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!.
After You've Gone
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How could you tell me that you're goin' away?
Don't say that we must part,
Don't break your baby's heart
You know I've loved you for these many years,
Loved you night and day,
Oh! honey baby, can't you see my tears?
After you've gone and left me cryin'
After you've gone there's no denyin'
You'll feel blue, you'll feel sad
You'll miss the dearest pal you've ever had
There'll come a time, now don't forget it
There'll come a time when you'll regret it
Someday, when you grow lonely
Your heart will break like mine and you'll want me only
After you've gone, after you've gone away
After you've gone and left me cryin'
After you've gone there's no denyin'
You're gonna feel blue, and you're gonna feel sad
You're gonna feel bad
And you'll miss, and you'll miss,
And you'll miss the bestest pal you ever had
There'll come a time, now don't forget it
There'll come a time when you'll regret it
But baby, think what you're doin'
I'm gonna haunt you so, I'm gonna taunt you so
It's gonna drive you to ruin
After you've gone, after you've gone away.
The song "After You've Gone" by Anita O'Day is a poignant ballad that speaks to the universal experience of heartbreak and loss. The lyrics are a lament of a lover who is about to be abandoned by their partner, and are full of raw emotion and poetic imagery that captures the pain of separation.
The song begins with the singer pleading with their partner not to leave them, begging them to stay and not break their heart. Their love for the partner is revealed to be long-standing and all-consuming, as they have loved them for many years, night and day. However, their partner is determined to leave them, and the singer is left helpless, crying and alone.
As the song progresses, the singer predicts the emotions their partner will feel after they leave, highlighting the inevitability of regret and loneliness. They describe how their partner will miss them, the dearest pal they've ever had, and how their heart will eventually break like theirs. The singer emphasizes that this heartbreak will be a consequence of their partner's actions, and they will ultimately regret leaving their love.
The lyrics of "After You've Gone" are a powerful expression of the pain of separation and loss. They touch on the universal themes of love, longing, and regret, and evoke a sense of empathy and understanding in anyone who has experienced heartbreak. The song is a timeless classic that continues to resonate with audiences today.
Line by Line Meaning
Now won't you listen honey, while I say,
Please pay attention to me, my dear, as I speak.
How could you tell me that you're goin' away?
Why did you have to tell me that you're leaving?
Don't say that we must part,
Please don't tell me that we have to break up.
Don't break your baby's heart
Don't hurt me and break my heart, darling.
You know I've loved you for these many years,
I've been in love with you for quite some time now.
Loved you night and day,
I've loved you every moment of the day and night.
Oh! honey baby, can't you see my tears?
My dear, can't you see the tears I'm shedding for you?
Listen while I say
Pay attention to what I'm about to tell you.
After you've gone and left me cryin'
Once you've left and I'm left crying and alone
After you've gone there's no denyin'
There's no denying that once you've gone, everything changes
You'll feel blue, you'll feel sad
You'll feel down and unhappy when you're gone
You'll miss the dearest pal you've ever had
You'll miss me, the closest friend you ever had
There'll come a time, now don't forget it
You will regret leaving me someday, don't forget this fact
There'll come a time when you'll regret it
There will be a day when you'll feel sorry for leaving me
Someday, when you grow lonely
There will be a day when you're all alone
Your heart will break like mine and you'll want me only
Your heart will break like mine did and you'll want me back
You're gonna feel blue, and you're gonna feel sad
You'll feel unhappy and down when I'm not there
You're gonna feel bad
You're going to regret leaving me
And you'll miss, and you'll miss,
And you'll regret not having me there with you
And you'll miss the bestest pal you ever had
You'll miss me, your best friend that you ever had
But baby, think what you're doin'
Please think about what you're doing, my love
I'm gonna haunt you so, I'm gonna taunt you so
You won't be able to escape my memory, I'll haunt and taunt you
It's gonna drive you to ruin
The memories of me will end up driving you crazy
After you've gone, after you've gone away.
Once you've left, you'll only think of me and what you left behind
Lyrics © WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Henry Creamer, Turner Layton, Ray Sherman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Aceiseverywhere
on Who Cares?
Let it rain and thunder
Let a million firms go under
I am not concerned with, stocks and bombs that I've been burned with
I love you and you love me
And that's how it will always be
And nothing else can ever mean a thing
Who cares what the public chatters?
Love's the only thing that matters
Who cares if the sky, cares to fall
in the sea
Who cares how history rates me?
As long as your kiss intoxicates me
Oh why should I care?
Life is one long jubilee
As long as I care for you
And you care for me!
Who cares if the sky, cares to fall
in the sea
Who cares what banks fail in Yonkers?
As long as you've got a kiss that conquers!
Oh why should I care?
Life is one long jubilee
So long as I care for you
and you care for me!
(These lyrics might be wrong, sorry)