics, "Our romance won't end on a sorrowful note."
The subsequent lyrics emphasize that even if they are apart, the memories of their time together will live on. The singer reminisces about the way their lover wore their hat, sipped their tea, and smiled, which are all things that the singer knows they can never "take that away from me." Despite the nostalgia and strong feelings of attachment, the song acknowledges that it might be the end of the road for their relationship, but their memories will stay with them always.
In summary, the lyrics describe a relationship that has perhaps come to an end, but one in which the singer is determined to hold on to the memories of the good times they shared, even though the future is uncertain.
Line by Line Meaning
Our romance won't end on a sorrowful note,
Even though you have to leave tomorrow, our relationship won't end unhappily.
Though by tomorrow you're gone;
You won't be with me anymore starting tomorrow.
The song is ended, but as the songwriter wrote,
Even though our love story might be over, there are memories that linger on, like a melody from a song.
The melody lingers on.
The sweet memories of our love remain, even after you're gone.
They may take you from me, I'll miss your fond caress.
Even though we may have to be apart, I'll miss the way you touch me.
But though they take you from me, I'll still possess.
Even though we may be separated, I'll still hold on to the feeling of being loved by you.
The way you wear your hat
I love the way you look when you wear a hat.
The way your sip your tea
The way you drink your tea is so charming to me.
The memory of all that
I treasure the memory of those little things you do that make you so unique and lovely.
No, no, they can't take that away from me
Even though we may be separated, no one can take away the precious memories I have of you.
The way your smile just beams
Your smile is infectious and lights up my world.
The way you sing off key
Even though you can't sing perfectly, your singing is cute in its own way.
The way you haunt my dreams
I dream about you all the time, and it feels like you're always with me.
We may never, never meet again
We might never see each other again.
On the bumpy road to love
Our journey to find love has been challenging and had its ups and downs.
Still, I'll always, always keep the memory of
Despite the challenges, I'll always hold on to the good memories we had together.
The way you hold your knife
The way you hold your knife when you're eating is such a small but endearing detail to me.
The way we danced till three
I'll always remember that night when we danced together till late at night.
The way you changed my life
Meeting you has made a profound impact on my life, and I'll never forget it.
No, they can't take that away from me
Nothing and no one can take away the special memories that we share together.
Can't take that away
They can try, but they'll never succeed in taking away the memories that I hold dear.
Can't take that away from me
These memories of you and our love are forever etched in my heart and soul.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Cole Porter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Do It Now! video's yeah!
This one of my favorite albums. Great songs, singer and players.
Christelle0478
S'wonderful what a marvelous song!!!
Roseanna Vitro
Anita O'Day was an original!